Dave Marsh, a famend rock critic and biographer, has died. An early editor of Creem who additionally wrote for the Village Voice, Rolling Stone, and Newsday, Marsh wrote one of many earliest and most influential Bruce Springsteen biographies, Born to Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story, in 1979. He died on August 14 at his dwelling in Connecticut; a reason behind demise has not been publicly disclosed. Marsh was 76.
Marsh’s longtime co-host on the Springsteen-focused SiriusXM station E Avenue Radio, Jim Rotolo, confirmed the information on social media on August 15. “Some unhappy information as we speak, E Avenue Nation,” Rotolo wrote. “Bruce Springsteen biographer, SiriusXM host, and my good friend Dave Marsh handed away late yesterday at his dwelling in Connecticut. Dave wrote a number of books about Bruce as a part of a outstanding physique of labor spanning some 25 titles.”
An early champion of Springsteen’s work, Marsh often lauded Springsteen in Creem forward of the curve, and infamously introduced critic Jon Landau to his first Springsteen live performance in 1974. Marsh additionally went on to jot down the Boss’ first main cowl story for Rolling Stone in 1978. After publishing Born to Run, Marsh up to date the biography many occasions through the years, most lately in 2003. (Marsh’s ardour for Springsteen in the end turned a household affair—his spouse, Barbara Carr, served as certainly one of Springsteen’s co-managers for many years.) He additionally co-founded E Avenue Radio, and hosted a number of reveals on E Avenue Nation’s devoted SiriusXM channel, which pays tribute to Marsh on Wednesday, August 19, starting at 10 AM ET.
“My nice good friend Dave, along with his straight out of Detroit perspective, was a true Rock ‘n’ Roll lifer,” Springsteen shared in a assertion. “He was soulful, clever, heartfelt, opinionated, bruising and infrequently fantastically argumentative. Watching Jon Landau and Dave drive one another loopy over some arcane piece of music would make my day. He wrote the primary ebook about me, Born To Run, and Dave at all times had my again. He deeply believed in what I used to be attempting to perform and his lifetime of assist meant the world to me.”
“Greater than anything, I admired Dave as a person of conscience and dedication,” Springsteen’s assertion concluded. “He lived and caught by his values come hell or excessive water. Wherever he’s, I hope he’s receiving a number of the grace, happiness and reward he’s introduced into my life. God bless you Dave.”
Though Marsh devoted years of his profession to chronicling Springsteen’s life and work, these titles solely made up a fraction of his output. He revealed the definitive biography of the Who, Earlier than I Get Previous: The Story of the Who, in 1983. He additionally authored various anthologies on rock historical past, together with The Coronary heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Biggest Singles Ever Made, The First Rock and Roll Confidential Report: Contained in the Actual World of Rock and Roll, and Louie Louie: The Historical past and Mythology of the World’s Most Well-known Rock ‘n’ Roll Tune. In 1983, he based the long-running e-newsletter Rock & Roll Confidential (later rebranded as Rap & Rock Confidential), and in 1993, he received a Grammy for the album notes he wrote for Aretha Franklin’s Queen of Soul.
Born in Pontiac, Michigan in 1960, Marsh’s journalism profession kicked off when he helped launch Creem shortly after dropping out of Wayne State College in 1969. These first few years would see him work alongside legends like Lester Bangs, bringing his ardour for Detroit’s music to Creem’s pages. He left the journal in 1973 to hitch Newsday as music editor, and later rose to the rank of affiliate editor at Rolling Stone, the place he turned recognized for his incisive and infrequently unsparing opinions. (He as soon as dubbed Queen “the primary really fascist rock band.”) He introduced his experience to a 26-year stint with the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame nominating committee.
