News out that the world has lost one of the most talented players ever.
David Lindley, who played so many different axes that Acoustic Guitar referred to him not as a “multi-instrumentalist” but a “maxi-instrumentalist,” passed away today at the age of 78.
Born in San Marino, near Los Angeles, Lindley became proficient at guitar, electric and acoustic bass, lap steel, fiddle, ukulele, bouzouki, oud and a host of other instruments. He first gained renown with the L.A.-based multi-genre psychedelic band Kaleidoscope. He later moved to the UK and performed with Terry Reid and appeared on Reid’s Tom Dowd-produced LP “River.”
Returning to L.A. in the early 70s, he began an eight-year stretch with Jackson Browne, contributing his unmistakable slide guitar to Browne’s sound. During the period, he also performed with James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt and others.
In 1981, he formed El Rayo-X, who scored hits with “Mercury Blues” and “Your Old Lady.” In the 1990s, he teamed up with drummer/percussionist Wally Ingram in the duo Twango Bango, while guesting on albums by Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton and numerous others.
David was a talent like no other, with an astonishing breadth of musical knowledge. His discography would be unbelievable were it not real, and if I tried to make a representative collection here, this diary would never load. Suffice it to say that, if you put needle to a groove sometime in the last half-century plus, you’re familiar with his work. His passing leaves an unfillable hole in the world of music.