Tag: RIP

RIP: A Brief Encounter with Glen Hansard

Glen Hansard, who died on July 29, 2026, created a beautiful body of music and film, as the author remembers a brief encounter with the artist.

Almost two decades ago, my future wife and I made our first trip to Ireland, a place where we each had ancestors. As part of my preparation, I rewatched the recent movie Once (2007), starring Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová as two struggling musicians in Dublin. Although Hansard, born April 21, 1970, was already known by many for his work with The Frames, like many in the U.S., I first fully discovered him from Once (although had seen his work in movie The Commitments previously). From Once, a sweet love story with a beautiful ending, he won an Oscar for the song “Falling Slowly,” which he wrote with Markéta Irglová, his co-star and Swell Season partner.

Anyway, as we boarded our airplane to Ireland from New York City, who ended up next to me in line but Glen Hansard, waiting to board with a guitar on his back. I made a brief joke about hoping he was being treated well, and we exchanged brief pleasantries. It was a brief encounter, but a nice one, and started off making the trip a little extra special. I last saw him at the airport in Dublin near the baggage claim, walking through the airport with his guitar on his back, much like he looked the last time we see him in Once.

That brings us to the sad news this morning that Hansard died in a motorcycle crash in Dublin early this morning, July 29, 2026, at the age of 56. He leaves behind his wife, a young child, friends, family, and many fans. His distinctive voice lost to us, but his music (and film work) will live on.

In addition to his wonderful original work, Hansard was known also as a great interpreter (including some great Springsteen covers) and duet partner. Even after he became famous, he was often caught busking on the streets of Dublin.

He seemed to truly love music and brought that joy to his listeners. Below he sings Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic” with Irglová.

“Yeah, when that fog horn blows / I will be coming home.” RIP.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

David Allan Coe: “Don’t You Cry”

Although David Allan Coe passed away estranged from several of his children, early in his career he wrote a demo song where the singer says farewell to his children.

Country legend David Allan Coe passed away on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. While articles about his life focus on certain songs he wrote, like “Take This Job and Shove It,” and on certain singles, like “Tennessee Whiskey,” “Longhaired Redneck,” and “You Never Even Called Me By My Name,” the man’s vast catalog cannot be summed up by a few songs. And while there will be the usual labels for the Ohio-born Coe, like “Outlaw,” he had a long and complex career full of highs and lows.

And where does one start with David Allan Coe? There were some troubled times, including stints in prison and bankruptcy. But for fans, one has to start with the music. There’s forty-two studio albums, as well as some controversial X-rated independent ones. Among his catalog is some amazing work.

And one way to start is to go back near the beginning. Some of his great songs and recordings came out during the early 1970s before finding wider success and before the rise of Outlaw country. He released his debut album Penitentiary Blues in 1970, including songs he had written in prison.

But before he had much success he worked as a staff songwriter for Window Music publishing, writing songs and creating demos for other artists. In 2005, many of these demos were finally released on For the Soul and for the Mind: Demos of ’71-’74 . Although none of the songs eventually became a hit, as Allmusic notes, they are further evidence that David Allan Coe was a poet.

One of those demos was a song called “Don’t You Cry.” And it seems like a fitting way to say goodbye for now.

Don’t you cry, children;
Don’t you cry
I’ll see you in the sweet bye and bye.

I’ve been staring at tomorrow,
knowing it might never come;
I’ve been talking about salvation,
Thinking I might get me some.

It’s so hard to beat the devil,
When he don’t play by the rules;
And I know that the Savior
Has a special place for fools.

What is your favorite David Allan Coe song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

Joe Ely’s “She Never Spoke Spanish to Me” (Song of the Day)

Joe Ely, who passed away in 2025, created some of the defining Texas music for more than fifty years as both a solo artist and working with other legends.

The year 2025 seems to be ending with a lot of bad news. With more mass shootings, we have also very recently lost artists like Todd Snider, Raol Malo, Rob Reiner and his wife. And now comes news that Joe Ely has passed away due at home in New Mexico due to “complications of Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson’s and pneumonia.”

Born in Texas on February 9, 1947, Ely became a legend of Texas country and rock music starting with his work with Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock in the Flatlanders. The band broke up in 1972 soon after recording their first album, though the three would reunite several times through the year. Ely went on to his own solo work as well as performances with artists such as The Clash, Uncle Tupelo, The Chieftains, Bruce Springsteen, and Guy Clark. That’s Ely singing backup on The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go.”

In the late 1990’s, Ely joined the supergroup Los Super Seven along with other artists including Freddy Fender, David Fender, David Hildago (Los Lobos), and Ruben Ramos. Their 1998 self-titled album won a Grammy for best Mexican-American music performance.

