I visited Rick Fielding today...

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: catspaw49
Date: 06 Dec 06 - 09:44 AM

".....I'm living a little louder."

Yeah Jeri. Five words to say what I tried to say in my entire post. That's what Rick was about.....far more than just the music. I'm glad that's where you're at now.

Spaw.....goes bubbling off

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: MMario
Date: 06 Dec 06 - 09:06 AM

what I thought I got from him was all surface stuff, and his real legacy goes deeper

I was discussing this thread with a friend yesterday - both in regards to Rick (whom she never met) and his similarities to a mutual friend who died about a year before Rick. and this comment fits as well.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Jeri
Date: 05 Dec 06 - 06:46 PM

I've written a couple of posts and then zapped them. Not sure what to say...

I spent an stupid amount of time being sad. I wrote a lot of crap. I kept thinking I had to live up to what I thought his image of me was. It was easier than doing what he probably really wanted for me - to get into the driver's seat of my own life. So I'm better.

We all make ripples in the pond*. Rick's gone, but the ripples from his having been here are still pretty strong. I'm finding that what I thought I got from him was all surface stuff, and his real legacy goes deeper. I'm more confident in myself, and I can trust that confidence. I'm not just playing louder, I'm living a little louder.   



*Spaw makes bubbles. Whoops -this is a serious thread. I apologize for that.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Dec 06 - 06:38 PM

Thanks, JP! That's one of my favs. done by him. I've got a tape I made of one of his later shows. I'll have to dig it out and see if it's good enough quality to upload.

kat

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Justa Picker
Date: 05 Dec 06 - 06:28 PM

In the spirit of this thread, just dug up a little something and wanted to share.

Here's an MP3 clip of a Miss. John Hurt tune "Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor"
that we did together during his radio show recorded on Feb. 18th, 2002.
He did the singing and the flat-picking on his Gibson J-50.

(If it plays choppy, on the link choose the "save target" or "save" function,
store on your hard drive, and listen to it offline.)

Appreciate it if you'd kindly limit any comments to Rick and HIS guitar playing/singing.
(It is not my intention to make this about me, but rather about Rick.)

Thanks, and enjoy.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Duke
Date: 05 Dec 06 - 02:11 PM

I remember one night when we were all sitting around at a club listening to Rick when Ed McCurdy walked in and joined us. Rick finished his song and without taking a breath, he broke into "Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream". Ed nodded his head and smiled. I felt honored to be there. I too miss Rick, and Ed.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: catspaw49
Date: 05 Dec 06 - 08:37 AM

That's wonderful Tink....and it does belong here. Fits in just right.

We have all mentioned the music but what drew me to Rick was something I now realize is the same thing which drew me to other great friends I have been fortunate enough to have over the years. It was his broad base of knowledge and interest in a variety of subjects. More to the point was the passion he showed in pursuing whatever he found that "tickled his fancy," so to speak.

I believe that passion drives the world. Without passion the world is cold and generally boring. The enthusiasm which grips us when our passion takes over is palpable and contagious. It is a quality shared by many at the 'Cat and Rick had that passion for many things. Great as he was musically, he was far removed from being a "one trick pony."

The other factor that makes passion work is the courage to challenge what you believe and to do it repeatedly. Doing so frees up your mind to see/think in ways you never believed possible. Rick did that musically, and again, he showed the same for other subjects where his passions were strong.

So yeah, Rick wanted us all to challenge ourselves musically to be better, but he did far more.......He challenged us all to be better as human beings. It was the same he asked of himself.

Pat

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Tinker
Date: 05 Dec 06 - 07:52 AM

Shortly after reading this thread yesterday I ran acrosss this quote and it seemed to belong here.

And this is what we mean by friends. Even when they are absent they are with us;even when they lack some things, they have an abundance of others; even when they are weak, they are strong; and, harder still, even when they are dead, they are alive.
                                                Cicero

Yeah, I'll make time to practice today.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: GUEST,Peter T.
Date: 04 Dec 06 - 05:22 PM

Just to say I saw Heather Fielding yesterday, and we talked about this thread, and briefly toasted Rick.

I am with the others. It is true that he is always on my mind, and although I knew him well, and loved him, I wonder about how much he remains on my mind. I think -- and I have said versions of this before -- it was the fact that he was so talented and wanted to make everyone around him just as talented. We weren't of course, but it sticks with you. I think those of us who knew him still want to be better so as not to let him down.

I think the other thing was that he used music as his way of expressing unconditional love. He would cringe at that, but it is true. As Mick says, that is what he (we) glimpse(d) in Mudcat. And, from time to time, Mudcat has been that.

yours,

Peter T.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Bill D
Date: 04 Dec 06 - 05:11 PM

The oldest photos in the Mudcat 'events' album are pics taken with my camera of Rick's concert in the DC area. I had no idea at the time just how 'good' Rick was at what he did, or how important he would become in my life....but I did learn how much he cared and how well he listened to others. I had never met the man before, and yet he was offering to help me with autoharp adjustments and tricks, and was fascinated with Rita's zither.

