John Vandiver (1945-1985)

From John's memorial site:
John Vandiver was a Texas folk blues musician. He was born in Dallas, Tx on August 5, 1945. John started his musical career while attending Sunset High School in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of south Dallas, cutting his teeth in coffee houses like the Rubaiyat. In 1967 he left for a two week gig in Coconut Grove (Miami) and stayed for 4 years. While there he joined a group called The Ewing Street Times.

In 1971 the band moved to Kansas City, where they met a promising young songwriter named Shake Russell. Shake was soon asked to join the band. While the band was enjoying some success in the midwest, rumors of the cosmic cowboy/Armadillo scene were beginning to spread. So the band packed it up and headed for central Texas, where the band enjoyed some more success.

The band eventually split and after some time John and Shake ended up in Houston. John continued to be a solo act , teaming up occasionally with Shake and others for special performances. During this time John also managed to be a featured performer at every Kerrville Folk Festival from 1973 to 1984.

On February 22, 1985, John and his girlfriend, Debbie Davis, were killed in their home. It will forever be a tragic loss to the Texas music community.

From MyTexasMusic.com:

I was 25 years old when we lost John Vandiver. While I was already a Shake Russell fan and had followed Shake around playing the night before or the night after in great places like the Jalepeno Tree, I was never lucky enough to cross paths with John. Only mildly acquainted with John’s music until now, I am truly honored to be offering a review of “I FOUND A DREAM” which was recorded at Poor David’s Pub in Dallas, Texas in 1984.

For those of you who are familiar with John’s music, I’ve little to offer except this is a great live recording, complete with audience and John’s indefatigable character. For those of you who may be new to John Vandiver’s music, you’re in for a real treat. The title track is a Lonnie Johnson cover, as are several cuts on the album. Vandiver covers Robert Johnson, Leadbelly, Randy Newman, Bob Dylan, and more on this disc, but the three originals are purely pleasurable. The disc includes “Comin’ Home,” the title track of the famous album upon which Vandiver appears with The Shake Russell/Dana Cooper Band, and The Michael Marcoulier Band.

Vandiver was able to wrap his talent around a song like no other. His approach was simple, to beautifully accompany with guitar while delivering flawless interpretation with his voice, which could be as soft as velvet and as booming as thunder. Vandiver’s opening track, a rousing rendition of “Sweet Home Chicago” is worth the price of admission to this timeless album.