As Best Classic Bands reported on July 21, 2017, acclaimed singer-guitarist Dave Edmunds has apparently retired from the stage. That news was revealed by his longtime pal Brian Setzer, who reported it on his Facebook page. On July 22, 2017, Edmunds appeared onstage for what was presumably the last time. We’ve got clips from two of the songs, as well as several from his next-to-last show held the night before. (See them below.)
On July 21, Setzer wrote: “It’s with bittersweet announcement that my good friend and guitar legend Dave Edmunds is retiring after tomorrow night’s show.
Dave produced the early Stray Cats albums that spawned Runaway Boys, Stray Cat Strut, Rock This Town, (Sexy) & 17, and I Won’t Stand in Your Way.
He flew in to Finland to play his final two shows with me. I wish him all the love in the world in his retirement!”
Edmunds has only performed sporadically in recent years, always in Europe. A quick glance at his concert history on his Setlist.fm page shows four performances in 2017, one in 2016, four in 2015, three in 2014, five in 2013 and no others since 2009. The vast majority of those appearances were in Sweden where he has a band that he works with.
Watch Edmunds and his band perform “Cut Across Shorty,” a song popularized by Eddie Cochran, at what was presumably his penultimate concert on July 21, 2017
And here he is performing “Deborah,” a song Edmunds co-wrote with Nick Lowe that’s included on his 1978 album Tracks on Wax 4
On July 22, Edmunds was among the special guests appearing with Brian Setzer’s Rockabilly Riot! at the Rockers Festival in Lahti, Finland.
Watch Edmunds open his set on July 22 with the Bruce Springsteen composition “From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)”
Related: Edmunds explains how “From Small Things” came to be
Watch Edmunds and his band perform two favorites
Thanks to Juha Kärkkäinen for the videos!
Related: Our Album Rewind of Edmunds’ Repeat When Necessary
Watch Edmunds perform “Rock This Town” with Setzer’s band. [Note, regrettably, the clip is initially in horizontal mode and then the camera switches temporarily to horizontal.]
Posted by Micke Finell on Saturday, July 22, 2017
Watch one more
Posted by Micke Finell on Saturday, July 22, 2017
[In Nov. 2019, Setzer announced he is suffering from tinnitus. He’s announced his first new tour, to support a new album, The Devil Always Collects. Tickets are available here and here.]
Edmunds, born April 15, 1944, in Cardiff, Wales, scored a huge worldwide hit in 1970 as a 26-year-old with “I Hear You Knocking,” which reached #1 in the U.K. and #4 in the U.S. Though he earned another four Top 10 U.K. singles, he would never again have another major U.S. hit.
But his lack of chart success would not diminish his acclaim among fans and fellow musicians. Edmunds has been a great interpreter of numerous classic rock songwriters including Chuck Berry, John Fogerty, Bruce Springsteen, Graham Parker, and others. His most recent album, was a 2015 all-instrumental effort, subtitled Rags & Classics, where he played favorites like “Classical Gas,” “A Whiter Shade of Pale” and “Green Onions.”
Many of Edmunds’ late 1970s and early 1980s output, most of which was released under his own name, was actually a group effort. For years, Edmunds recorded with Nick Lowe, Billy Bremner and Terry Williams. The quartet, who performed as Rockpile, officially only recorded one album under that name. When Lowe–also signed as a solo artist–recorded his albums in the same era they, too, were with Edmunds, Bremner and Williams.
4 Comments
Farewell, Dave. Thanks for a lifetime of musical thrills.
I had the pleasure of meeting thos legend as well as seeing him perform several times.I was lucky,enough to see Rockpile at the Ritz in NYC on their Seconds of Pleasure Tour, incidently their only official album &tour which was short lived as Dave&NICK SPLIT UP SHORTLY,AFTER,THE TOUR STARTED. DAVE WAS NOT GIVEN ENOUGH CREDIT FOR HIS TALENTS ESPECIALLY ALONG WITH,JOHN FOGERTY BRINGING&modernizing Rockabilly in the 70’S&80’s. This guy is a true legend & the realist od deals!!!!-
I too had the real pleasure of seeing Dave playing with Rockpile at Hemel Hempstead Pavilion back in the day. What a truly cracking band they were. I was also lucky enough to have seen Dave and band at Rock City Nottingham in the early 80s magical
Dave is one of the most talented musicians and record producers in music
All the best Dave. You are missed ❤️