Tim Krekel has left the building. This is not news I wanted to hear. As I write this I hear Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson have died today as well. Wow life is so short and so precious. There is not a moment to be wasted. I knew Tim was not doing well from the words I have been reading on my laptop screen this week.
I will miss following Tim’s career. I saw him perform several times and he was a friend of many of my friends. He had a very successful life and recorded with some giants in the music business. I have his music in my collection.
Here is an excerpt from his web site outlining his working life.
Tim’s songs have been recorded by artists such as Rick Nelson, Lonnie Mack, Jerry Reed, Dr. Feelgood, Shakin’ Stevens, Canned Heat, Kathy Mattea, Jason & the Scorchers, Vern Gosdin, BJ Thomas, Delbert McClinton Aaron Tippin, Deana Carter and Kim Ritchey. Many artists have had great success with Tim’s songs. Crystal Gayle had a number one hit with Turning Away in 1984. Patty Loveless also went to number one with You Can Feel Bad, a song Tim co-wrote with Matraca Berg and that also earned Tim a BMI Country Award in 1997. Cry on the Shoulder of the Road, another Krekel/Berg penned tune was a chart topper for Martina McBride. Kim Richey’s version of Come Around, a song she co-wrote with Tim, was used in the 1999 Kevin Costner film, For Love of the Game.
There have been many people who have been thrilled to play with Tim Krekel. Some of them are well-known, but it’s also important to emphasize that Tim regularly encourages other musicians to join him for a song: His humility onstage makes it easy for those performers to do their best. They might be a little more nervous if they realized that Tim has played with performers like Jimmy Buffett, The Eagles, Billy Swan, Bo Diddley, Delbert McClinton, Skeeter Davis, Steve Forbert, Tracy Nelson, Pam Tillis, Marshall Chapman, Lonnie Mack, and Sam Bush.
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090624/SCENE04/906240390/1011/rss05
I should add that I have lived through the time where I remember Tim touring with Jimmy Buffett and performing in the movie “FM.” All of those concerts and that movie seem just like yesterday. No static at all…Sail on Tim. You will be missed.
Yeah, fifteen will get you twenty,
but that’s all right,
‘Cause they’re rockin’ and a rollin’ on a
Livingston Saturday Night.
So won’t you listen to the sound of the hot country band,
Boot heels shufflin’ on the dance floor sand,
Hum song, play some pong, eat a deviled egg,
Temperature is rising, better pop another keg.
Fifteen will get you twenty, but that’s alright,
‘Cause they’ll be rockin’ and a rollin’ on a
Livingston Saturday Night.