Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: Dan Schatz Date: 21 Apr 21 - 02:40 PM Crossposting here and elsewhere.... I met Kendall Morse when I was 17 years old. He was a featured performer at the DC Folklore Society Getaway and took the time to sing a song into a tape recorder for a kid who thought it was funny. (I still sing the song, too.) Over the years since I got to know him more - at Getaways, at Rinktums (music gatherings in Maine and New Brunswick), on porches and in living rooms. He taught me more songs, over the years, and of course stories. One day Kendall, Jacqui, and I were talking about his good friend Utah Phillips, and i suggested maybe some of us could contribute songs to a CD to raise some money for him. Kendall reached out to Pete Seeger and Tom Paxton, and all of a sudden our little project wasn’t so little anymore. More artists and friends joined us, and ultimately Singing Through the Hard Times got nominated for a Grammy award. For a good year afterwards, Kendall wore his Grammy nominee’s medal on special occasions - which for him included going to the post office. We all know Kendall was funny (“You let me do the jokes,” he used to say when I’d make some feeble attempt to keep up with him), but he could also be wise. And he could be difficult. He could lift a friend from an emotional abyss and he could fall into his own. He could be gentle some times and quick to anger at others. But he never lost his sense of humor. In the last years of his life, Kendall had plenty to get bitter about - his beautiful was gone, taken by the cancer, and sometimes it seemed like he couldn’t find his way out. Friends helped, Jacqui helped, family helped, but it was something in Kendall’s spirit that wouldn’t let go. Not long after his voice went, I talked with Kendall about what he was going through. He said, “I just about gave up last week. But I’ll tell you something. I’ve woken up every day of my life with a song in my head. And the other day, that song was ’76 Trombones.’ Now that’s gotta mean something.”?? The last time I saw Kendall was at our music gathering in February of 2020, just before the pandemic kept us all apart. He was struggling cognitively, but in some ways he was as Kendall as ever. When he saw me he said, as he usually did when we met in the last few years, “Have I ever thanked you for making me famous?” I could have easily said the same to him. Then we sat down together and I played guitar while he whispered the lyrics to Utah Phillips’s “Phoebe Snow.”?? There’s more I could say about Kendall - and more I will, since I expect to be quoting him for the rest of my life. I’ll miss him terribly, and I’m so glad - so privileged - to have counted him as a dear friend. Rest in peace, Kendall. You will always live in your songs, your stories, and our hearts. "Rolling home, rolling home Rolling home across the sea...." |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: GUEST,Mary Katherine sans cookie Date: 21 Apr 21 - 03:34 PM So very sorry to hear this sad news. Kendall was one of the first to welcome me to Mudcat, way back before the Earth's crust cooled. And Jacqui and her family came to visit me in Southern California, a wonderful memory that warms me still. Farewell, Cap'n. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: Mrrzy Date: 21 Apr 21 - 03:46 PM Aw SHIT. So very, very sorry. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: My guru always said Date: 21 Apr 21 - 04:13 PM So very sorry to hear this, condolences to Becca and the Family. Candle lit at Old Keepers. RIP Kendall, sing up now! |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: John MacKenzie Date: 21 Apr 21 - 04:14 PM Well Cap'n it was a pleasure. Enjoyed your visit to my humble abode, and I enjoyed your company, when I visited Portland Me. Hope Seamus is up there with you. Bye old friend. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: GUEST,Dharmabum Date: 21 Apr 21 - 04:35 PM So sorry to hear of Kendall's passing. Spent some time at Old SONGS with him. I enjoyed our conversations over morning coffee. He was very kind & supportive while I went through my daughter's terminal illness. My condolences to his family. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: skarpi Date: 21 Apr 21 - 04:46 PM Rest in Peace dear Kendall , I ll see you again when it´s my time to go . this is line from a poem here in Iceland .. When I think of angels I think of you And your flaming red hair and the things that you do. I heard you had left no it couldn't be true When I think of angels I think of you. Godspeed to you angel wherever you go although you have left I want you to know My heart's full of sorrow I won't let it show I´ll see you again when it's my time to go. Dear Jacqui and family , love and hugs from me , all the best Skarpi Iceland, |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: Stilly River Sage Date: 21 Apr 21 - 04:48 PM Renowned Maine humorist Capt. Kendall Morse dies at 86 There is an ad blocker on the site so you might have to disable them or use the "Just Read" extension to get past it. In the Bangor Daily News. PORTLAND, Maine — Maine humorist, Coast Guard veteran, author and Grammy-nominated musician Capt. Kendall Morse has died. He was 86. