He said his favorite singer
in a small twin-engine plane
hit the water in Wisconsin
and had died that very day

Everybody in the room
knew Jerry’s favorite tune
and we all began to cry….

Don Dixon has made a new track available for free download here. (Scroll down toward the bottom of the page and click on the link that says Click here to download “The Night That Otis Died.” You’ll be prompted to enter an e-mail address, but if you’re concerned about privacy the page seems to be accepting bogus addresses, so lie.)

This may well be the best song Don has ever written. Honestly. And if you know either Dixon or my opinions about his music, you’ll immediately understand the magnitude of that statement. It’s about Otis Redding’s death, sorta, and it’s one of those tracks that just derails you – you listen to it over and over and over. You know how you feel when you learn that an artist you love has died? Yeah, well this is just a song about an artist dying and it hit me that way, almost. It pretty much hijacked my morning. John Cavanaugh sent it to me, and I sent it to Fulpdawg and sirpaulsbuddy, who then called me because we had to talk about the song. I e-mailed Don, and he got back with some nice comments and info on the new CD. Here’s part of what I sent him:

Goddamn, Don. I’m sitting here trying my best not to cry. It’s just amazing.
…
I can’t say enough. I played it for Jim Booth, a buddy who used to play some of the same clubs you guys did back in the old days (they were called Backyard Tea, I think). It hit him right between the eyes like it did me. We were talking about how some songs are PERFECT – there’s nothing that could make it better. He was including “Otis” on a list that contains stuff like “Penny Lane” and “Imagine.” And he’s a critical bastard from hell, too – he’s sparing with praise. He likes it better than he does “Oh Cheap Chatter,” which has always been his fave DD tune.

Me – well, I’ve listened to it a couple dozen times, and I’m supposed to be working. I go back and forth between it and Jeff Foster’s new record, which is wonderful (and you were on a couple of those tracks, I notice)…

Folks, go grab “The Night That Otis Died” now – it’s not on his new record (due April 6, btw) thanks to some complicated lawyer issues, and there are no guarantees he’ll be able to offer it for download indefinitely.

[Update] If you haven’t read “22 Questions with Don Dixon,” you might oughta. Don is one of the more fun people to interview I’ve ever run across.

Hope everybody is doing well…..