   Very few people I have known have made me a better person just by causing me to ask...."how would he have dealt with this". Rick is at the top of a short list.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: gnu
Date: 04 Dec 06 - 04:05 PM

Definitely "yeah..."

I kinda remember a night in Newfoundland. I remember some of the CBC shows. I remember a lot of the posts at the Café. I remember Rick.

Thanks, Rick.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Dec 06 - 03:45 PM

Yeah...

W-O

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Big Mick
Date: 03 Dec 06 - 09:26 PM

I well remember when he sent that to you, Spaw. And you are right. Rick took his music very seriously, and for him to name a tune for you was about the highest praise he could give. He gave something I dearly love too. Anyone who was in his basement studio would have seen two leather pictures he did. He had tooled a portrait of a fiddler, and he did another that he called the piper. He gave me the piper on one of my trips there. He told me we would always be friends. I treasure that piece.

The other day, I had to leave a post half done as company had arrived from Michigan. I just want to finish the thought. I have always contended that among the myriad of Internet sites and communities, the Mudcat is a special place. There is a worldwide network of people that consider themselves a community. I have seen, and been the beneficiary, of the caring that happens when one among us is in need of support. I have made friends that I shall never be without. A person like Rick could come and pass through many sites, and no one would remember him when he was gone. But here, in the loving embrace of community, he lives on, he is remembered. He was a part of what made the place a unique and special corner of the world. He coined a term for it. He said it was the place he always wanted to live. It seems to me that a fitting way to honor our brother would be to try and return the Mudcat to some semblance of what it was. To try and restore the genteel spirit, the debate which was vigorous but without rancor.

I miss my buddy, as others do. Thanks for keeping him among us.

Mick

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: catspaw49
Date: 03 Dec 06 - 09:07 PM

Ya' know, not a day passes that Rick doesn't enter my thoughts. That's powerful. I've lost other friends but only the rare few are in that particularly rarified air.

I loved Rick. This place has never been quite the same since his death. We arrived here within days of each other and in a very short period of time we began telling each other things we had never or rarely admitted to anyone else before. Both of us were in awe of the power of the net and this wonderful place as a means of communication.   On many occasions, including many times on these threads, Rick commented that real and lifelong friendships were being formed here.......and he was of course right. Rick's life was just far too short.

When I almost died in '99, Rick rode it out in the manner best suited to him.......music. He took something he'd been working on, worked on it hard during that month and when I was out of the woods finally, he told me the name of the tune that would be on his newest album was "Catspaw's Rag."   He was so excited to tell me and I was without words to express my thanks. I mean, what the hell could I say but a "Thanks".......Who has a song written for them? Especially a fatass in poor health still shy of 50! Just a few weeks later, I turned 50, an age many of you who were around back then never thought I'd make. Rick sent me one of his hand tooled guitar straps that he had made for me with a little note written in the leather. "Happy Birthday. Glad you made 50 from your friend in Toronto." And the best part of that was the word "friend".....because he was.

In other posts around here I have talked at length about the many things that I loved and were so special about Rick but I think the best thing was simply the friendship. It didn't matter how it developed or the methods it took. It was a wonderful friendship of the kind we all wish for at least once in our lives. I have been blessed with several. Rick was a very important one.

And to so many of you here that I have come to know and found friendship with over these years, let's all remember what Rick left us with a smile to cover the lump in our throats. A kind and gentle man with a zest for life and a heart that encompassed all.

Spaw

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: bbc
Date: 03 Dec 06 - 12:56 PM

Yup, & while we're talking about Jeri, don't forget her birthday on Monday. Friends make this world a richer place.

best,

bbc

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Dec 06 - 05:32 PM

yep. ditto. on many levels he epitomized what mudcat was all about back in the day.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 Dec 06 - 04:56 PM

He's still teaching my grandson about staying in school, every night, Morgan hears him singing about. Thanks, Rickdarlin'. Love and miss you.

{{{{{{Justa Picker}}}}}}}}

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Justa Picker
Date: 02 Dec 06 - 04:35 PM

Not a day goes by that I don't think of him and ache to speak/interact/play with him. Miss him bad. He was my brother.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Big Mick
Date: 02 Dec 06 - 12:30 AM

I want you to know how much you all mean to me. Rick and I had a very special relationship. I am sure Jeri has the same feeling, because she was even closer to Rick, but I will let her tell that (or not). But the fact that you all remember this incredible friend to all of us, speaks so well of you. A day doesn't go by that I don't think of him. I have musician friends from Michigan visiting me this weekend here in New Jersey. ATTENTION: If any of you are in South Jersey/Philly area and want to come by tomorrown late afternoon or evening and jam, please do so. PM

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 01 Dec 06 - 09:24 PM

I was just talking about Rick the other day. He was one of a kind.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 01 Dec 06 - 08:29 PM

Very much missed. But for those who only came along in the past two years, or for those who remember him and feel like meeting him again, here are Rick's collected posts

I'd suggest it's best to go down the bottom and click on "Posts starting with Oldest".

