Acclaimed blues-rock musician Barry Goldberg, who was part of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band when it backed Bob Dylan during his legendary electric outing at the otherwise-acoustic Newport Folk Festival in 1965, died on Jan. 22.
He was 83.
Goldberg, who also performed/recorded with Steve Miller, Muddy Waters, Leonard Cohen, Stephen Stills and many other famed musicians, “died in hospice care after a 10-year struggle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma,” according publicist Bob Merlis. “Gail Goldberg, his wife of 53 years, and son Aram were at this bedside.”
The tremendous blues-rock keyboardist, who was also a bandleader, songwriter and producer, was born on Christmas Day of 1942 and grew up in Chicago, where he’d nurture his love of music and quickly rise through the ranks of Windy City keyboardists. As the story goes, Goldberg was still a teenager when he shared the stage with such Chicago blues legends as Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, and Howlin’ Wolf.
Despite his many different roles in the music business over the decades, Goldberg remained, first and foremost, a Chicago bluesman. As such, he was the ideal choice to help lead the Chicago Blues Reunion, a group that also featured Sam Lay, Nick Gravenites, Harvey Mandel, Corky Siegel, Tracy Nelson, Charlie Musselwhite, Jimmy Vivino, Marcy Levy and other artists the years.
In lieu of flowers, Goldberg’s family is asking that donation be made in the acclaimed musician’s name to The Bear League via savebears.org.