Latest news with #Youngbloods
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Don 'Dog Patch Legend' Youngblood passes away at 86
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — He was a local legend known for his generosity, holiday traditions, and decades of service along Jacksboro highway. This evening, Wichita Falls is mourning the loss of Don Youngblood. Whether you know him from his giveaways or just stopped by for gas and a conversation, Don Youngblood left a mark on just about everyone he met. He passed away Sunday at the age of 86, but his legacy lives on through the kindness he shared throughout the community. For more than six decades, Youngblood's service station on Jacksboro highway was more than a pit stop, it was a community staple, and Don Youngblood was at the heart. Known to some as 'The Dog Patch Legend', Youngblood was a familiar face to generations of customers, meeting everyone with a smile, jokes or a story, but it was every Halloween when don's generosity truly took center stage. 'He wanted Christmas to be equal for kids, but since he couldn't do that, he made it happen for Halloween. So, everybody, parents and children each got a can coke and a snickers bar and then in the parking lot of Youngbloods, he would raffle off 10 brand new girl bicycles and 10 brand new boy bicycles,' Don's longtime friend, Diane said. For Don, it wasn't about the recognition, it was about giving people a reason to smile, something Don did until the very end. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Michael Hurley, singer-songwriter and 'Godfather of freak folk,' dies at 83
Michael Hurley, the eccentric singer and songwriter who pioneered the "freak-folk" movement and inspired generations of artists, has died. He was 83. "It is with a resounding sadness that the Hurley family announces the recent sudden passing of the inimitable Michael Hurley,' Hurley's family said in a statement to Rolling Stone. 'The 'Godfather of freak folk' was for a prolific half-century the purveyor of an eccentric genius and compassionate wit. He alone was Snock. There is no other. Friends, family, and the music community deeply mourn his loss.' The family did not offer cause of death or a list of survivors. Hurley, born in Pennsylvania, honed his cracked perspective on bluegrass, blues and folk in the Greenwich Village folk scene in New York in the '60s, after producer and folklorist Fred Ramsey picked him up on a hitchiking ramble. He released his debut album, 1964's "First Songs," on Folkways, the acclaimed home of Woody Guthrie and curator Harry Smith's "Anthology of American Folk Music." Hurley's talents were manifold — he designed and illustrated most of his charming hand-drawn album art, and learned a diversity of instruments including banjo and fiddle. His songs had a stark, strange quality that could be both beautiful (as on "Be Kind to Me" and "Valley of Tears") and surreal ("What Made My Hamburger Disappear?" or "You're a Dog; Don't Talk to Me"). He was a childhood friend of future Youngbloods singer Jesse Colin Young, who would champion Hurley's skewed vision by releasing 1971's "Armchair Boogie" and 1972's "Hi Fi Snock Uptown" on his Warner Bros. imprint Raccoon. 1976's "Have Moicy!" became an underground cult favorite, and his rapidly expanding catalog would grow to more than 30 LPs. Along the way, indie rockers and like-minded singer songwriters like Lucinda Williams and Cat Power (who hauntingly interpreted his single "Werewolf" on her classic 2003 LP "You Are Free") would champion his work. Devendra Banhart released Hurley albums on his Gnomonsong label, and Hurley appeared in the 2018 film "Leave No Trace," where he performed "O My Stars." "Calling me an outsider artist … yes, I think it's apt," he told the Guardian in 2021. "It's taken me a long time to join the gang... I didn't enjoy the process of applying for gigs, that determination to penetrate things, all this trouble you had to go through. I preferred playing parties. Little gatherings. Drinking with friends, hopping across the river.' Hurley lived in rural Oregon in his final years, releasing his last album, "The Time of the Foxgloves," in 2021. He continued to write and perform at gigs including the Big Ears festival in Tennessee just days before his death. Get notified when the biggest stories in Hollywood, culture and entertainment go live. Sign up for L.A. Times entertainment alerts. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Michael Hurley, singer-songwriter and ‘Godfather of freak folk,' dies at 83
Michael Hurley, the eccentric singer and songwriter who pioneered the 'freak-folk' movement and inspired generations of artists, has died. He was 83. 'It is with a resounding sadness that the Hurley family announces the recent sudden passing of the inimitable Michael Hurley,' Hurley's family said in a statement to Rolling Stone. 'The 'Godfather of freak folk' was for a prolific half-century the purveyor of an eccentric genius and compassionate wit. He alone was Snock. There is no other. Friends, family, and the music community deeply mourn his loss.' The family did not offer cause of death or a list of survivors. Hurley, born in Pennsylvania, honed his cracked perspective on bluegrass, blues and folk in the Greenwich Village folk scene in New York in the '60s, after producer and folklorist Fred Ramsey picked him up on a hitchiking ramble. He released his debut album, 1964's 'First Songs,' on Folkways, the acclaimed home of Woody Guthrie and curator Harry Smith's 'Anthology of American Folk Music.' Hurley's talents were manifold — he designed and illustrated most of his charming hand-drawn album art, and learned a diversity of instruments including banjo and fiddle. His songs had a stark, strange quality that could be both beautiful (as on 'Be Kind to Me' and 'Valley of Tears') and surreal ('What Made My Hamburger Disappear?' or 'You're a Dog; Don't Talk to Me'). He was a childhood friend of future Youngbloods singer Jesse Colin Young, who would champion Hurley's skewed vision by releasing 1971's 'Armchair Boogie' and 1972's 'Hi Fi Snock Uptown' on his Warner Bros. imprint Raccoon. 