I couldn't read beyond the first ten posts or so, it was so sad to see the blaming going on. Yeah yeah yeah - it's a persons choice to drink or drug up to the point where they become physically dependent upon a substance - then it's a matter of life and death for them. If they abstain - they may die. Alcohol is the worst to come down from - more dangerous even than heroin according to the drug treatment nurses I am friends with.

Look folks - Alcoholism is a progressive disease and often fatal. If anyone who goes to these shows and sees these displays truly cares, why not make an effort to get the man into treatment? I know, I know - it's never that sinmple but conisder this:

My father has been sober for 30 years and he's been known to walk up to strangers who he's observed in the state described by the OP and quietly convince them to accompany him right then and there to an AA meeting or a hospital. I realize its not that simple, but sometimes a total stranger can have more influence over someone than family, friends or business colleagues. He even walked up to a guy he had arrested once who had only been out of prsion a few weeks and who was already back to dribnking himself into oblivion. Much to my mother's horror, he brought the man home to clean him up a bit and then proceded to accompany him to meeting after meeting for weeks.

The wonderful musisican John Fahey suffered from progressive alcoholism and he's not around now as a result. There are dozens of others we could name. All people seemed to be concerned with is how the musicians alcoholism impacts their enjoyment of a show or how it "ruins" their fond memories. In all the threads such as these where we see complaining about drunken performers there seem to be two postions with the first being it's an offense against the consumer and all the artist's fault with the other being, "Oh well, these things do happen and there's naught to be done about it."

I don't know Davey Graham's situation at all so this is more of a general comment about alcoholic musicians. If you genuinely love the man or woman's music and don't want to be reading their Obit, it's OK for you to go up to them and give it a try. Ask them if they need help. Ask if they want to go on that way. if they say "Yes I need help", and they just might say that, ya never know -- take them to a meeting and sit with them until someone at the AA meeting takes responsibility for them.

Maybe that's overly optimistic of me but I've seen it work. I myself have walked up to two performers who were clearly gin-soaked for a long time and asked if they'd like me to take them to a treatment facility or an AA meeting. One said yes and has been sober for 10 years now.

AA doesn't cure people and it doesn't work magic but sometimes all it does take is a willingness to invest a few hours of your time in facilitating somebody's first steps into a progam.

That said - I'm sure this situation is special - they all are.

I'm sure this man has refused treatment before - they all do.

I'm sure there are hundreds of reasons why an audience member shouldn't do this. Even so, it wouldn't stop me - it hasn't in the past. Ask my long suffering husband who has to deal with the fall-out of such impulse moves on my part.   

As wikipedians say - Be Bold! You might just save a beloved performers life.