Canadian classical rock guitarist and songwriter Jerry Dussett died in a hospice on Monday, a family friend confirmed.
The 70-year-old Dusset was known for “Mama Let Him Play”, his 1977 hit from the self-titled album, which hit the top 100 on the billboard. A family friend of Doucette said in a statement the inspiration for “Mama Let Him Play” comes from what his father would say after returning home from work to his son playing guitar. His mother would tell him to shut up, but Dussett remembered his father saying she should let him keep playing.
He thought it would be a good title for the song and said he had finished writing the hit in about an hour.
Eric Alper, an expert in the music industry, says Dusset never hesitated to play the song that made him famous.
“I know a lot of artists who don’t like to play one or two hits that they may be famous for all over the world because they’re fed up,” he told CTV News.
“Some, like Jerry, liked the fact that he was remembered for this hit. This allows you to keep going, because there will always be fans of classical rock who want to hear the song, and most artists like Jerry are happy to put on their clothes, go on tour and play it in front of an adoring crowd. “
Dusset was born in Montreal in 1952 and grew up in Hamilton, learning to play the guitar at the age of six.
Alper says learning to play the guitar at such a young age has given Dusset an advantage over others who pick up an instrument a little later in life.
“When you become good and become a guitar marvel like Jerry, which allows you to play in bands when you’re a teenager, you start your 10,000 hours of practice at a really early age,” he said.
In 1972, Dusset moved to Vancouver, where he played with The Seeds of Time and the Rocket Norton Band, before signing with Mushroom Records as a solo artist. In 1979, his band Doucette won Juno for the most promising band of the year.
Between 1977 and 1999, Doucette released five albums as a solo artist and continued to play in small halls in Western Canada until 2018.
“About five decades. Jerry’s music has never been on the radio in this country in Canada. And a lot of it has to do with time, and a lot of it has to do with Jerry’s talent and songwriting skills, “Alper said.
Dusset died of cancer on Monday, surrounded by family at the Irene Thomas Hospice in Delta, British Columbia. He is survived by his wife Maggie, 43, his five children and 10 grandchildren.
While Alper says there may be younger people who have never caught one of Doucette’s albums on vinyl or CD or heard any of his songs on the radio, he believes there is a chance for a new generation to discover music.
“You don’t have to go to the record store and hope they have a copy of the album. “We all have access to the internet, the opportunity to check out what Jerry really is, the countless times he’s released this song, the many, many albums he’s released – it’s at our disposal, they’ll never go away,” he said.
The fact that we can talk about him and pay tribute to him may be enough for this guy or girl there to take the guitar for the first time and want to play music and check out what made Jerry so great, because he really, it was really great. “
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