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: ClaireBear Date: 21 Apr 21 - 05:28 PM Fair winds and following seas, Cap'n. I will miss you forever. Your health will be drunk with much single malt this night, I promise you that. Heartfelt sympathies to Becca, to Jacqui and to everyone who I know who has know and loved Kendall. Let's hope we're wrong about that whole "no afterlife" thing, because up there is beginning to seem like a hell of a lot better party than the one we're trying to keep going on THIS plane. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: Brian Peters Date: 21 Apr 21 - 06:30 PM "I’ve woken up every day of my life with a song in my head. And the other day, that song was ’76 Trombones.’ Now that’s gotta mean something.” |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: EBarnacle Date: 21 Apr 21 - 06:34 PM Hoisting a Dark and Stormy to you, Kendall. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: JennieG Date: 21 Apr 21 - 07:17 PM Sad news to wake up to this morning......condolences to Kendall's family and friends. Wish I could have had the opportunity to meet him. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: GUEST Date: 21 Apr 21 - 09:50 PM He was a treasure … I always enjoyed him. bob(deckman)nelson |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: frogprince Date: 21 Apr 21 - 10:18 PM I've dropped away from the Mudcat for a long time. Something made me sign in tonight. I was at least fortunate enough to visit with the Captain a couple of times. Another good one gone... Dean |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: Richard Atkins Date: 21 Apr 21 - 10:23 PM Rip Kendall with fond memories of a special man indeed. His surprise Victory visit on his birthday in 2011 was special bonus visiting us after. He did enjoy playing with my old cars nearly restored now. A special man gone, but I think Dan Shultz on his post has covered all that I think now. Thank you Kendall for the fond memories and advice |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: BrooklynJay Date: 22 Apr 21 - 12:14 AM Farewell Kendall. You embodied everything positive about Mudcat. You are truly and absolutely irreplaceable. Bon voyage, Captain. Jay |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: Hrothgar Date: 22 Apr 21 - 04:04 AM Lovely man, great singer. It was a privilege to have met him. Condolences to the family. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: GUEST,Bradfordian Date: 22 Apr 21 - 04:09 AM RIP Kendal. You enriched our lives with your music and humour; and we will still enjoy it through your CDs. Condolences to family. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: Megan L Date: 22 Apr 21 - 05:07 AM May the winds be kind and the seas be gentle wherever his spirit sails. condolances to his family |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: DonMeixner Date: 22 Apr 21 - 12:24 PM It was my great pleasure to know Kendall, share some songs and scotch with him, and I will miss his expert barbs and gentle jibes. Don Meixner |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: maeve Date: 22 Apr 21 - 12:34 PM Elaine, Becca, Jacqui, Sinsull, and the rest of the family- Thank you for helping my friend of more than 30 years to live his life. Thank you for sharing Kendall with the rest of us. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: voyager Date: 22 Apr 21 - 01:43 PM Rick Fielding, Art Thieme, Barry Finn, Micca, Katspaw, LaMarca Kendall Morse .... a few of the stones I have followed on the path of my Mudcat journey. Fair winds Captain. Thank you for your life in music voyager |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: The Sandman Date: 22 Apr 21 - 02:24 PM I never met him, but my condolences to all his friends and family.RIP. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: Sarah the flute Date: 22 Apr 21 - 02:25 PM Oh this is sad news - he was a mudcat legend. RIP Kendall |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: robomatic Date: 22 Apr 21 - 02:26 PM I did not know Kendall, but as a former resident of Massachusetts and a big fan of Maine performers such as Gordon Bok, I will obtain some familiarity with Kendall by his works. I still remember the Simas Kudirka incident. May those close to him by friendship, fellowship and kinship obtain comfort in his memory. Thanks you for this notice and these tokens of experience. