The world, as we know from our study of Randy Newman as well as numerous other sources and the University of Hard Knocks, isn't fair. If it was the passing of Jesse Winchester on 11 April 2014 would have been noted with recognition that we'd lost a man who could write a fine song and make a pretty fair fist of singing one.
It you need confirmation of that notion you'll find it here. That's Neko Case tearing up at the end, and Elvis Costello acknowledging a performance that can't be followed. Not if you want to get within coo-ee of it, and Costello has been around long enough to recognize that.
Winchester's first, self-titled album would have been in Declan MacManus' record collection as he set about putting together the material that emerged on My Aim Is True. Elvis has covered Winchester's Payday (on Kojak Variety) and his cover of Russel Smith's Third Rate Romance (with his pre-Costello outfit Flip City). Winchester's version of the latter preceded The Amazing Rhythm Aces.
But it's not hard to see how Winchester slipped below the radar. When Jesse Winchester appeared in 1970, he'd been in Montreal for three years, having left the United States to avoid military service. Interestingly, he came from a military family, born at Barksdale Army Air Field near Bossier City, Louisiana and raised in northern Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee. One suspects he knew pretty well what he was running away from when he set out to dodge the draft.
That status ruled out touring and promotional activities in the States, though the Canadian citizen (1973) gained amnesty in the U.S. in 1977. That made touring a possibility, and he eventually moved back to settle in Virginia in 2002.
And, despite the fact that he'd come under the auspices of Robbie Robertson from The Band, and been picked up by Albert Grossman's Bearsville label Jesse Winchester failed to hit the big time. That's despite the fact that it includes Payday, Biloxi and The Brand New Tennessee Waltz, three of the very best songs ever written.
By anyone. Anywhere.
Unfortunately, initial exposure to the albums that followed failed to grab my attention to the same extent, though they've always been filed under Needs further investigation. But you can't get, and listen to, it all.
Winchester's passing, from bladder cancer after successful treatment for cancer of the esophagus in 2011 should have triggered a systematic and a thorough investigation of the catalogue. Visits to Sydney and Melbourne, however, failed to deliver a copy of Jesse Winchester, which is, of course, the logical starting point. It doesn't appear in the iTunes Store (otherwise it would have been purchased long ago). But there's a copy headed this way as I type so that situation has been rectified.