Drake Levin passed away July 4, 2009, in San Francisco, with his wife Sandra by his side.
Many other people have and will post tributes to Drake, tributes from their own perspectives. My perspective is that of a fan of his music, and the best tribute I feel I can make to him, apart from keeping his music alive, is to share some photographs that I took on the one occasion that I was privileged to see him perform live.
I think that the photographs reflect that Drake Levin loved the blues and loved making music. He exuded happiness when he was playing guitar, in this case the red Epiphone guitar that he'd been using since his days in Paul Revere and the Raiders. His guitar playing was exciting to watch and a banquet for the ears and his joy in making the music that he loved was infectious to all who heard him, in my opinion.
Sympathy to Drake Levin's family, friends and fans. Thoughts and prayers are with you all as you grieve for your loss. Virtual hugs to you all, especially to Carol and Sandra.
Links to other tributes to Drake Levin are included below.
Photographs are from the Curtis Lawson Benefit, held at The Saloon in San Francisco, California, on Saturday, January 17, 2004.
Drake was then a member of the Curtis Lawson Band and performed throughout the evening, with many other blues musicians who had come to support Curtis.
Drake tuning the red Epiphone at the start of the evening
Ron Hacker and Drake playing together. And the smile lit up Drake's face when he was playing.
A closeup of Drake's hands as he played the Epiphone. I do enjoy watching and photographing guitarist's hands. And this picture is the one that started that love, and was the inspiration for the Magic Fingers Page.
Drake Levin and Curtis Lawson.
Pat Wilder and Drake Levin. In a perhaps-unintended nod to Drake's past career with Paul Revere and the Raiders, the song Pat and Drake played was "Ooh Poo Pa Doo".
Drake playing. I was trying to get some different angles for my photographs of the show.
Another different angle of Drake. I think he was laughing at me, but that's ok. We were both doing what we love.
