I still can’t believe he’s gone even as I write this.
Even as the cancer spread throughout his body, he was still full of exuberance and optimism. Even when he was frail, he still had the ability to amaze with nothing more than an acoustic guitar and a harmonica. Even after undergoing major surgery to remove a cancerous growth from his mouth, his bombastic voice could still rattle the most hardened nerves.
I guess when you see vitality personified like that, you tend to think it will never die.
True, Shane Gooding will never end up in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was yet another struggling singer/songwriter trying to make a name for himself in Southern California when he died on April 12 at the age of 25. Although he acquired a small but devoted following, he had a hard time filling even the most cramped dive bars in Orange County.
However, Gooding had a gift for lyrical observation and acoustic melodies that was accentuated by his raspy yet powerful vocals. While many singer/songwriters have “sensitive” singing voices that are so fragile they sound like they’re on the verge of collapse, Gooding’s voice was a wonder to behold. It was an overpowering instrument of joy and sorrow that could make your hair stand up on end. It was the sound of immortality.
It’s still hard to grasp. Everyone knew he was sick, but he was still a 25 year old who seemed indestructible. I assumed he would beat this cancer with the same combination of ferocity and grace that he always brought to his music, and it seemed like he was going to for a few months. Sadly, it was never meant to be.
Then again, maybe Gooding was meant to be with us only for a short time so that he could bring people happiness by sharing his musical gifts before they could ever be taken for granted.
Gooding was a figure who seemed to exist out of time. His music was traditional folk and blues at its absolute rawest and most heartbreaking.
I should admit that I am kind of biased. I wasn’t exactly best friends with Gooding, but I spent enough time with him to see up close what a kind and thoughtful soul he really was.
I also interviewed Gooding for a feature story that was in the Daily Forty-Niner last fall. Although he was ill, he remained positive and carefree as he talked about his music and future plans. We even went shopping at Tower Records, which has also since drifted into the mists of the great beyond. With both Gooding and Tower now gone, that day feels like some ghostly relic from long ago that now only exists in my memories even though it was only six months ago.
Another moment that will always stick with me was at a benefit show in Costa Mesa last September that raised money to help pay Gooding’s medical bills. Everyone expected Gooding to play one or two songs after his musician friends finished their sets, since he had undergone the aforementioned mouth surgery only a month-and-a-half earlier.
Gooding performed seven songs with so much urgency that he had the entire audience in the palm of his hand even though he was still healing and visibly scarred from the surgery.
Although Gooding’s family and friends have not announced any plans to release his sole album “Paid Driver For Hire,” which was recorded and mixed months before his death, you can still go to www.myspace.com/shanegooding to get a taste of the music he left behind. I still get chills whenever I hear his anguished shouts in the song “Heavy Levee Blues.” If you go to his page and take a listen, you’ll know what I’m talking about.
I guess I’m writing this not only to get the word out about this undeservedly neglected talent but to reconcile myself with the fact that he really is no longer with us. His music will always be around, but it’s not the same.
I still can’t believe he’s gone.
Adam Pringle is a senior journalism major and the assistant diversions editor for the Daily Forty-Niner.
