-
"I knew
immediately he was the real thing. Great
songwriter, with a very moving vocal sound.
Jesse's music stands up today as good as it did
then, and I am so proud to have been a part of
it." - Robbie Robertson
-
"Jesse's songs
were better than 'good', they were as enduring
and resonant a group of songs as produced by his
early 70s songwriting contemporaries who went on
to sell records in the multi-millions" - Elvis
Costello
-
“(Jesse's
catalog) is an unparalleled and timeless
patchwork quilt of finely crafted songs that
will endure as the benchmark not only for this
generation of songwriters, but all those that
follow." - Jim Della Croce
-
"As
underrated a singer as Chet Baker. As underrated
a guitarist as Willie Nelson. A man who held
the audience in the palm of his hand without
moving an inch. One of the best songwriters on
earth." - Janis Ian
-
“I’m
hard-pressed to come up with a more skilled
songwriter than Jesse Winchester. Really
hard-pressed.” - John Sebastian
-
“Revered by such
artists as Dylan, James Taylor, Jackson Browne,
Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, Joan Baez, the
Everly Brothers, Jimmy Buffett and Elvis
Costello, Jesse remained humble and quietly
content with his place in music. He had nothing
to prove, and he loved and respected his peers
and his loyal cadre of fans and admirers.” - Jim
Della Croce
-
"Actually,
that self-deprecating ingredient to the gourmet
meal that is Winchester is a taste essential to
his appeal. “Poet” isn’t a word I particularly
like to throw around, but there are very few
other people in this world more deserving of
such a categorization. There was something that
separated him from his contemporaries, an amount
of levity, an amount of intellect that brought
his tales of heartbreak, innocence, youth and
romance to life." - Colin McGuire
-
"His songs
have a delicate strength and the same quiet
dignity that he does. We will miss him terribly
when he’s gone but he’s left us a great and
enduring legacy.” - Danny O'Keefe
-
“Jesse’s songs
always spoke to me like wise and witty old
friends. He could write about absolutely any
subject with grace and humor, which is something
he had in common with Mark Twain. Whenever I saw
him perform it struck me that he could get more
out of a gut string guitar, his sweet soulful
voice and a great tune than anybody on the
planet.” - Craig Bickhardt
-
"The
performance he gave us that day, before a small
studio audience, remains one of the top
performances of my life. The audience was in the
palm of his hand within seconds." - Mary Sue
Twohy
-
"Mr.
Winchester, who was one of the most respected
singer-songwriters of his generation, recorded
more than a dozen albums and had a substantial
career as a performer.- renowned for writing
and performing intimate, touching songs that
evoked his native South."
- Washington Post
-
"Every album
Jesse made was a gem, each studded with terrific
songs." – Michael Tearson
-
"As a singer,
Winchester is under-rated. He is always the most
intelligent interpreter of his own songs. He has
a smooth voice with a broad expressive range,
and uses it to great effect on his albums. -
Throughout all of Winchester’s body of work,
perhaps influenced by his decision to move to
Canada, there is a deep concern for human
decisions and their consequences, with a careful
eye on what is lost, as well as what is gained,
at each fork in the road. His best songs always
treat their characters with dignity, and
recognition that there are no easy answers to
the human dilemma."– ReasonToRock.com
-
"He wrote
songs which reflected exactly the sort of man he
was …quiet and sweet and utterly gracious. Aside
from those wonderful songs and the sweetest
voice ever, he had an unerring moral compass."
- Garnet Roberts
-
"Besides his
unquestionable gifts as a writer and singer
Jesse was a thoughtful man the day he stood up
for himself and others by turning his back and
walking away from the front lines of bad war
knowing he might never see his beloved south
again." - Eric Andersen
-
"..
He did this quietly — which is how he always
seemed to conduct his life and career.
