Exceptional article. Rarely do you read about folks with great promise who fall that hard and that far....written in sympathetic terms. Yup there's a tragedy there, but it's not an unusual one. John's story mirrors that of a couple of friends of mine (one living, one dead) and I can relate to watching the inevitable take it's toll.

There were so many gifted people who thrived in the sixties, survived the seventies, hung on for dear life in the eighties, and became totally unable to support themselves, either financially or emotionally by the nineties. Much of their survival depended on young women (yes, virtually all the ones I'm thinking of were/are guys) willing to go way beyond the call of duty, either because of love, or sympathy, as caregivers/partners. When the musician in question was unable to radiate any trace of that "charisma" because of old age, or simply too many broken promises...they had to go it alone...and for that they were ill-equiped.

Thanks Justa

Rick