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Genie
Date: 01 Dec 06 - 08:15 PM

Like you, InOBU, I "knew" Rick mostly through PMs and Mudcat posts. OK, in my case, entirely, except that I feel like I also know him a little thru his protegé Marion, whom I've had the pleasure of meeting and doing some music with.
I too feel his loss - but also still feel his presence because he genuinely touched my life for the better.

Happy Birthday, Rick.

Hope you're having a big ol' jam singing with the angels right now.

Genie

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Dec 06 - 06:38 PM

Happy birthday, Rick. I'm keeping my promises a lot better these days. I still could improve, and like many I'd love to have another lesson..... of any sort, and you had so many varieties to offer! :~)

But then, I could go a lifetime on what you already taught me, if I'd quit screwing around. :~)

See God lately? Say hi for me.

~Susan

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 01 Dec 06 - 06:09 PM

I was listening to the radio & a sports broadcast started, so I changed stations but decided to put on a Rick Fielding CD instead.

I never knew him but really love his voice & I enjoy reading of other folk's memories. I'm listening to So Long Charlie - could even be So Long, Rick.

sandra

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Bert
Date: 01 Dec 06 - 03:19 PM

Thanks Ebbie. I still miss Rick though.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Ebbie
Date: 01 Dec 06 - 03:08 PM

Sit still, Bert. With your guitar in your arms, sit still and expectantly. Now lift your left hand into a different chord... You have begun your lesson.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Bert
Date: 01 Dec 06 - 02:53 PM

The bugger still owes me that guitar lesson.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Skipjack K8
Date: 01 Dec 06 - 02:49 PM

Happy Birthday, Rick. One of the best guys I never met.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: katlaughing
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 03:10 AM

Miss you, Rick. Had a great long telephone visit with Heather a few weeks back. She's doing good...learning to treat herself kindly...that's a biggie for most of us, esp. women. As you know, she is one incredible woman.

luvyakat

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Jeremiah McCaw
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 12:08 AM

Bill D,

I've got another possibility of getting an actual archived copy. If that doesn't pan out, I'll certainly get in touch. Many thanks for the offer.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Fortunato
Date: 04 Dec 04 - 10:35 AM

Yep.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Bert
Date: 04 Dec 04 - 01:13 AM

The bugger still owes me a guitar lesson.

One of the kindest people that I have ever met.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Big Mick
Date: 03 Dec 04 - 02:57 PM

I must confess to avoiding posting here, though I have been reading it. My attitude on death is a bit matter of fact, in what most would consider a healthy way. But dealing with how much I miss this man is something I have avoided. Until this birthday. I got up, and as is my habit I grabbed my Larrivee and started noodling and singing songs I am working on. I always start my day this way. But I found myself doing Angus Frazier, and Margins of My Neighborhood. I wasn't sure why until I realized that it was Rick's birthday. I sang Voices of Struggle using the arrangement that I was going to do at Rick's memorial. For those that don't know, I had a heart attack just minutes before leaving for this. Nothing disappoints me more than not being able to play at that memorial, to lift up my voice with those who loved this man. I guess his birthday is the day that I finally dealt with the fact that I will never find another friend quite like Rick was to me. That is not to say I don't have wonderful friends, but Rick was different and special. I think Jeri knows exactly what I am talking about here.

Lorcan, I appreciate your starting this thread. Those of you who wish you had met him have reason to be disappointed. Those of us for whom he was a close friend must make sure his voice and music continue to be heard.

Happy Birthday, my friend, even if it is a few days late.

Love,

Mick

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Bill D
Date: 03 Dec 04 - 02:44 PM

let me double check see what I got...I was a minute or two late getting online, and I just set my mini-disk in front of the speakers. I suspect that someone has a better copy, but I'd do something with this if necessary.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Jeremiah McCaw
Date: 03 Dec 04 - 01:09 AM

Many memories, *sigh*

One thing I'd love to get is a recording of the CIUT web broadcast of the Borealis CD launch that I was privileged to attend. My attempt to get it recorded on my computer came to naught. I'd thought it was to be archived, but I've not seen it.

Can any kind soul oblige?

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Ebbie
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 10:30 PM

Man. First I reread Giac's thread, and now this. It's raining outdoors too.

