Vancouver guitarist and singer Jerry Doucet died Monday on the age of 70.
The Juno-winning rocker behind the 1977 hit Mama Let Him Play died surrounded by his household after battling most cancers, his son stated.
Fellow Vancouver musician Dalannah Gail Bowen was one of Doucette’s reside backing vocals within the Nineteen Seventies.
“I’m a Doucet girl,” she instructed CBC News. “When Jerry places on the guitar, it’s magic – he takes it to a different degree…he is aware of methods to interact an viewers.
“He went national with Mama Let Him Play. It changed his life and his relationship with music.”
“These iconic songs – a very nice guy”
The album, which featured its Billboard Top 100 hit single, went platinum. People who know Doucet describe him as pleasant, charming on stage and tenacious.
Longtime bandmate Mark Ibarra says Doucette’s authentic lineup was his primary inspiration as a drummer. When Ibala moved to Vancouver greater than twenty years in the past, his solely hope was to play with the icon.
“When I first started playing drums as a kid, I used to play along with Jerry’s albums,” Ibarra instructed CBC News. “Jerry called me one day and said, ‘Okay, you come with me’… Whenever Jerry calls, I always say yes.”
His son instructed CBC News that his father’s music “will live on forever.”
“It was very special to see the joy he brought to so many people, and I will always stand by that,” Gerry Doucet Jr. stated in an interview Tuesday. “His music will live on forever and hopefully he will inspire others to pick up the guitar and follow their dreams – that’s a big deal for him.”
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Ibarra recollects a gig on the Rock the Lake competition in Kelowna in August 2016. Doucette instructed him he was unwell earlier than he fell.
But that didn’t have an effect on his efficiency.
“Suddenly he fell in the middle of our set,” Ibarra stated. “They known as the paramedics and gave him oxygen … however he went again on stage straight away and blew everybody away.
“He was supported as he performed the guitar and he performed ‘mum’ like he had by no means performed earlier than.
He went to the hospital solely after filming; his well being deteriorated thereafter.
Mark Rankin, guitarist and co-founder of Vancouver’s R&B band The Mojo Stars, recollects a 2014 charity present in New Westminster, BC with Doucette – a incapacity Doucette has supported for years Children’s annual fundraiser.
“A lot of people, like myself, were influenced by him as a songwriter,” Rankin instructed CBC News. “He’s a great guitarist, a great singer and such an iconic song — and a very nice guy.”
Two of Doucette’s personal longtime bandmates — keyboardist Kenny Boychuck and bassist Trevor Newman — later joined Rankin’s band, whereas Ibarra sometimes performed reside with The Mojo Stars.
“His songs have been the soundtrack to a lot of people, especially my generation,” Rankin stated. “A lot of people will miss him terribly.”
“Not Just Dad”
Doucet was born in Montreal in 1952. At 11, he joined his first band, The Reefers, and later performed in Brutus, Timeseed and Rocket Norton.
Only moved to BC. His solo profession started within the Nineteen Seventies and gained him a Juno Award in 1979.
“When he played guitar and rocked countless places with the Doucette band, I realized, ‘Hey, it’s not just dad,’” his son stated. “He means a lot to so many people out there.”
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