Spider John Koerner’s live shows were often filled with funny one-liners, storied anecdotes and bittersweet emotions, and so was the widespread reaction to his death this past weekend.
Minnesota’s music scene is showing its love for the late Spider John Koerner
Stories involving Bob Dylan and Brian Jones were shared following the Minnesota folk/blues music hero’s death, and a memorial is in the works.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
May 20, 2024 at 9:42PM
Memorial plans were still being mapped out for the Minnesota music hero, who died of cancer early Saturday morning at the age of 85. A musical tribute with a potluck after-party at (where else?) Palmer’s Bar is being lined up next month, his son Chris Kalmbach said.
In the meantime, tributes began popping up with gusto via social media and old-school media over the past few days for the influential singer/songwriter/guitarist, best known from the pioneering early ’60s acoustic trio Koerner, Ray & Glover.
The Cedar Cultural Center — in the heart of what used to be Minneapolis’ West Bank music scene — turned its marquee into a memorial plaque that read, “R.I.P. Spider John Koerner, West Bank Music Legend.”
HiFi Hair and Records shop owner Jon Clifford proposed a more permanent honor in that neighborhood: He said the city should rename the intersection of Cedar and Riverside avenues after Koerner.
“There is no one who has left a bigger footprint on the West Bank, and never will be,” Clifford said.
In addition to her comments for the Star Tribune’s front-page obituary that ran Sunday, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame legend Bonnie Raitt offered these words to the Star Tribune: “We got to enjoy a lifetime of fun, great music and meaning. John will be remembered as one of the most beloved and important revivalists of the great folk and blues song tradition.”
The Current, KFAI and Jazz88 all aired tributes to Koerner over the weekend and posted memorials on their websites.
On Trampled by Turtles’ social media channels, the acoustic sextet’s frontman Dave Simonett recounted being too nervous/starstruck to speak to Koerner the first time he sat at the bar beside him at Palmer’s.
“In the following years, I did finally muster up the courage to talk to John and found that even though he was a booming cannon on stage, in person he was a soft-spoken, gentle soul,” Simonett wrote. “Each time I saw him play I was mesmerized. I am so happy I was able to witness Spider John Koerner play the blues.”
On X, Koerner’s fellow Minnesota blues and folk vet Paul Metsa shared a great and hopefully true tale about Bob Dylan introducing his old Minneapolis music chum to late Rolling Stones guitarist and blues enthusiast Brian Jones. Jones allegedly said of Koerner, “I thought he was Black,” because Koerner sounded like an old blues singer.
On a personal note, Metsa added, “There was no one I was more honored to call my friend and hero.”
Maybe the best story of them all so far came from longtime Dylan associate and North Shore resident Gene LaFond, who recounted a New Year’s Eve gathering sometime in this century with Koerner and his KR&G bandmate Tony Glover at Bob Dylan’s farmstead on the Crow River, about 30 miles northwest of Minneapolis. Here’s the full text LaFond posted to Facebook:
“One New Years Eve many years ago, Bob Dylan, at his little farm west of the cities said to my musical partner Larry Kegan & myself, ‘See if Koerner & Glover (Dave had passed) would like to come out for a little new years fun.’ So Larry & I brought Spider John & Tony Glover out to reunite with Bob. They sat in a circle telling stories of the past for hours. I egged Spider John into singing ‘Days of 49′ because I thought Bob had first heard it from Koerner. Spider John refused my guitar & sang it acapella. Then we sang. I think Tony blew a little harp & Bob picked up an old Martin & accompanied Larry & me on a bunch of old songs & originals. Truly mesmerizing time. At about 3 am we said our best wishes for the new year & headed home. I don’t think my feet touched the ground for weeks. There was only one Spider John Koerner. May his light shine in our hearts forever.”
As for more recent memories, Koerner’s longtime friend and sometimes lawyer Doug Myren said he was cared for in his final weeks with a crew that included family members, friends and the widow of bandmate Dave Ray, Mary Jane Mueller.
“He was well taken care of and in pretty good spirits,” Myren reported.
Myren also recounted taking Koerner to a Charlie Parr gig a few months ago at the 331 Club, probably the last time he saw his protégé perform. When a friend asked Koerner afterward how he liked hearing Parr sing one of his songs during the show, Koerner responded in his nonchalant way, “Well, actually he sang two of my songs.”
“He was always so humble and unassuming, but he did actually enjoy it when he was recognized for being the great musician he was,” Myren said.
As for Parr, he not surprisingly had a gig on Saturday night and reportedly paid tribute to him there — including playing a few songs on the guitar that Koerner now famously gave to him last year, according to the show’s opening player Daniel Kenneth Libby. “It was very moving,” Libby said.
On his own social media channels, Parr simply posted a photo of Koerner and the message, “I wouldn’t be here without you.”
Star Tribune staff music critic Jon Bream contributed to this article.
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