Boy, another blow to the gut this morning to hear about the death of Kate McGarrigle. Kate and Anna McGarrigle were most popular back in the 1970s with their mix of contemporary folk and traditional songs from their French-Canadian background. They were best known to American audiences for the Linda Ronstadt song “Heart Like A Wheel”, but I am told that an entire generation of Canadians remember them best for the “Log Driver’s Waltz”, which was a tune used as the soundtrack to a short-subject film that played on Canadian television for years. These days, Kate had become better known for being the mother of Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright (their father is the folk singer Loudon Wainwright III).
My own favorite album was one of the later ones from Kate & Anna, along with the rest of their family and several of their well-known collaborators: The McGarrigle Hour. Born of their family’s traditional Saturday-night sing-alongs, the album represents what I think is the best of their music and their broad influence on folk music in general. Recorded not long after the death of Kate and Anna’s mother, the album is also a sometimes-poignant remembrance; it’s impossible to listen to them sing “What’ll I Do” or “Goodnight Sweetheart” and not feel their grief. Bridget and I got to see them perform many of the songs from the album at a concert in Cambridge when it first came out, complete with the not-yet-famous Rufus and Martha in tow, and it was a memorable performance.
As of this posting, the McGarrigle website hasn’t posted anything about Kate’s passing. The CBC article linked above says she was suffering from cancer, and became gravely ill last weekend. The McGarrigle site does have the YouTube clip below of Kate singing her newest song at a Christmas concert in London. The folk music world will miss her greatly.
I was so sad to hear that today. I adore them and NaCL or Dig My Grave are two of my faves. I also adore Rufus, A-DORE. My heart goes out to the family beacuase they really did all seem so tight and they seemed to actually all like each other (as much as any tight knit family can)
Yes, those are two of my favorite songs as well. I am a bit less avid about Rufus; when he sings he makes a huge amount of noise breathing and it bugs the hell out of me.
A well written tribute. She was quite special and I felt sad when I heard about her death.