Tag Archives: April 11 2014

R.I.P. Dept.: Jesse Winchester Dead at 69

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Photo by Cindy Winchester.

Folksinger Jesse Winchester died this morning (April 10, 2014) from cancer, his wife Cindy Winchester told The Commercial Appeal.

Winchester died at his home in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The Commercial Appeal wrote:

The mellifluous-voiced author of “The Brand New Tennessee Waltz,” “Mississippi, You’re on My Mind” and “Biloxi,” the Memphis-raised Winchester had long been a favorite of critics and fellow musicians, covered by a wide array of artists from Wilson Pickett to the Everly Brothers, Jerry Garcia to Reba McEntire. Bob Dylan was famously quoted as saying of Mr. Winchester: “You can’t talk about the best songwriters and not include him.” In 2007, Mr. Winchester was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award from performing rights organization ASCAP for his body of work.

Read more of the obit here.

Here’s a story my wife and I wrote about Jesse in 1977 right after interviewing him.

–A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post —