Little Hawk, thanks for reminding me. My great hope - and plan - is to leave my earthbound self with a smile and preferably with a song. I have told friends to remember -if my body is found unattended- that if it appears that there is a grimace on my face, count on it: It's a SMILE! . LOL

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: flattop
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 09:53 PM

A wonderful man.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 12:06 PM

Thanks for that link again, brucie-- memories and tributes are posted at Rick's site, now. I had not seen them till now.

~S~

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Amos
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 07:52 AM

Love that verse, LH.

At first I thought it was a lost part of another song, The Great Divide. But it has different scansion. But in any case it is abeautiful thought.

A

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 01:16 AM

Man, I can still hardly believe he's gone (from our little World here, I mean). He was an inspiration.

As for the Great Journey, some make it with anticipation or expectation, a few with joy, others with dread, others meet it entirely by surprise. Not for me to say which way is best, but...

"You and I'll be known as the Great Survivors
We came all this way for the journey, not the ride
Then we took a breath, spread our wings,
Left behind those needless things,
And headed out across the Great Divide"

That's the chorus from a song I wrote about 10 years ago called "The Great Survivors". As one survivor to many others I say, travel light and travel well, and I'll see you in the next grand adventure, if not before then.

Thanks for the thread, Larry.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Dec 04 - 09:45 PM

Good thread, so many of us can now reveal our being cross threaded to Rick Fielding's personal point of view and acknowledge the diatribes as reckoned to his pain and unstable mental state as he made the great cross over. It appears others in the mudcat forem may be also preparing for the great journey.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Peace
Date: 01 Dec 04 - 07:17 PM

www.interlog.com/~rfield/

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: SINSULL
Date: 01 Dec 04 - 07:13 PM

And the inventor of the Blue Clickie

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: harvey andrews
Date: 01 Dec 04 - 07:09 PM

The best, the most interesting, the most missed man I ever met.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Amos
Date: 01 Dec 04 - 06:45 PM

Happy Rick Day, one and all.

A

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Blowzabella
Date: 01 Dec 04 - 05:51 PM

Wish I'd known him too....

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: GUEST,Steve Latimer
Date: 01 Dec 04 - 05:13 PM

Yes, thanks for posting it. He sure touched us all.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Deckman
Date: 01 Dec 04 - 05:09 PM

Hmmmm. This thread gives me pause. Thanks for posting it! CHEERS to all, Bob

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Jeri
Date: 01 Dec 04 - 02:56 PM

Started out today sleeping way too late and having a bizarre dream that I remember all of. I remember possibly one dream a year. I looked at a calendar at one point, and realized it was Rick's birthday. It was weird I wasn't aware until then, because I usually know. Oh well...I'm getting on with things, I suppose, but I miss him too.

I think knowing him has made me a better person - a stronger one, at least. I think his example, though... I think it was the evil side, the one that pulled the pranks, that set up jokes, that did voices on answering machines and told horrible puns, the side that made people do double-takes on life, and ask that age-old question, the one asked by every great thinker that ever lived: "Huh? What the hell...?" that made Rick Rick. He made me question reality, and that's a good thing for someone who is a little bit too confident they know what is and what isn't.

In honor him, maybe we should each ask if something we believe about ourselves is really true: "I can't do that," "I shouldn't," "that's not who I am," "that IS who I am," "I need," "I want." Or maybe we should challenge what OTHER people think is real. Just remember, they're likely to try to get even.

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: DougR
Date: 01 Dec 04 - 02:54 PM

Rick was one great guy and is sorely missed.

DougR

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: Justa Picker
Date: 01 Dec 04 - 01:21 PM

Might be an idea to update the memorial and birthday sections?????


(But Yeah..... I miss him BAD, too.)

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Dec 04 - 01:05 PM

Yes, Rick, we do, but we're carrying on; some of us even have the nerve to think your example might help us do better by our fellow human beans.

~Susan

Subject: RE: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: SINSULL
Date: 01 Dec 04 - 01:03 PM

Happy Birthday, Rick. We miss you.

Subject: I visited Rick Fielding today...
From: InOBU
Date: 11 Jun 04 - 07:21 AM

I got up early, and began to cut and paste my conversations with Rick. Most of our friendship happened by email, most of which were Mudcat PMs, so, other than a few phone calls, and a few standard emails, and a few back and forths in the threads... I found myself reliving this really wonderful privilege to have know this remarkable guy. I wont repete what Rick was saying to me rather than on posts, but I do feel I had to share with you all several things. One, I tried to read one to Genie and couldn't, he was a deeply spiritual guy for someone who did not hold to organised religion, spiritual in the sence of standing squarly in that which a Quaker would call the light. I noticed that he spelt Justice with a capital J.
Thank you Max for the richness of knowing Rick,
Thank you Mudcatters for being a part of Rick's appreciation of life,
Thank you thank you thank you Heather for sharing Rick with us,
and thank you Rick for being you.
Cheers
Larry