Had reason today to revisit Larry Carlton’s sweet tribute to Walter, a nice Josie, in Nov ’17 (below). Larry had played w/ SD that year of course, including the two stadium gigs Walter missed (he almost made both! Story on that some other time perhaps….), but he did also play with SD at Walter’s last gig in Greenwich Ct (May 27, 2017). It’s a nice intro and performance from Larry, seemingly full of joy and good memories. (and lots of props for Herington!).
…which of course put me in mind of Walter’s live Josie on Letterman in ’95…worth mentioning/showing now perhaps because I’m pretty sure (I think I’m sure) that particular Sadowsky is gonna be in the auction.
Walter always played well, I thought, during high-pressure performances — the 2 Lettermans, HOF, etc. That’s my boy!
By the by, can't help but mention that a Rolling Stone’s article on “that last gig” in CT typically gets a major fact wrong, in this case, speaking of the missed stadia gigs, that “Becker had missed shows before and most fans didn’t make much of his absence…”. Missed shows? Really?? Grrrrr. Before the 2 stadiums he missed months before he died, Walter had to leave the stage halfway through 1 show, ONE show, during all of SD Mach II’s touring years, because of a 104’ fever.
Be advised that both of those guys, Becker and Fagen both, were, in a word, incredible fucking troupers. Ok that’s a few words. But seriously…lesser artists would have cancelled or missed many times the number of shows these guys played sick or after burying a loved one or whatever. Really amazing pros.
I go back to that Letterman performance of Josie quite a bit. That is a quintessential Walter solo to me.