Bill and Greg. It seems like they knew each other for a long time. They did an album together, "Friend of Mine", that was nominated for a Grammy Award. When they toured for that album, there was a series of dates that they did together. They flew out to the West Coast and rented a car and bought a little portable Weber Grill and they would fish and cook up dinner sometimes in the parking lot. All the gigs on that little run of dates were designed to be fisher-friendly gigs. That was the requirement. They really liked to fish together.
And, Bill is not the old friend that Greg references in The Poet's Game. It is about an old friend of Greg's that he knew long before we knew Bill. Bill got tired of answering that question.
Connect with Greg Brown on his website.
Bill, by Greg (posted on 9/11/2011)
an old friend of mine passed here not long ago also, bill morrissey. a wonderful storyteller & singer- i hadnt seen bill for a long time, a real long time,
until last year, i saw him in portland & i knew then he was not long for this world. i admired bill-- music did not come easily to him, he had to work
really hard to play & sing-- & he did. he loved it. he wrote a number of beautiful songs. booze got him.
bill was funny, he made me laugh so many times back when we used to hang out. seems like some of the saddest souls are also the funniest.
he played an epiphone guitar, an older one that had a very thin neck. this life is an odd deal, not that we have anything to compare it to. we are here. & then we are gone, & as garnet says-- " in the end, only love remains". i believe that is true. bill added to the love pile.
bill was kind of a literary cat in some ways. like i am. bill could have been a short story writer, if he had chosen that path, sometimes i think us literary types should stay
out of music. songs are a lot more about the music part than they are the lyrics. they work better that way. but he & i both also loved the rhythm & the melody.
so we wrote songs. there was such a sadness to bill, it tugs at my heart to recall it. but there was a lot of laughter in him too. i personally do not believe that we go any where after we die. i don't see why we should. i don't see that there is anywhere to go. what we are made of goes on. we are unique, & transient. along with all the rest of it. i just want to thank bill for all the music, & laughter, & i hope the day will come when we can see & say that it is enough to be here, & be grateful.
gb