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 22 Apr 21 - 04:46 PM HEAVEN IS A HAPPIER PLACE Sincerely, Gargoyle mudcat has been blessed for decades |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: GUEST,Dani Date: 22 Apr 21 - 06:26 PM Just came across this actual obituary: https://obituaries.bangordailynews.com/obituary/captain-kendall-morse-1082116867 |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: Jeri Date: 22 Apr 21 - 08:40 PM "Car accident!?" WTF!? Dani, that's obituary Stilly River Sage posted the text to up above. Trying to remember the last time I saw him, and where. His house? A house concert? I don't know that it matters, but I wish I could remember. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 22 Apr 21 - 09:19 PM Goodbye and God Bless. A great man. All my sympathy to Jacqui, remembering sessions with you in Hertford, before you had the happy meeting with the Captain. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: Jeri Date: 22 Apr 21 - 11:08 PM I see where he had a car accident, but "after some uncomfortable years due to the car accident " is reading a lot into things that wasn't there. As far as I know, he got banged up, healed, and didn't have any lasting effects or "uncomfortable years". Up to the last few years, I'm pretty sure he was doing things that were physically rough on a 30 year old. He didn't do technology (if you know what I mean, you know. If you don't, I'm not yet over the trauma of trying to explain how to "highlight" text, or what "File Manager" in ancient Windows was) over the phone), but restored quite a few old cars. I got a ride in the model ? (I don't want to type the wrong letter in), with his mother's beautiful and very heavy lap blanket. I enjoyed sleeping in his motor home when I stayed overnight at SINSULL's after a house concert. He always wanted me to play Ashoken Farewell when I was there with my fiddle. I met him when Sandy Paton suggested I might be a good traveling companion when we went to NOMAD one year. He drove me crazy, but that's not a hard thing. We stopped into a diner (was it the "Collins" diner?) on the way down, and a woman came up to the table where Sandy, Caroline, Kendall, and - was Kathy Westra there? - and I were sitting, and totally fan-girled at him. "Are you Kendall Morse? I LOVED your TV show!" And I gave him a cheap banjo I had. He eventually got a nice one, but I wouldn't let him give mine back, so I won. And then, there was the Getaway, and the interaction between him and Max. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 23 Apr 21 - 11:03 AM I went looking for my 2 CDs & found I had 5 - what a treasure his family & friends & the folk world have lost. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: Charley Noble Date: 23 Apr 21 - 01:38 PM I'll think of Kendall the next time I play the "Outside Track." It's the one song he always requested that I sing. I remember well when Judy and I were working with the Portland Folk Club and had invited Utah Phillips, with Kendall as the opening set. That was the first time they had ever met, and it got better! Good-bye and fare ye well, old friend. Charlie Ipcar |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: Charley Noble Date: 23 Apr 21 - 01:50 PM Here's a link to a set of photos of Kendall that I posted on the Mudcat Facebook forum: Click here! Charlie Ipcar |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: Bat Goddess Date: 23 Apr 21 - 04:47 PM I think the Bangor Daily News obit (which was in print later the same day Kendall died) may have been one of their pre-written obits for Maine characters, I mean, prominent Mainers. Here's the one from yesterday's Portland Press Herald — Kendall's Obit Linn |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: Eric the Viking Date: 23 Apr 21 - 06:56 PM Sad news.Condolences. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: GUEST,keberoxu Date: 23 Apr 21 - 07:35 PM Thanks everybody for those obit links -- they answered a great many questions. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: voyager Date: 23 Apr 21 - 08:40 PM when we have the obits of Mudcat stalwarts, such as Captain Kendall Morse, the response is mostly somber with respects and condolences to family and friends. I celebrate the Captain's prowess with song and story and cheer the path he has laid before us. sing out voyager Stories and Song | http://www.stories-and-songs.us |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: GUEST Date: 24 Apr 21 - 04:02 AM Sail on in Peace, Kendall. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: Megan L Date: 24 Apr 21 - 04:28 AM This morning i was looking for Kendall on youtube this is not one of his tales but it seemed appropriate for he has passed to us the tending of the folk lights Let the lower lights be burning |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: Stilly River Sage Date: 24 Apr 21 - 12:31 PM Here's the full text from the Press Herald obit that Bat Goddess linked.
