This was a man with a beautiful tenor voice, a musical guitarist, and a great teacher. McCabe's Guitar Shop has a great loss. He overcame a childhood stuttering problem by singing and playing for people. His father Jake was a friend and host to folk singers such as Carl Sandburg and Woody Guthrie. Jake Zeitlin ran a large bookstore, Zeitlin and ver Brugge on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles. He introduced folk music to Dave as a child. Dave grew up in an environment that fostered the expertise as a folk song performer. He sang Mexican songs beautifully as well as American mountain ballads. He was an empathic and compassionate guy with ability as a fine music teacher. He tried his hand at advertising, getting a degree in it from Arizona U. but soon found that the phoniness and superficiality of it didn't work for him so he elected to teach guitar and voice instead. I think he made a good career choice. I know that he left many indebted appreciative students who will always remember him. We had great times together. With Stan Halperin, the three of us explored Mexican music in Tijuana. Dave was around at the inception of the song We Shall Overcome when he recalled Guy Carawan and I in the back seat of his old Buick revamping the song prior to Guy's introduction of the song in Greensboro, N.C. Everyone who knew Dave loved him. He was kind, gentle, and optimistic without being cloying or phony about it. I remember him singing Lilian "Boss" Ross's song, with the tune by Sam Eskin, "The South Coast" effectively and dramatically. Dave was in the theater department at Los Angeles City College. I often had lunch with him and the actor/director Alan Arkin across the street from the school. So many memories and I am deeply saddened by his departure. I thought Mudcatters should know about him. Oh yes, he produced a children's album by his first wife Patti and Marcia Berman (McCabe). Thanks for indulging my remembrance of him which always brings to mind the many people in music that are never nationally recognized but serve influentially in their own communities.
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