Obit: Mick Larie: A tremedous loss (July 2007)

Subject: Obit: Mick Larie: A tremedous loss
From: Armen Tanzerian
Date: 15 Jul 07 - 05:42 PM

A few days ago the world of bluegrass lost perhaps its most important French member when the great mandolinist Mick Larie left us suddenly. Christian Seguret, whose own career was inspired by Mick, was moved to share his thoughts, translated here from the French:

"Like many of you, I just learned of Mick Larie's passing and I need to share my sorrow with you.

"Mick Larie was the father of bluegrass music in France. He was one of a kind, and no one was more passionate about music than Mick. As a member of two seminal French groups during the 1970's (Bluegrass Connection and Bluegrass Long Distance), he was one of the main architects of the rise in popularity of bluegrass in France. He mastered and played the genre with the dedication of a musician and the acumen of a musicologist. He frequently wrote letters to the editors of American music publications to set the historical record straight or clarify a detail of discography. (His discography of the Stanley Brothers remains a reference for all bluegrass historians. Recently he announced with pride that he had essentially all of the Stanleys albums in his collection.)

"A little while back, he came to the house to celebrate my wife's birthday. He arrived at eleven in the morning, arms loaded with presents and wine. He headed home at four the next morning, and that whole time – over sixteen hours – he never put down the mandolin or eased up on the rhythm.

"He may not have known it, but Mick was my mentor. The first time I saw him on stage, playing with Jean-Marie Redon, Eric Kristy, and his bandmates of that time, he was so charismatic I said to myself that something about playing this music with that ridiculous little instrument around your neck was decidedly very cool. I tried to follow in his footsteps. He was only a few years older than I, but when you're 15, a few years seem like a lot.

"This terrible news shouldn't make us forget what a funny guy Mick was. Always a ready joke or quip. In fact, his talent as an entertainer led to his "second" career, working with French television star Patrick Sébastien at Magic TV, where Mick's savage humor and iconoclastic ideas were a sensation. His absence will weigh heavily there as it does with all of us.

"Whenever I go to the States, I am always astonished by the lasting impression Mick left with our American musician friends. In spite of risking lifetime banishment from certain American festivals for his acid humor, his anti-conformism and outrageous pranks, he remained true to his hero John Duffy – the iconoclastic figure who many Americans would have liked to be if they had dared. I think that unconsciously they admired the irreverence and free spirit that Mick radiated in everything he did.

"I am deeply saddened and I mourn a friend and a master musician."

Subject: RE: Obit: Mick Larie: A tremedous loss
From: Linda Kelly
Date: 15 Jul 07 - 05:48 PM

I hope he knew how much he was loved.