i've written several emails in the last few weeks to old friends, new friends, people i hardly knew concerning my guitar hero david enloe. he was one of the two tremendous guitarists in the fabulous knobs (the other being keith taylor) and later of the woods, marti jones and don dixon's mid 80's touring band and with winston-salem's the carneys in the late 80s. it's hard to think of david without his lifelong musical pals terry anderson and jack cornell (most notably known collectively as "the woods").
it's no exaggeration that i saw 90% of all their eastern and central north carolina gigs from their inception in 1985 or so (after dan baird left the woodpeckers to reform the georgia satellites) until their breakup in 1993.
most of the correspondence involved phrases like "my guitar hero" as i wrote above, but also ones such as "jokester", "friend", "influence", "template for rock and roll cool". he was all these things. he was the middle enloe brother, steve being the eldest and my close ncsu college friend mark as the youngest. it was through mark that i met david in the fall of 1980. the fabulous knobs were the hottest act around then and over time, i got to know david through mark. i can't describe how honored i was that david even knew my name then. he was that much of a musical giant to me. i was just learning guitar that fall and i studied his fingers and stage presence probably more than i cracked my college books then. he put into motion, just by being himself, that talented man, so many friendships and musical careers. i could chart it out here if i had a chalk board and a way to draw it.
he died today, november 27, 2007 from complications due to advanced liver disease in raleigh at wake medical center. i visited him two weeks ago with close friends herbie saint (the hanks), bo hemphill and becky tilley mullen. he was extremely tired and looked exactly as ill as terry anderson and keith taylor had decribed in emails and blogs. so awful to see him suffer like that. but those guys and brother mark, jack cornell and others were so good to him up to the very end. we should all be so lucky to have friends like that in our time of need. david's mom passed away this spring and i know the blow is unimaginable to steve and mark. i can only send my prayers and offers of comfort, but it's going to take some time for them to process this. i know i could not think of work at all today. my thoughts were often sad, though i did have several musical memories come to mind. i'll post more when i can revisit this later in the week.
until then, here's the news story of his passing by the news and observer's david menconi (he kindly called me for some quotes, but i was so adrift it was hard getting anything coherent for him to use, but he did a good job).
http://www.newsobserver.com/front/story/796627.html
also his soul brother terry anderson's blog.
http://whassupta.blogspot.com/
and former roadie (and my old ragdads bandmate) bob davis' blog.
http://bd58.blogspot.com/
bless you david. shine on old friend. you've been in my heart for a long time and will surely be there now that you're on to a better place.
edit: 11.30.07 - david's burial is tomorrow in robbins, nc. i have a gig later that night in durham. definitely gonna play his song "sand" and maybe even "cat out of the bag" if i can show it to the guys. i've also put together a memorial page for him. go hear the mp3s of his terrific and timeless songs.
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david's in a rock and roll band and can play the rock riffs and a slide. he can play the blues and bobby keys asks him how the sax solos should sound and when to come in. he stays up all night and every song he writes is a hit. they rid around in a ex-uhaul truck and play every club up and down the east coast. they, terry and jack and keith and dave and jamie and debra, open up for some show and close down some others. and they come and go in the bars as they please. you don't see em but they're there. you can't take your soul with you when you leave there on the stage.
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