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Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: Joe Offer Date: 24 Apr 21 - 04:37 PM Kendall was very proud to be a friend of U. Utah Phillips. Utah had a collection of his songs titled Starlight on the Rails. It was published as a songbook in 1973, and expanded and reissued by his son Duncan in 2011. In 2014, a collections of Utah's recordings came out as a four-CD set titled Starlight on the Rails: A Songbook. Most of the tracks on the collection were sung by Utah, but Utah gave a spoken introduction for "Ashes on the Sea," and it was the voice of Kendall Morse singing the song. Kendall lost his voice due to throat cancer, and for a long time he couldn't sing or tell stories. Eventually, he was able to whisper his stories into a microphone, and occasionally sometimes whisper out a song. But he didn't perform publicly. Utah Phillips changed that - he invited Kendall to swap stories with him on stage in Grass Valley, California, and Kendall and Jacqui came here for the concert on April 8, 2006. Amos Jessup drove up from San Diego for the concert, and it was a delightful evening. I think it was one of the happiest days of Kendall's life. And it was so nice to welcome Kendall and Jacqui to my home and to take them on a Sierra tour. Thread #23622 Message #264123 Posted By: Joe Offer 25-Jul-00 - 03:55 AM Thread Name: Lyr ADD Ashes on the Sea (Utah Phillips) Subject: ADD: Ashes on The Sea ^^
ASHES ON THE SEA Oh, and here's Kendall singing "Hobo's Lullaby" in 1983: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMld7JFnITU |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: bbc Date: 24 Apr 21 - 09:06 PM Thanks, Joe! Barbara |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 24 Apr 21 - 10:23 PM Joe's link to the song leads to Kendall's Youtube channel which has all tracks from 'Seagulls & Summer People' & 'Lights upon the Shore' |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: GUEST,Seamus kennedy Date: 25 Apr 21 - 02:46 AM Farewell Captain; it was a privilege and a pleasure getting to know you, share songs and stories, and enjoying your company. Oh, and your guitar-picking too. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: Benjamin Date: 25 Apr 21 - 07:38 AM I remember so many of Kendall's arguments. In his own words to me, "I have more buttons than the space shuttle." In the end, it was easy to see that he was coming from a good place. Much of it came from his passion for music. He had much to contribute in his music and contributed much to the conversation here. Captain Morse, thank you for sharing your passion through your music, stories, and your arguments. Your contributions will stay with us always! |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall (21 April 2021) From: GUEST,Olddude Date: 25 Apr 21 - 04:18 PM My dear friend, you will be sadly missed. Thank you for all the years of friendship Dan |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall Morse (21 April 2021) From: Richard Atkins Date: 25 Apr 21 - 09:35 PM A special service with so many tributes on Mudcat cafe as well. His songs relived with his wonderful voice. So lucky to meet him at home on his UK birthday trip for a true character meet with my regard for Kendall . He enjoyed my old cars but stated on my smoking " wise up and forget the butt" I hope many happy memories remain in future for so many. Thank you Kendall |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall Morse (21 April 2021) From: Rex Date: 26 Apr 21 - 12:29 PM So sorry to learn that another of our early 'Catters is gone. Kendall did much for music in his time. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall Morse (21 April 2021) From: Charlie Baum Date: 26 Apr 21 - 07:07 PM At least now when asked, "Have you lived in Maine all your life?" the answer can be "ayup" instead of "not yet." May memories of him bless us forever. --Charlie Baum |
Subject: RE: Obit: Kendall Morse (21 April 2021) From: saulgoldie Date: 26 Apr 21 - 07:24 PM Hehehe..."All my life!" Hehehe! Saul |
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