Oh Shit! Joe Frazier is dead

Lefty doesn't sing the blues like he used to.



Angry at Ali til the very last day, I'll bet. Nonetheless, take care, old friend. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

For my 22nd birthday I spent the bucks and sat in the stands at University Hall in Charlottesville and watched a black and white live broadcast of the Thrilla in Manilla. Thank God I'd dropped out at the beginning of my third year of school to drive a cab. Otherwise I would have graduated by then and would likely have missed it. Ali said later he thought he was going to die. Actually die. I guess Joe beat him to the punch. Unforgetable.

Townes Van Zandt said it best:

Living on the road my friend
Was gonna keep you free and clean
Now you wear your skin like iron
Your breath's as hard as kerosene
You weren't your mama's only boy
But her favorite one it seems
She began to cry when you said goodbye
And sank into your dreams

Pancho was a bandit boys
His horse was fast as polished steel
Wore his gun outside his pants
For all the honest world to feel
Pancho met his match you know
On the deserts down in Mexico
Nobody heard his dying words
That's the way it goes

All the federales say
They could have had him any day
They only let him hang around
Out of kindness I suppose

Lefty he can't sing the blues
All night long like he used to
The dust that Pancho bit down south
Ended up in Lefty's mouth
The day they laid poor Pancho low
Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go
There ain't nobody knows

All the federales say
They could have had him any day
They only let him slip away
Out of kindness I suppose

The poets tell how Pancho fell
Lefty's livin' in a cheap hotel
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold
So the story ends we're told
Pancho needs your prayers it's true,
But save a few for Lefty too
He just did what he had to do
Now he's growing old

A few gray federales say
They could have had him any day
They only let him go so wrong
Out of kindness I suppose

To which I would add, adios Campagnolo.

Campagnolo is a company that manufactures high-end bicycle parts.
Whatever. Leave me alone to my grief.