From James Yorkston (via Domino):
A sad weekend. My good friend Doogie Paul died of cancer early on Saturday morning. Doogie had played double bass with me since 2001 and we’d toured all over together, playing hundreds of shows and recording five albums and numerous other things. He’d been first diagnosed a couple of years ago, but had appeared to have responded well to the treatment, to such an extent that he was well enough to play the Moving Up Country 10th Anniversary shows earlier this year. However, he relapsed at some point and this was discovered just a few weeks ago. He went down hill very quickly towards the end of last week.
His playing was spot on, instinctive and passionate. Onstage I could always rely on him to follow me down which ever path I took the songs, going off the rails spectacularly if needs be, or sitting back and playing beautifully softly, singing along with that crazy almost falsetto voice of his. I remember his harmonies in ‘Blue Bleezin’ Blind Drunk’ crossed the line between the major and the minor and sounded downright odd, but they also worked somehow, suggesting all sorts of different emotions. And he could speak abstract too - or pretended to, which helped me a great deal. So, if I said - I want a song to sound like an angry bear who’s just dropped his chainsaw onto his foot, Doog would give it a go, without raising an eyebrow - at least not whilst I was in the room. And as a musician, you need people like that, people who’ll trust you and go with your daft whims. It’s a hugely valuable trait. […]
You can pay your own condolences at the public facebook group remembering Doogie here.
• James Yorkston: http://www.jamesyorkston.co.uk
• Domino: http://www.dominorecordco.com
More about: Doogie Paul, James Yorkston And The Athletes
