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A kinder man
I am not sure I have ever met. A most determined man with his art
he was too, and unassuming in that he never let on that he had this
special talent that had greatly affected countless people. That
effect was demonstrated by the audience's hands for every solo he
would gingerly take, and evident in the hands of those he influenced
who came after him.. those who would emulate his style such as Jerry
Douglas.
Many who followed in Josh's fingersteps took that hound dog guitar
to new heights, but none I have heard had his special soul in their
notes that he easily played in to every song. Complex in his simplicity,
he simply made you jump out of your seat sometimes with his hot
licks.
One of the worst phone calls I ever had was having Josh (I was surprised
at the time that I was even talking directly with one considered
such a musical giant) tell me the sad news 'awww.. the ol' man won't
let me pick with you boys cause Earl will be there.. and he said
as long as I was on his payroll that he didn't want me to do it”.
That was the day I found out that he would not be able to play on
the original Circle album. I will be forever grateful that later
on he played on my String Wizards albums, as he was a true wizard
in his own right.. and I could then shed a little light on him from
those who would listen to my music. Even though I was early on a
banjo player, it was his comping behind Earl and chops of rhythm
that excited me equally. It was Josh that put the dobro in the Dirt
Band, of that I have no doubt.. for all I did was play his licks
to different lyrics and hopefully spread his influence a bit that
way.
I did get him on Circle III, and will always be proud of sitting
next to him one more time for being able to pick once more with
a piece of American music history. Thank you Josh, for all your
joshin' around, and thank you for your lessons in being a nice person
that you carried with you by example. You were everyone's friend
and an inspiration of how to look at life to anyone who met you.
I am glad I am one of them.
John McEuen/0ct. 3 '06
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