Tucker Zimmerman has passed in unfortunate fashion, an American born Europhile, he was a gentle, thoughtful, kind musician. Simon Jones pays tribute.
Spiral Earth is saddened to report the death of Tucker Zimmerman in a fire which consumed his home in Belgium on January 17th. The flames also took his wife and long time companion Marie – Claire. The couple had been together for over five decades. Tucker was 84 and still active with recent albums including from 2024 ‘Dance Of Love,’ a collaboration with alt roots rockers Big Thief and ‘I Wonder If It Will Ever Come True,’ an archive item recorded in the 70s featuring friends and colleagues from Britain including, Ian A Anderson, Maggie Holland and Tony Visconti.
Visconti produced Tucker’s first album ‘Ten Songs’ for Regal Zonophone when he arrived on our shores having studied classical composition and earned a Fulbright Scholarship playing violin. Another of Visconti’s early charges, one David Jones also known as David Bowie – often referred to that record as a favourite he returned to regularly.
Born in 1941 in California Tucker was never cut out for mainstream music and after that initial recording retreated, with much credit, to the quieter realms of the folk scene where at a European festival he met Ian A who seeing his worth signed Tucker to his Village Thing label and duly delivered the now highly sought after, ‘Tucker Zimmerman,’ set in 1972. The two formed a life long friendship.
Tucker settled in Europe with his lady and made further albums for a variety of labels most originating in Belgium from where he continued honing his singer songwriter/American roots distinctly under the radar. His records always sold to the devoted and curious yet each contained music which deserved far wider exposure, even though TZ himself seemed to fight shy of the very idea. ‘Word Games,’ and ‘Square Dance,’ are particularly worth finding as examples of the man and his art. Latterly his catalogue had gained some traction as he became involved with younger musicians who appreciated his compositions and the real value. Many I met have compared him to Michael Hurley in that he was a unique individualist existing off grid, living life at his own pace in his own way.
His final offering from just last year would seem to confirm that. ‘Music By River, Words By Ear,’ issued by the strangely named Big Potato Records was made up of seemingly casual sessions in 2002 which featured another Village Thing legend Dave Evans as well as musical cohorts from Belgium. Curated in the back woods, tucked away in rurality, the music reflects the man and his philosphy.
Most reaction to his death has focused on his pop and rock connections, not much at all about his years on the folk scene and activities therein, so I approached Ian A for his thoughts about Tucker and his music. Still digesting the awful events that had occured, Ian had this to say, ” Maggie and I first met Tucker and Marie-Claire at the beginning of the ‘70s and have remained friends ever since. Their homely house in a forest near Liege was a constant hospitable refuge on our many Hot Vultures tours of Belgium, Holland and Germany through the ‘70s. Tucker was always prolific writing songs, and he’d often get visitors involved in making demos, or just give us cassettes. Which is how we ended up recording so many as Hot Vultures, the English Country Blues Band and Maggie solo, as indeed did fellow friend Wizz Jones. His “Taoist Tale” got adopted by many English folkpersons, beginning with Nic Jones who heard Maggie sing it, and we’d in turn copy those demos on to friends. I was very pleased to release his second, self-produced LP on Village Thing in 1972 – the only album we didn’t originate in some way – and then recently make some of that demos archive available for CD re-issue by Big Potato Records in 2024, over 50 years later. They were really lovely people, a supportive couple for nearly 60 years, and Tucker was one of the wisest people I’ve ever met.”