One of my favorite albums that has been in my collection for decades is Joe Ely’s Live Shots, recorded and released in 1980 while he was touring with The Clash. One of my favorite tracks on the album is “She Never Spoke Spanish to Me,” written by his former Flatlanders bandmate Butch Hancock. Below Ely sings the song at the International Country Festival at Ahoy Hall in Rotterdam, The Netherlands on May, 18 1978.

Those who knew the music of Ely and The Flatlanders know he was a legend. Check out more of his music, including this more recent performance of Billy Joe Shaver’s “I’m Going to Live Forever.” Here, Ely sings the song at the Music Fog showcase during SXSW 2010 at Threadgill’s in Austin, TX on March 18, 2010.

RIP Joe Ely. Leave your two cents in the comments.

Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)

Before he became a pop-country star, Kenny Rogers had a hippy sounding hit with “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In).”

Kenny Rogers passed away last night in Georgia at the age of 81. Rogers song like “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In).” Most tributes will begin with references to songs that we heard many times on pop-country radio through the years like “The Gambler,” “Lucille,” “Don’t Fall in Love With a Dreamer” and “Islands in the Stream.” Yet, I often forget that early in his career he recorded “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In” with The First Edition when he was more of a hippy than a silver-bearded pop singer.

You may recall the Kenny Rogers song from a dream sequence in the movie The Big Lebowski in 1998, but it first became a hit in 1967. “Just Dropped In” was written by one of Kenny Rogers’s former high school friends — Mickey Newbury, who also composed “An American Trilogy,” discussed in a previous post.

“Just Dropped In” sounds unlike “Coward of the County” and the other pop songs Rogers recorded later in his career. Even his voice sounds different. And the lyrics deviate from the literalness of most of his hits:

I pushed my soul in a deep dark hole and then I followed it in;

I watched myself crawlin’ out as I was a-crawlin’ in;

I got up so tight I couldn’t unwind;

I saw so much I broke my mind;

I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in.

According to some sources, “Just Dropped In” was written as a warning about using LSD. But such drug rumors surround many songs from the era.

A 2000 Billboard article “The Story So Far,” however, quotes Rogers explaining that Newbury did not intend the song to be taken completely seriously. “Mickey wrote a quasi-psychedelic song with elements of humor,” he explained. “It’s a tradition in country music to have your tongue in cheek, and that’s the case here.” (“The Story So Far,” at K-2)

One additional piece of trivia: the late great Glen Campbell played the guitar on the original recording.

Check out this psycedelic video from The Smother Brothers Hour. Kenny Rogers was always cool. RIP.

What is your favorite Kenny Rogers song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

Buy from Amazon

  • Kenny Rogers Just Dropped In
  • RIP: A Brief Encounter with Glen Hansard
  • David Allan Coe: “Don’t You Cry”
  • Joe Ely’s “She Never Spoke Spanish to Me” (Song of the Day)
  • Kenny Rogers: “The Greatest”
  • Ned Miller: The Shy Man Behind “From a Jack to a King”
    • ( Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    Ned Miller: The Shy Man Behind “From a Jack to a King”

    From a Jack to a King

    In the first week of May 2016, it was announced that singer-songwriter Ned Miller had passed away at the age of 90 in Medford, Oregon. Miller had written such songs as “Dark Moon,” “Do What You Do Well,” and “Invisible Tears.” But his best-known song was “From a Jack to a King,” which in 1963 went to number six on the Billboard pop chart (and number two on the country chart). The song also was covered by artists like Bobby Darin and Elvis Presley.

    Miller’s version of “From a Jack to a King” was initially released in 1957 and it initially did not do well. But a record company rereleased it in 1962, and for some reason the song about a man’s happiness at finding the right woman caught on the second time.

    But Miller — who was born in Utah as Henry Ned Miller on April 12, 1925 — never enjoyed the limelight. He did little touring to support “From a Jack to a King,” and he often suffered stage fright. He would sometimes ask friends to perform under his name, and he eventually stopped performing altogether because of his shyness. He stopped recording in 1970, relieved to be out of the music business.

    Another popular song that Miller wrote was “Dark Moon,” which has been recorded by Gale Storm, Chris Isaak, and Bing Crosby. Isaac’s version of “Dark Moon” was released in 1993 as a single. The song later appeared on the album Best of Chris Isaak (2006).

    Because of Miller’s preference for avoiding the spotlight, it seems fitting that his death was announced to the public nearly two months after he passed away on March 18, 2016. But we are lucky that for a period this shy man shared a little of himself with us.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • RIP: A Brief Encounter with Glen Hansard
  • David Allan Coe: “Don’t You Cry”
  • Joe Ely’s “She Never Spoke Spanish to Me” (Song of the Day)
  • Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)
  • Merle Haggard: “Kern River”
  • Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog

    • (Some Related Chimesfreedom Posts.)

    Buy from Amazon