Rick Danko, musician, 56

["Deathwatch Central" <cdw@slick.org>]

Friday December 10 3:51 PM ET 
Rock Musician Rick Danko Dies in New York
By Ellen Wulfhorst

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rock musician Rick Danko, a founder and distinctive
soulful voice in the Woodstock-era group the Band, died at his home on
Friday in upstate New York at age 56, a medical examiner said.

The cause of death was unknown but not considered suspicious, said Ulster
County, New York, Medical Examiner Walter Dobushak.

A local radio station in Woodstock, New York, reported that Danko's wife
Elizabeth discovered his body in bed at their home in nearby Marbletown.

Danko, who played bass guitar, was one of the founding members of the
Band, an earthy, austere rock group that also featured musicians Robbie
Robertson and Levon Helm.

The Band's sound blended folk, southern and Canadian influences, and it
was well-known for narrative songs such as ''The Weight'' and ``The Night
They Drove Old Dixie Down.''

Other of its best known songs were ``Up on Cripple Creek'' and ``Stage
Fright,'' about Bob Dylan, on which Danko did lead vocals.

First joining together as the Hawks, a back-up group for Arkansas
rockabilly Ronnie Hawkins, the Woodstock, New York-based Band released its
first album ``Music from Big Pink'' in 1968.

Other albums include ``The Band,'' released in 1969, and ''Stage Fright,''
released the following year.

The Band also was famous for backing up Dylan, touring together and
producing the live album ``Before The Flood.''

The Band's star-studded ``farewell'' concert in 1976 was documented in the
film ``The Last Waltz'' by director Martin Scorsese. The show also
featured Dylan, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.

After the group retired from live work, Danko recorded a self-titled solo
album.

In a 1997 interview, Danko said: ``I love to play; a stage is a safe place
for me to be. It's not that way for most folks, but I'd be lost without
it.''

He listed his vocal influences as Hank Williams, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke,
Kitty Wells, Patsy Cline, and Muddy Waters.

Never a prolific songwriter, he co-wrote some songs, including ``This
Wheel's on Fire,'' written with Dylan in 1967.

He is the second Band member to die. Pianist Richard Manuel committed
suicide in 1986 in Florida.

Danko was born on Dec. 29, 1942, according to his publicist.

A Canadian like three of the other four Band members, he quit school in
Simcoe, Ontario, at age 14 and went to work as an apprentice meatcutter
before becoming a musician.

Two years ago, he was arrested in Japan when police found a small amount
of heroin hidden in a magazine sent to him by courier from the United
States. He received a suspended prison sentence from a Japanese court.

In recent years, he was a member of a close-knit community of artists and
musicians in the Woodstock area.

Danko had been planning to perform his annual Christmas benefit for a
women's shelter, said Jerry Mitnick, owner of the local Joyous Lake club.

``Anytime you needed him, he was always there,'' Mitnick said. ``He had no
airs. You can talk to anybody in Woodstock. Everybody here knew Rick. He
was just one of the guys.''

Aaron Hurwitz, one of the Band's producers and a pianist and accordionist
in Hurley, New York, said he and Danko had just returned this week from
touring in the U.S. Midwest. ``He was doing some great things in the end
here,'' he said.

In September, Danko released the album, ``Live on Breeze Hill,'' some of
whose proceeds were to benefit Greenpeace, his publicist Carol Caffin
said.

``Rick ... had an innocence about him that was very genuine, and very
endearing, and I think that's why so many people loved him,'' she said.

The medical examiner said an autopsy would be performed to determine the
cause of death.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, Justin, 28, and a
daughter, Lisa, 30. Danko had another son, Eli, who died in 1989, at age
19. 






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