Farewell, Kate McGarrigle

Very sad to note the death of Kate McGarrigle, maybe nowadays better known as the holy mother of Rufus Wainwright but a shining example to him in terms of good songwriting. My favourite number of the McGarrigle sisters, 'Southern Boys', with its melancholy arrangement and indeterminate tonality to begin with, isn't on YouTube, but there are a couple of other numbers from the same album, including the title track.



'Dancer with Bruised Knees' was once listed - I forget by whom - as among the top ten albums of the last half-century. The instrumentations show quirky genius; the lyrics still speak to us.

Seems like an odd way to look at it, but maybe this will give Rufus the spur he needs to go deeper.

PS: contacted my Arts Desk colleagues to see who might be willing to write a more detailed tribute than I could, and Sue Steward came up with this - which made me shed another tear or two.