1976's 'Have Moicy!' became an underground cult favorite, and his rapidly expanding catalog would grow to more than 30 LPs. Along the way, indie rockers and like-minded singer songwriters like Lucinda Williams and Cat Power (who hauntingly interpreted his single 'Werewolf' on her classic 2003 LP 'You Are Free') would champion his work. Devendra Banhart released Hurley albums on his Gnomonsong label, and Hurley appeared in the 2018 film 'Leave No Trace,' where he performed 'O My Stars.' 'Calling me an outsider artist … yes, I think it's apt,' he told the Guardian in 2021. 'It's taken me a long time to join the gang... I didn't enjoy the process of applying for gigs, that determination to penetrate things, all this trouble you had to go through. I preferred playing parties. Little gatherings. Drinking with friends, hopping across the river.' Hurley lived in rural Oregon in his final years, releasing his last album, 'The Time of the Foxgloves,' in 2021. He continued to write and perform at gigs including the Big Ears festival in Tennessee just days before his death.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Michael Hurley death: Greenwich Village outsider folk singer dies at 83
Michael Hurley, the singer-songwriter who emerged from the Greenwich Village folk scene in the 1960s and became an influential outsider artist, has died. He was 83. In addition to releasing over 30 albums, Hurley was also a cartoonist and painter. He often referred to himself by the nickname 'Snock.' In a statement to Rolling Stone, his family said: 'It is with a resounding sadness that the Hurley family announces the recent sudden passing of the inimitable Michael Hurley. 'The 'Godfather of freak folk' was for a prolific half-century the purveyor of an eccentric genius and compassionate wit. He alone was Snock. There is no other. Friends, family, and the music community deeply mourn his loss.' Hurley was born on December 20, 1941 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. By his early 20s he had found his way to Greenwich Village in New York City where he became a key figure on the burgeoning folk scene. He recorded his debut album, First Songs, for Folkways Records in 1963 and was championed by his friend and fellow singer-songwriter Jesse Colin Young, who died last month. When Young's band the Youngbloods landed their own label imprint, Racoon, he tracked down Hurley in Boston and encouraged him to record two further albums, 1971's Armchair Boogie and 1972's Hi Fi Snock Uptown. In 1976 he released perhaps his most acclaimed album, Have Moicy!, a collaboration with members of the Holy Modal Rounders. He continued to put out records consistently over the next four decades, releasing his final album The Time of the Foxgloves in 2021. During that time he travelled the United States extensively, living variously in New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, Vermont, Ohio, Florida and Oregon. He self-published several magazines, includingThe Underground Monthly, The Outcry, and The Morning Tea. His usually drew the artwork for his own albums, often featuring the cartoon werewolf characters Jocko and Boone. The pair, who were based on dogs Hurley's family had owned when he was a child, also starred in comic books that he created. He continued touring and performing right until the end of his life, and died shortly after returning home from the avant-garde Big Ears festival in Knoxville, Tennessee. He had three children with his ex wife, Marjorie: two sons, Jordan and Colorado, and a daughter, Daffodil. He had two more children with different mothers: a son, Rollin, with a girlfriend, Kim, and a daughter, Wilder Mountain Honey, with another girlfriend, Bethany.
The Independent
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Michael Hurley death: Greenwich Village outsider folk singer dies at 83
Michael Hurley, the singer-songwriter who emerged from the Greenwich Village folk scene in the 1960s and became an influential outsider artist, has died. He was 83. In addition to releasing over 30 albums, Hurley was also a cartoonist and painter. He often referred to himself by the nickname 'Snock.' In a statement to Rolling Stone, his family said: 'It is with a resounding sadness that the Hurley family announces the recent sudden passing of the inimitable Michael Hurley. 'The 'Godfather of freak folk' was for a prolific half-century the purveyor of an eccentric genius and compassionate wit. He alone was Snock. There is no other. Friends, family, and the music community deeply mourn his loss.' Hurley was born on December 20, 1941 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. By his early 20s he had found his way to Greenwich Village in New York City where he became a key figure on the burgeoning folk scene. He recorded his debut album, First Songs, for Folkways Records in 1963 and was championed by his friend and fellow singer-songwriter Jesse Colin Young, who died last month. When Young's band the Youngbloods landed their own label imprint, Racoon, he tracked down Hurley in Boston and encouraged him to record two further albums, 1971's Armchair Boogie and 1972's Hi Fi Snock Uptown. In 1976 he released perhaps his most acclaimed album, Have Moicy!, a collaboration with members of the Holy Modal Rounders. He continued to put out records consistently over the next four decades, releasing his final album The Time of the Foxgloves in 2021. During that time he travelled the United States extensively, living variously in New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, Vermont, Ohio, Florida and Oregon. He self-published several magazines, including The Underground Monthly, The Outcry, and The Morning Tea. His usually drew the artwork for his own albums, often featuring the cartoon werewolf characters Jocko and Boone. The pair, who were based on dogs Hurley's family had owned when he was a child, also starred in comic books that he created. He continued touring and performing right until the end of his life, and died shortly after returning home from the avant-garde Big Ears festival in Knoxville, Tennessee. He had three children with his ex wife, Marjorie: two sons, Jordan and Colorado, and a daughter, Daffodil. He had two more children with different mothers: a son, Rollin, with a girlfriend, Kim, and a daughter, Wilder Mountain Honey, with another girlfriend, Bethany.
