Tom Waits and wife Kathleen Brennan have written a long and heartfelt tribute to music producer Hal Willner following his passing earlier this month. Their tribute was posted on Waits’ Facebook earlier this week.
In the post, Waits honours Willner and applauds his lifetime of strange interests and collections.
Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan take to social media to share an emotional tribute to late friend and music producer, Hal Willner.
Waits and Willner met in 1974 at a show and the pair have since been long-lasting friends. Waits reflects on this in his opening paragraph:
“Hal. Dear Hal. Brother. Uncle. Father. Son. Husband. Godfather. Friend. Wise and reckless. Lamb and black sheep. Lover of the afflicted and the blessed. More than kin and more than kind, more than friend and more than fiendish in his daunting and devoted pursuit of the lost and the buried, long may his coattails run and long may we now ride, and those that follow us continue to ride upon them.”
Waits continues on to pay tribute to Willner’s talents, wisdom, and the peculiarity of his interests by stating that he was, “a furtive and clandestine and crafty treasure seeker and archaeologist of forgotten islands in popular culture.”
Willner produced musical parodies on Saturday Night Live as well as records from the likes of Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, Marianne Faithfull, and more. Saturday Night Live cast members contributed to a group tribute by performing Lou Reed’s Perfect Day on the April 11th episode.
Hal Willner passed away on April 7, at 64 years old.
