RIP: Buddy Blue, original Beat Farmer

God damn it! It was less than a week ago that I posted information about the reunion of the Beat Famers with original member Buddy Blue .

Now, Buddy Blue is dead.

The San Diego Union-Tribune has an obituary for today’s paper:

Bernard “Buddy” Seigal was a tireless mainstay of the San Diego music scene for more than 25 years.

An accomplished singer, guitarist, songwriter and band leader, Mr. Seigal performed music professionally as Buddy Blue and was a founding member of the Beat Farmers, the San Diego roots-rock band that earned international acclaim in the 1980s.

Mr. Seigal died early yesterday afternoon at his La Mesa home. His death was ruled “sudden and unexpected” by the county Medical Examiner’s Office. An autopsy is pending. He was 48.

Mr. Seigal played on the Beat Farmers’ first two albums before launching a musically eclectic solo career. In recent years, he was a driving force behind the Farmers, as the revamped version of the Beat Farmers called itself.

He used his Buddy Blue moniker as a music critic for the San Jose Mercury News, The Orange County Register and other publications. He also wrote regularly for The San Diego Union-Tribune, and his popular and often controversial column, “Blue Notes,” ran each Thursday in Night & Day for the past four years.

Mr. Seigal, who experienced some heart-related problems in the past, had been suffering from a sinus infection, according to his father-in-law, Danny Marshall Sr. of Ramona. However, his father-in-law said, Mr. Seigal had been characteristically “on” at the birthday party Saturday for his wife, Anne, 41. The party was held at the La Mesa home he and his wife shared with their daughter, Tallulah, 4, and Mr. Seigal’s mother, Suzanne, 81.

You can read the rest of the obituary by clicking here.

There’s also a Blogscritics.org obituary by Joan Hunt.

I first got hip to Buddy Blue’s solo music when Richard Berry, author of LOUIE LOUIE, made a guest appearance on Buddy’s 1991 “Guttersnipes ‘n’ Zealots” album. I was a big fan of the Beat Farmers, catching their shows whenever possible, but never saw them perform with Buddy Blue, who left the band in 1986. I loved the synergy of this particular album, featuring a lot of musicians I really enjoyed.

From Buddy’s own BuddyBlue.com website, here’s his own review of Guttersnipes ‘n’ Zealots:

Buddy sez: This is schizo as shit, with some of the hardest rock I ever laid down co-existing with old-timey yodeling, ’50s R&B, acoustic blues and a depressing ballad about dead people. Guests include Dave Alvin, Richard Berry, Merrill Moore, Mojo Nixon, Tomcat Courtney and Mike Keneally, plus cover art by legendary Zap Comix guy, Spain Rodriguez.

One of the last published articles by Buddy Blue was a little thing he wrote about Johnny Winter for Orange County Weekly. You can read it by clicking here.

This is very sad news. My heart goes to family and friends of Buddy Blue. My big thanks go out to my pal Bob Sarles of Raven Films for the heads-up on this one.