It’s been just over five years since Bobby Charles died. Here is his fascinating story on NPR. So many of his songs have resonance for me, a good-natured wistfullness despite the subject matter.
“He was so unpretentious and laid-back. On further investigation, you’d find out he wrote all these incredible songs.”
In his younger years, Mr. Charles raised all kinds of hell. His rogue’s resume included scrapes with the law, a busted marriage, and general excess.
“I don’t really have anybody,” Mr. Charles said in 2007. “I just don’t have a whole lot in common with the people I went to school with. I still love them as my friends, but I don’t have anything to say to ‘em. They wouldn’t believe half the (stuff) that happened to me anyway.
Here is one of the songs he co-wrote for Fats.
This was cut from The Last Waltz
The song mentioned in the NPR piece
manwithoutqualities 