★★★★★On February 1, 1989 a country singer more famous for being barred from almost every bar in Austin, Texas, than for his straight-talking, deceptively sensitive songwriting, was shot dead aged 39. Blaze Foley had been drinking at a friend’s house when, some time in the early hours of the morning, the friend’s son turned up with the intention of stealing his father’s welfare cheques. Foley tried to fight the young man off, was shot in the liver with a .22 rifle and died a few hours later, a penniless, homeless hippy cowboy who blew every chance he had. Foley has since become a cult figure in the small but vibrant field of Southern bohemianism. Lucinda Williams eulogised him on the tender Drunken Angel, Merle Haggard…

Source: The Times January 11, 2019 00:01 UTC