We co-headlined a national tour with Bonnie Raitt. Eventually I did have a band with him, and it was a rich and varied musical environment. We played a lot of songs I had written up until then, some old songs we both knew, and songs friends had written. I decided we would tour that way, as a duo, despite having a single on the charts that required drums, bass, and congas to play properly. When he came back, I tried putting together a touring band with him, but it wasn’t as good as with just the two of us. What he was playing made it more emotional and more real than it had ever sounded in the years I had played it alone.ĭavid was in England playing with Terry Reid when I made my first album. It didn’t matter that he had never heard the song before. His playing was so emotional, and immediate – it cast a spell over me and everyone there. We started to play my song These Days, and my world changed. I already knew him from the band Kaleidoscope, whose first album, Side Trips, was one of my favorite records.

My friend Jimmy Fadden of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band had brought him to say hello, and pointed out that David had his fiddle with him, saying he would probably sit in if I asked him to. I played with David for the first time in a dressing room at the Troubadour in 1969. Words have never been enough to describe what David Lindley brought to a song. I want to join in the resounding chorus of appreciation for his gifts, but nothing I write seems quite good enough. The outpouring of love, and the widespread recognition of his mastery has been very moving. David Lindley, the guitarist, lap steel and fiddle player who gave his personality and his inspiration to so many of my songs, passed away on March 3rd.

Kaleidoscope david lindley