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Kate McGarrigle 1946–2010
Jan. 21st, 2010 12:02 pmRest in peace, Kate. You gave the world wonderful, gritty, funny, celestial songs. You and Anna have always been an inspiration to me.
I first became aware of Kate and Anna McGarrigle in 1983, and that's when I saw them in concert the first of four times. While writing for singers from Linda Ronstadt to Emmylou Harris and earning the respect of a huge swath of musicians, they maintained a simplicity and humility in their approach. Despite her early success in wilds of Hollywood, Kate returned from LA to raise her kids back home in Quebec and that's where the sisters maintained their base for the rest of their careers. A concert of theirs often felt like you'd been invited to an informal jam in their living room. As their kids grew up, they would join them onstage along with their extended musical family.
When the extended family recently appeared on Martha Stewart to promote a Christmas concert at Carnegie Hall, they flubbed the first line of the carol they were singing, stopped, announced, "That's terrible!" checked their notes and started again. That was a typical McGarrigle moment. I sometimes wonder if they didn't almost deliberately sabotage themselves to keep things from straying into the slick. Set lists were usually constructed at the last possible second. They would call out to each other on stage asking what key the next song was in.
Kate's children, Rufus and Martha Wainwright, have done well for themselves, but they've both stayed connected to their family musical heritage.
Here's Kate and Rufus singing on Elvis Costello's "Spectacle" last year. Even as the cancer slowly took her life over four years, she kept performing and writing.
And finally, here are Kate and Anna McGarrigle with their song "Why Must We Die?" off their beautiful 1996 CD, Matapedia (Anna on lead vocals).
I first became aware of Kate and Anna McGarrigle in 1983, and that's when I saw them in concert the first of four times. While writing for singers from Linda Ronstadt to Emmylou Harris and earning the respect of a huge swath of musicians, they maintained a simplicity and humility in their approach. Despite her early success in wilds of Hollywood, Kate returned from LA to raise her kids back home in Quebec and that's where the sisters maintained their base for the rest of their careers. A concert of theirs often felt like you'd been invited to an informal jam in their living room. As their kids grew up, they would join them onstage along with their extended musical family.
When the extended family recently appeared on Martha Stewart to promote a Christmas concert at Carnegie Hall, they flubbed the first line of the carol they were singing, stopped, announced, "That's terrible!" checked their notes and started again. That was a typical McGarrigle moment. I sometimes wonder if they didn't almost deliberately sabotage themselves to keep things from straying into the slick. Set lists were usually constructed at the last possible second. They would call out to each other on stage asking what key the next song was in.
Kate's children, Rufus and Martha Wainwright, have done well for themselves, but they've both stayed connected to their family musical heritage.
Here's Kate and Rufus singing on Elvis Costello's "Spectacle" last year. Even as the cancer slowly took her life over four years, she kept performing and writing.
And finally, here are Kate and Anna McGarrigle with their song "Why Must We Die?" off their beautiful 1996 CD, Matapedia (Anna on lead vocals).
