ROB DeMARTIN
NILS LOFGREN
Nils Lofgren’s bluesy new single “Won’t Cry No More” is subtitled “For Charlie Watts” in honor of the late Rolling Stones member, who died in 2021. You can listen to it below.
Lofgren posted on Facebook that the song “was written about the great Charlie Watts” and also said in a press release, “Without the Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, this music of mine wouldn’t exist. I was so furious and hurt when Charlie Watts died, I turned to his music for solace, desperate for connection and inspiration through the grief. First one chord blues I ever wrote. Needed his musical spirit to cope and found it. One raw riff to sing for him. Miss you, Charlie.”
Coincidentally, one of Lofgren’s best known songs as a solo artist, “Keith Don’t Go” (from 1975), was also inspired by a Rolling Stone, Keith Richards. You can listen to that below as well.
“Won’t Cry No More” is the third single from Lofgren’s Mountains album, which will be released on July 21. The first single, “Ain’t the Truth Enough,” features Ringo Starr on drums, and the second, “Nothin’s Easy (for Amy),” features Neil Young on backing vocals.
Lofgren is currently touring with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, whose next show takes place today (June 21) at the Merkur Spiel Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Today also happens to be Lofgren’s 72nd birthday.
For information on Mountains, visit nilslofgren.com.
Here is “Won’t Cry No More (for Charlie Watts)”:
And here is “Keith Don’t Go”:
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