On the 12th of June I woke to the news that Brian Wilson had died. Brian was a musical genius who created some of the 20th Century's greatest pop songs. His music enriched the lives of countless numbers of people, from fans to musical greats, and his death brought sadness to many. Virginia Trioli wrote a wonderful column God Only Knows Brian Wilson was a humble music fan, just like the rest of us describing how Brian was such a fan of other great musicians whilst himself inspiring generations of musicians: "about how much they loved his songs too, about how meaningful they have been in their lives as fans and musicians". Her writings inspired me to try to record my thoughts about another musician.
Later on the 12th of June I came across this video in my Facebook feed. It's Amanda Palmer and Antje Duvekot performing "Houdini's Box" as a tribute to Jill Sobule. That's when I learnt of Jill's death. Jill died in a house fire on the 1st of May.
But let's return to Brian for a moment. I'll be honest, when I heard of his death my initial reaction was surprise that he lived so long. Don't get me wrong, I love songs like "God Only Knows" and "Good Vibrations". But, his music wasn't part of the soundtrack of my life. I'm not young, I'm 60. By the time I started listening to music, Brian was well down the dark well of addiction and mental illness, and the Beach Boys were musical history. The only Beach Boys song to be a hit during my living memory was Kokomo, hardly a classic of the genre. Sure, I have "Pet Sounds" and it's a great album. But it's not something I've played countless times. I don't have an emotional connection to it. It's great music, but that's all it is to me. It was groundbreaking in it's time, but it's not part of my time.
Back to Jill. Jill was a working musician, not a star. In their tribute, Amanda talks about Jill's constant touring, crashing with a network of friends. She had a couple of minor hits in the 90s with "I Kissed a Girl" and "Supermodel". Her 1995 self titled album was never going to be on Rolling Stones greatest albums list. Yet, it's one of the most listened in my collection. For Jill was a storyteller, one who told stories through her songs. Songs like "Margaret" and "Karen by Night" told quirky tales whilst "Vrbana Bridge", about the traffic deaths of Admira Ismić and Boško Brkić on the Vrbanja bridge in Sarajevo, touched me deeply. Her more recent work includes songs like Island of Lost Things and the autobiographical musical "F*ck 7th Grade" (which according to the New York Times was "for the nerds who grew up to be the cool people").
It's fair to say that I noted Brian's death but I grieved when I found out that Jill had died.
Variety has listed a series of Jill Sobule tribute shows, dubbed "Jillith Fair", to be held around the US and featuring artists such as Amanda Palmer, Lisa Loeb, Margaret Cho and Tom Morello. Proceeds go to causes Jill supported. If you're brave enough to travel to the US in the next few months, perhaps you could catch one. If not, then you might enjoy "America Back"
Jill had A Good Life and will be deeply missed.
The ABC's obituary.
Dan Condon of Double J spoke to Jill in 2017.
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