Vancouver guitarist and singer Jerry Doucet died Monday at the age of 70.
The Juno-winning rocker behind the 1977 hit Mama Let Him Play died surrounded by his family after battling cancer, his son said.
Fellow Vancouver musician Dalannah Gail Bowen was one of Doucette’s live backing vocals in the 1970s.
“I’m a Doucet girl,” she told CBC News. “When Jerry puts on the guitar, it’s magic – he takes it to another level…he knows how to engage an audience.
“He went national with Mama Let Him Play. It changed his life and his relationship with music.”
“These iconic songs – a very nice guy”
The album, which featured its Billboard Top 100 hit single, went platinum. People who know Doucet describe him as friendly, charming on stage and tenacious.
Longtime bandmate Mark Ibarra says Doucette’s original lineup was his main inspiration as a drummer. When Ibala moved to Vancouver more than two decades ago, his only hope was to play with the icon.
“When I first started playing drums as a kid, I used to play along with Jerry’s albums,” Ibarra told CBC News. “Jerry called me one day and said, ‘Okay, you come with me’… Whenever Jerry calls, I always say yes.”
His son told CBC News that his father’s music “will live on forever.”
“It was very special to see the joy he brought to so many people, and I will always stand by that,” Gerry Doucet Jr. said in an interview Tuesday. “His music will live on forever and hopefully he will inspire others to pick up the guitar and follow their dreams – that’s a big deal for him.”
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Ibarra recalls a gig at the Rock the Lake festival in Kelowna in August 2016. Doucette told him he was unwell before he fell.
But that didn’t affect his performance.
“Suddenly he fell in the middle of our set,” Ibarra said. “They called the paramedics and gave him oxygen … but he went back on stage right away and blew everyone away.
“He was supported as he played the guitar and he played ‘mum’ like he had never played before.
He went to the hospital only after filming; his health deteriorated thereafter.
Mark Rankin, guitarist and co-founder of Vancouver’s R&B band The Mojo Stars, recalls a 2014 charity show in New Westminster, BC with Doucette – a disability Doucette has supported for years Children’s annual fundraiser.
“A lot of people, like myself, were influenced by him as a songwriter,” Rankin told CBC News. “He’s a great guitarist, a great singer and such an iconic song — and a very nice guy.”
Two of Doucette’s own longtime bandmates — keyboardist Kenny Boychuck and bassist Trevor Newman — later joined Rankin’s band, while Ibarra occasionally played live with The Mojo Stars.
“His songs have been the soundtrack to a lot of people, especially my generation,” Rankin said. “A lot of people will miss him terribly.”
“Not Just Dad”
Doucet was born in Montreal in 1952. At 11, he joined his first band, The Reefers, and later played in Brutus, Timeseed and Rocket Norton.
Only moved to BC. His solo career began in the 1970s and won him a Juno Award in 1979.
“When he played guitar and rocked countless places with the Doucette band, I realized, ‘Hey, it’s not just dad,’” his son said. “He means a lot to so many people out there.”
