Kate MacGarrigle

[miserableoldgit]

I was absolutely gobsmacked and very, very sad to hear about the death of Kate MacGarrigle at the age of 63. The mother of Rufus and Martha Wainwright, she performed with her sister Anna since the early 70`s and her last appearance was at the Albert Hall last December. I saw them on a number of occaisions and loved their brand of acoustic music. She will be sadly missed'

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xzwJVNTNKs

 

http://www.mcgarrigles.com/

Edited 22 January, 2010 by miserableoldgit

[Hamilton Saint]

Yes, that was sad news.

 

The McGarrigle sisters were brilliant. I saw them play live several times; I loved their laid-back performance style - completely devoid of show-biz bs.

 

I suppose their most well-known song was Heart Like a Wheel, recorded by Linda Ronstadt. That was one of Anna's. Perhaps Kate's most exquisite song was Talk To Me of Mendicino from their first, eponymous album.

 

They were well-known within the English folk-rock tradition and occasionally provided balk-up vocals for the likes of Richard and Linda Thompson.

 

Kate and Anna were not that prolific (about 10 albums over the course of their career), so there were often long gaps between recordings. But every album had its hidden gems.

 

They harmonised so beautifully together - like so many musical siblings.

 

Kate will be sorely missed. R.I.P.

[miserableoldgit]

I have all of their albums and the first - which was Melody Makers "Album of the Year" in 1976 - is my favourite. I`ve bought other peoples albums sometime just because Kate and Anna have been on them! I had the first series of "The Transatlantic Sessions" on DVD as a Christmas present this year, and the MacGarrigle family are featured on it (I love their rendering of "Hard Times Come Again No More") and I will not be able to ever watch it in the same way again. I am surprised how much this news has affected me TBH.

[OVER THE HILL]

Really very sad news.

I played some of their early albums again this week and

found it very moving.

Certainly some of the best music of my youth.

[Hamilton Saint]

I have all of their albums and the first - which was Melody Makers "Album of the Year" in 1976 - is my favourite. I`ve bought other peoples albums sometime just because Kate and Anna have been on them! I had the first series of "The Transatlantic Sessions" on DVD as a Christmas present this year, and the MacGarrigle family are featured on it (I love their rendering of "Hard Times Come Again No More") and I will not be able to ever watch it in the same way again. I am surprised how much this news has affected me TBH.

 

Yes, the first LP is my favourite, too.

 

I've been listening to them a lot this past week. There is a deep melancholy running through much of their material, so listening to the LPs - as Over The Hill wrote - has been very moving. Matapedia, for example, came out after the death of their mother, and several songs are responses to that.

Edited 24 January, 2010 by Hamilton Saint
typo