Bluesman Tom McFarland dies

[brownie]

From AP:

Tom McFarland

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) _ Tom McFarland, a well-traveled blues shouter, guitar player and composer who placed a vital role in

reviving Seattle's blues scene in the 1970s, died in his sleep Friday at age 59.

McFarland, who performed with such blues greats as Charlie Musselwhite, Otis Rush and Isaac Scott, died early Friday at home

in West Valley, Utah, said his son, Thomas Riley McFarland of Tacoma.

McFarland's signature tune was "Going Back to Oakland," recorded in 1987 on the album "Just Got In From Portland." His

other albums were "Voodoo Garden" and the highly regarded "Travelin' With the Blues," recorded in 1978.

Among the better known blues artists who covered his tunes were Musselwhite, Margo Tufo and Kathy Hart.

McFarland was born in Los Angeles, grew up in Grants Pass, Ore., came to Seattle in 1973 and soon had the only blues band

to get steady work in the city at the time, years before such artists as Robert Cray and Curtis Salgado put the Pacific Northwest

on the blues map.

McFarland left in 1976 for San Francisco, recorded for Arhoolie Records and began touring with Lightnin' Hopkins, Musselwhite

and Rush. He later lived in Tacoma; Vancouver, Wash., Clinton, Miss.; Terre Haute, Ind.; Spokane, and the Salt Lake City

area.

Edited September 9, 2004 by brownie