{"id":136551,"date":"2024-02-06T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=136551"},"modified":"2024-02-05T18:05:58","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T00:05:58","slug":"richard-allen-dick-waterman-july-14-1935-january-26-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/richard-allen-dick-waterman-july-14-1935-january-26-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Obituary: Richard Allen “Dick” Waterman (July 14, 1935\u2013January 26, 2024)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Richard Allen Waterman<\/strong> (born July 14, 1935 – died January 26, 2024) died peacefully, after a short illness, in\u00a0Oxford, Mississippi<\/strong> where he had lived since 1986. The Estate of Richard A. Waterman will announce a local celebration of his life and work soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richard Waterman was a writer, music promoter, and photographer influential in the development and recording of blues music since the 1960s. He was among the first non-performers to be inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame<\/strong>, and his photographs have been shown in galleries and at events around the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born in\u00a0Plymouth, Massachusetts<\/strong>, he studied journalism at Boston University<\/strong> where he became interested in folk and blues music. He worked as a journalist and photographer around the state, including taking photographs of candidate Senator John F. Kennedy<\/strong> at a campaign event in\u00a0Bridgewater<\/strong>, MA, during the 1960 campaign<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the early 1960s, he headed to Greenwich Village<\/strong> where he photographed Folk and other musicians, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez<\/strong>, and Phil Ochs<\/strong>, in New York City<\/strong> and at the Newport Folk Festival<\/strong>.
Waterman’s career took a major turn in 1964 when he and two friends “rediscovered” bluesman Son House<\/strong>. In later years, he said it was an experience that changed his life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He founded Avalon Productions<\/strong>, the first booking agency to represent blues artists, and went on to manage the careers of such icons as Mississippi Fred McDowell, Skip James, Arthur Crudup<\/strong>, and Mississippi John Hurt<\/strong>, among many others. Waterman was in the NBC<\/strong> studios with Son House in 1965 when Howlin’ Wolf<\/strong> became the first African American bluesman to perform on national TV with the Rolling Stones<\/strong> on Shindig!<\/em> He also worked with a new generation of blues musicians, including Buddy Guy, Junior Wells<\/strong>, and Luther Allison<\/strong>. In the late 1960s, Waterman met Bonnie Raitt<\/strong> and went on to manage her career for 18 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Boston in the early 1970s, he booked acts at Club 47<\/strong> and Joe’s Place<\/strong>, bringing Black bluesmen from the South to eager new audiences. His work with the blues musicians led him to become a tireless advocate for their receiving rightful compensation from the record companies that, years before, had paid a paltry sum for the lifetime rights to their music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along the way, Waterman continued taking photos of musicians, and he moved to Oxford and began a second career publishing the photographs of blues, folk, country, and other musicians that he had been taking since the early 1960s. His book Between Midnight and Day: The Last Unpublished Blues Archive<\/em><\/strong> contains about 100 of his photographs and the stories behind them. He also wrote BB King Treasures<\/em><\/strong> with BB King<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2000, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. In October 2017, he received a Brass Note on Beale Street<\/strong> in Memphis<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richard Waterman is survived by his wife Cinda<\/strong>, his sister Rollene<\/strong>, extended family members and many devoted friends who were delighted by his storytelling and passion of the music he did so much to bring to a wide audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dick Waterman and Son House, 1969.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Grammy 2024 tribute to Dick Waterman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n