R.I.P. Willy DeVille

maudlin — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:57:20 -0800

Sister Sue, tell me baby what are we gonna do. She said take two candles, and then you burn them out. Make a paper boat, light it and send it out, send it out now ... Willy DeVille (formerly William Dorsay), died of pancreatic cancer on August 6, at the age of 58. So much of his music evoked the languid heat of a city night. This might be a good evening to turn it up loud. His band Mink DeVille played at CBGBs regularly during the rise of NY punk, but they were always more classic rock n roll/soul/blues/Latin than punk (Spanish Stroll; Cadillac Walk; Savoir Faire; Guardian Angel; Mixed Up Shook Up Girl). More people probably know him from the stately, gravellly Storybook Love, his collaboration with Mark Knopfler for the soundtrack of The Princess Bride. After moving to New Orleans in 1988, he continued to produce some really fine music, but most of the world never paid that much attention again. Go here or here to find any of his music that you might have missed. If you want an immediate hit, this YouTube channel has a growing selection of uploads with excellent, detailed commentary. There's a lovely 2006 interview with Willy here. And there's a lavish Wikipedia article on him here.

MetaFilter posts tagged with deville

R.I.P. Willy DeVille