# Mercury Blues: David Lindley has passed at 78 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2023, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercury-blues-david-lindley-has-passed-at-78/980691 "2023-03-03T22:56:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercury-blues-david-lindley-has-passed-at-78/980691/1 "2023-03-03T22:56:39Z")
I’ve been a big fan for over 40 years. I saw El Rayo X open for the Grateful Dead in ‘87 and saw him solo many times over the years since most recently maybe five years ago. He was a crazy character and a master of any stringed instrument from all over the world. Such a great entertainer. [https://claremont-courier.com/latest-news/iconic-claremont-musician-david-lindley-dead-at-78-72983/](https://claremont-courier.com/latest-news/iconic-claremont-musician-david-lindley-dead-at-78-72983/) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercury-blues-david-lindley-has-passed-at-78/980691/2 "2023-03-03T23:04:11Z")
He’d been terribly sick with Long Covid complications, I’m glad his misery is ended, but damn. An incredibly gifted musician and a profoundly good person. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercury-blues-david-lindley-has-passed-at-78/980691/3 "2023-03-03T23:09:33Z")
Gonna buy me a Mercury and cruise it up and down the road! Back when I thought more about such things, I was of the opinion that is someone didn’t at least KNOW DL - and preferably appreciate his playing - then they simply didn’t KNOW music! ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercury-blues-david-lindley-has-passed-at-78/980691/4 "2023-03-03T23:18:09Z")
Been a fan for many. many years. I think he was a large part of Mr. Browne’s success. Since it was mentioned in the thread title, here’s the original: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/QsTfCITzISM/hqdefault.jpg "K.C. Douglas - Mercury Blues (1952)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsTfCITzISM) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2023, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercury-blues-david-lindley-has-passed-at-78/980691/5 "2023-03-04T00:05:38Z")
Here’s Lindley’s version. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/TAbbgSKUZB4/hqdefault.jpg "David Lindley - Mercury Blues - The Roxy, Washington DC 1988") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAbbgSKUZB4) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2023, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercury-blues-david-lindley-has-passed-at-78/980691/6 "2023-03-04T01:04:25Z")
I knew him mostly from his work with Jackson Browne but he really did get around. Someone who should have been a household name but was probably comfortable with his level of fame. On a personal note for some reason I always assumed he was playing guitar on “Doctor My Eyes.” It was an embarrassingly short time ago I found out it was Jesse Ed Davis. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2023, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercury-blues-david-lindley-has-passed-at-78/980691/7 "2023-03-04T01:17:01Z")
Lindley also sang the falsetto part of Browne’s “The Load Out/Stay” (“_Oh won’t you stay / Just a little bit longer_”) ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2023, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercury-blues-david-lindley-has-passed-at-78/980691/8 "2023-03-04T02:01:22Z")
His pedal steel work on Running on Empty mesmerized me as a kid and made me a lifelong fan of the instrument. RIP. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2023, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercury-blues-david-lindley-has-passed-at-78/980691/9 "2023-03-04T22:15:20Z")
Lindley was also a major contributor to a number of Warren Zevon songs. Here he is olaying guitar on ‘Prison Grove’, a song Zevon wrote about being condemned to die. In his case, by a cancer diagnosis. Lindley solo about 2 minutes in. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9Ctp2QbLYxY/hqdefault.jpg "Warren Zevon- Prison Grove") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ctp2QbLYxY) Zevon always managed to attract top talent. Along with Lindley, Bruce Springsteen, T Bone Burnett, Jackson Browne and Billy Bob Thornton are singing backup, Ry Cooder is playing slide. ---
**Author:** ![kwintenstraler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kwintenstraler/32/10698_2.png) [@kwintenstraler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kwintenstraler)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2023, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercury-blues-david-lindley-has-passed-at-78/980691/10 "2023-03-04T22:18:57Z")
Aw man, that is sad news. Love his music. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2023, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercury-blues-david-lindley-has-passed-at-78/980691/11 "2023-03-05T11:53:31Z")
Such sad news, so much great music. I didn’t know he was sick, but if he had the long covid, I guess this tune is in order [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/x9TWNemXQ1E/maxresdefault.jpg "Tu-Ber-Cu-Lucas and the Sinus Blues") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9TWNemXQ1E) ---
**Author:** ![kwintenstraler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kwintenstraler/32/10698_2.png) [@kwintenstraler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kwintenstraler)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercury-blues-david-lindley-has-passed-at-78/980691/12 "2023-03-06T14:52:23Z")
If the boogie woogie kills me Then I don’t mind dying ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercury-blues-david-lindley-has-passed-at-78/980691/13 "2023-03-06T19:06:10Z")
Listen to him play the banjo in his mid-sixties psychedelic band, The Kaleidoscope: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/gmO9Qgir4EI/maxresdefault.jpg "Banjo") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmO9Qgir4EI) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercury-blues-david-lindley-has-passed-at-78/980691/14 "2023-03-06T19:24:04Z")
A beautiful tribute from Rolling Stone. > **[There Were Sidemen. And Then There Was David Lindley](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/david-lindley-tribute-remembrance-interview-1234690862/?fbclid=IwAR1kkH2mpYEnjGpE4ss3cn_p-yOjyWqCllio3DOR9tK0eBhZmlH-jxVpIcM)** > > The legendary musician didn’t just accompany L.A. rock legends — he shaped the sound of an era ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercury-blues-david-lindley-has-passed-at-78/980691/15 "2023-03-07T04:00:00Z")
Great, now I’m late for work after YouTubeing those tunes.