Home Live Music News & Review RIP Buddy Cage

RIP Buddy Cage

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Buddy Cage has sadly died. He battled a long illness the last few years and was in really bad shape. He had multiple health challenges and has spent months in hospice.

Cage is survived by his daughter Elvira Stark.

Cage has had a lengthy career and is the premier pedal steel performer within the jam and rock communities over the last fifty years.

He was famously on an amazing trio of records released in 1975 including Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks, the New Riders of the Purple Sage’s Oh, What a Mighty Time, and David Bromberg’s Midnight on the Water.

Cage is most famously associated with the New Riders of the Purple Sage with whom he toured for decades. The diversity of his musical experiences is profound however with multiple albums recorded with Anne Murray in the early 70s and countless jam oriented recordings including Solar Circus, the Zen Tricksters, Stir Fried, and so many more.

Wikipedia’s list of albums that include Buddy Cage is pretty stunning:

Hard Times – Mickey McGivern & the Mustangs (1967)
This Way Is My Way — Anne Murray (1969)
Honey, Wheat and Laughter — Anne Murray (1970)
Great Speckled Bird — Great Speckled Bird (1970)
Straight, Clean and Simple — Anne Murray (1971)
Talk It Over in the Morning — Anne Murray (1971)
Rural Space — Brewer & Shipley (1972)
Powerglide — New Riders of the Purple Sage (1972)
Gypsy Cowboy — New Riders of the Purple Sage (1972)
The Adventures of Panama Red — New Riders of the Purple Sage (1973)
Home, Home on the Road — New Riders of the Purple Sage (1974)
Brujo — New Riders of the Purple Sage (1974)
Tales of the Great Rum Runners — Robert Hunter (1974)
Blood on the Tracks — Bob Dylan (1975)
Midnight on the Water — David Bromberg (1975)
Oh, What a Mighty Time — New Riders of the Purple Sage (1975)
New Riders — New Riders of the Purple Sage (1976)
Who Are Those Guys? — New Riders of the Purple Sage (1977)
Marin County Line — New Riders of the Purple Sage (1978)
Too Close for Comfort — Terry & the Pirates (1979)
Feelin’ All Right — New Riders of the Purple Sage (1981)
Heart on a Sleeve — Tom Russell (1984)
Empty Bottles — The Chili Brothers (1988)
Step Right Up — Solar Circus (1992)
Twilight Dance — Solar Circus (1992)
A Historical Retrospective — Solar Circus (1993)
Live on Stage — New Riders of the Purple Sage (1993)
Prova De Amor — Jorge Ferreira (1995)
Rock ‘n’ Roll Heaven — Frank Novato (1995)
Slip into Somewhere – The Knot (formerly Slipknot) – (1997)
Stir Fried — Stir Fried (1999)
Electrafried — Stir Fried (1999)
Terrapin — Joe Gallant and Illuminati (1999)
Doin’ Time on Planet Earth — Brooklyn Cowboys (1999)
Last of the Blue Diamond Miners — Stir Fried (2000)
Dodging Bullets — Brooklyn Cowboys (2002)
Jamazon — Reverend Tor (2002)
The Other Man in Black: The Ballad of Dale Earnhardt — Brooklyn Cowboys (2002)
Try Again — Mike Ireland & Holler (2002)
Worcester, MA, 4/4/73 — New Riders of the Purple Sage (2003)
Boston Music Hall, 12/5/72 — New Riders of the Purple Sage (2003)
Shaking Off the Weirdness — Zen Tricksters (2003)
Redemption — The Last Hombres (2003)
Inside In — Mike Gordon (2003)
Veneta, Oregon, 8/27/72 — New Riders of the Purple Sage (2004)
Armadillo World Headquarters, Austin, TX, 6/13/75 — New Riders of the Purple Sage (2005)
Brand New Stranger — JJ Baron (2006)
Everything Is One — Pete Francis (2006)
Grace’s Bell — Ben Rudnick (2007)
Gift: A Tribute to Ian Tyson — various artists (2007)
Iris Nova — Mudville (2007)
Patience on Friday — Ryan Montbleau (2007)
S.U.N.Y., Stonybrook, NY, 3/17/73 — New Riders of the Purple Sage (2007)
Wanted: Live at Turkey Trot — New Riders of the Purple Sage (2007)
Once More Into the Bliss — Boris Garcia (2008)
We Are All One — Michael Falzarano (2008)
Songs for the Soldier — Lance Larson (2008)
Winterland, San Francisco, CA, 12/31/77 — New Riders of the Purple Sage (2009)
Where I Come From — New Riders of the Purple Sage (2009)
Stroller — The Crybabies (2010)
My North Country Home — George Hamilton IV (2011)
Our Blood — Richard Buckner (2011)
17 Pine Avenue — New Riders of the Purple Sage (2012)
Family Business – Ronnie Penque (2019)
Thanksgiving in New York City – New Riders of the Purple Sage (2019)

Source: Live Music News & Review