John "Marmaduke" Dawson

Marmaduke passed away yesterday of stomach cancer in Mexico - he moved there in the late nineties and became an English teacher. He was the guitarist for the New Riders of the Purple Sage.

Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to photograph the New Riders, or even see them :( but this is a great photo of John "Marmaduke" Dawson taken by rock photographer Robert Altman ...

Wish I'd taken it.

Dawson was well connected with the Grateful Dead, particularly Jerry Garcia. They played together in coffee houses when the Dead were off the road. And here's another connection to EISID...the New Riders performing Hello Mary Lou which was written by Gene Pitney and made famous by Rick Nelson...