RIP: Eric von Schmidt

Folk artist Eric von Schmidt died this past Friday, from complications resulting from a stroke he suffered six months ago. He was a blues guitarist following in the tradition of Leadbelly, and served as a sort of mentor to Bob Dylan. He's best remembered for his song "Baby Let Me Follow You Down" (originally entitled "Baby, Let Me Lay It on You") which Dylan performed on his debut release, retelling the story of meeting Von Schmidt in the song's intro.

Song: "Baby Let Me Follow You Down" - Bob Dylan
Song: "Joshua Gone Barbados" - Eric von Schmidt

Dylan later recorded von Schmmidt's "Joshua Gone Barbados" with the Band, and even Johnny Cash covered it on 1983's Johnny 99.

Von Schmidt was also a poet and a painter, with the latter encompassing much of his later career following health problems (throat cancer and lyme's disease,) which prevented him from playing anymore. Up until his stroke, he was working on an amazing series called Giants of Blues series, which produced four brilliant works depicting legends of blues music.

tags: music, eric von schmidt, obituary, folk, rhapsody