Winchester wasn’t a strident activist interested
in turning his life into a cause, and he never
tried to capitalize on his status as a draft
resister to further his career. Without
much effort, Winchester surely could have become
a symbol of the anti-war movement that swept
through the country in the late 1960s and early
‘70s. And it likely would have helped him sell a
lot of records in the bargain. But
Winchester never took that step." - Jon Ferguson
-
"Jesse
Winchester was one of the first
singer-songwriters I heard when I
returned from Vietnam and his music helped
re-anchor me. I was aware of his passage to
Canada, yet I could hear something in his voice
that told me he wasn't afraid and that he wasn't
running from anything. There are different kind
of warriors in this world and I believe Jesse
signed on to an Army of peacekeepers and I love
him for that. And God could he write and
sing. I was fortunate to meet him once.
Well done, Jesse!" ~ Mark Germino
-
"There was a
kind of nostalgic quality to what he wrote, but
also a kind of presence. Jesse's songs combined
the gravity of William Faulker and the levity of
Flannery O'Conner. There was a kind of
Southernness, a humor and wistfulness, all the
sort of great elements of what we consider
Southern writing in his work." - Rodney Crowell
-
"Beyond all that,
Jesse was a kind and generous human being who
wrote and sang with a rare combination of
intelligence, humanity, wit and a soulful
groove. There was none better." - Happy
Traum
-
"One of the
most soulful, humble and beautiful songwriters
I've ever heard." - Ron Sexsmith
-
Comedian Albert
Brooks tweeted a link to Winchester's
performance of
"Sham A Ling Dong Ding"
on Elvis Costello's "Spectacle"
program and said "If you watch this and you're
not moved you're dead." Comedian Jerry
Seinfeld re-tweeted Brooks'
posting to his 2.3 million followers.
-
“He lived at the
heart of the human
condition and will rank as highly as a writer as
Frank Zappa does as a composer.” - Jim Della
Croce
-
“He really
wanted to write concisely, and his songs were
three- or four-minute chunks that you couldn’t
take in on a jukebox. And I was always so amazed
at how different each song was and how each one
really expressed a new idea." - John Sebastian
-
“He was
doggedly determined to make his songs count. He
often took years to complete projects to his own
exacting standards.” - Jim Della Croce
-
"I think he
was as close to the portal of the soul as anyone
I’ve ever seen,” Mark Sustic
-
When I learned
of his death, I was not alone in feeling
suddenly bereft, as if I had lost a dear friend.
This struck me as both weird and wonderful,
given I’d seen him in concert only once and
never had any other interaction with him over
the years. But that statement misleads, ignoring
as it does the intense and repeated interactions
that take place between singer and listener,
writer and reader, painter and viewer, in a kind
of intimate dance that defies all conventions of
“relationship” as we know it. With an artist who
regularly bares his soul and invites you along
as Jesse did, the “relationship” one develops
with him or her is palpable and life-enhancing,
and its loss is real and acute. - Andrew Hidas
-
The world is a
little less gentle and a little less sweet…such
is the loss of Jesse Winchester. - Rudy
Spano
-
“Thank
you Jesse Winchester. You will be missed." -
Joan Baez
-
"Godspeed to
gentle soul and precious friend, Jesse
Winchester." - Jerry Douglas
-
Jesse was one of the most
wonderful artists that we have ever had the pleasure to work
with. He was always grateful and appreciative, a
gentleman in every way. We will miss you Jesse.
- Jim Mussleman and Alan Edwards (Appleseed)
-
He was as good
at the end of his life as he was at the
beginning. He has a quality record across his
body of work that you wouldn't bring up a lot of
peers in the same category. Everybody's best
work is pretty good, but whatever you would deem
to be Jesse's least significant work is really
good. - Mac McAnally
-
“We both knew
it was going to be his final album. We began to
record them while he was in remission. But as we
continued to work on the project, the cancer
came back and it became more obvious what was
going on. By the end he was pretty weak, but
still smiling. He was a shining example of how
to carry on and then cease to. Even in death he
was a role model.” ~ Mac McAnally
-
"Every man is a
piece of the continent, a part of the main,"
John Donne wrote. "If a clod be washed away by
the sea, Europe is the less." As is Memphis now,
and Montreal; our particular continent, with its
keen knack for taking genius for granted until
its departure. RIP Jesse. We'll still be leaning
in. - Mark Smith
