Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Snowden Wainwright III (born September 5, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actor. In addition to the 1970s novelty hit "Dead Skunk (in the Middle of the Road)", which reached No. 16 on the Billboard Charts in 1972, he has released 24 studio albums, 4 live albums, and 6 compilations. Some of his most well-known songs include "The Swimming Song", "Motel Blues", "The Man Who Couldn't Cry", and "Lullaby". In 2007, he collaborated with musician Joe Henry to create the soundtrack for Judd Apatow's film Knocked Up. In addition to music, he has acted in small roles in at least 18 television programs and feature films, including three episodes in the third season of the series M*A*S*H.

"LW3" redirects here. For the film, see Lethal Weapon 3. For the Paralympic skiing classification, see LW3 (classification).

Loudon Wainwright III
Background information
Birth nameLoudon Snowden Wainwright III
Born (1946-09-05) September 5, 1946
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S.
OriginBedford, New York, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)Musician, actor
Instruments
Years active1967–present
Labels
Associated acts
Websitelw3.com
Wainwright at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2015, at which he and Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens both received a lifetime achievement award.[1]

Reflecting upon his career in 1999, he stated, "You could characterize the catalog as somewhat checkered, although I prefer to think of it as a tapestry."[2] In 2017, Wainwright released his autobiography, Liner Notes: On Parents & Children, Exes & Excess, Death & Decay, and a Few of My Other Favorite Things. He is the brother of singer Sloan Wainwright and has four children, including musicians Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, and Lucy Wainwright Roche. He has been married and divorced twice, including to folk singer Kate McGarrigle.

Early life

Wainwright was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the son of Martha Taylor, a yoga teacher, and Loudon Wainwright Jr., a columnist and editor for Life magazine.[3] His great-great-grandfather was the politician and diplomat A. Loudon Snowden. His father was not a professional musician, but he played the piano and wrote some songs, exposing his children to musicians such as Tom Lehrer and Stan Freberg, whom Wainwright later cited as influences.[4] Wainwright grew up in Bedford, New York, in Westchester County. Among his sisters is Sloan Wainwright, also a singer.

Career

Wainwright's career began in the late 1960s. He had played the guitar while in school but subsequently sold it for yoga lessons while living in San Francisco. Later, in Rhode Island, Wainwright's grandmother got him a job working in a boatyard. An old lobsterman named Edgar inspired him to borrow a friend's guitar and write his first song, "Edgar". Wainwright soon bought his own guitar and in about a year wrote nearly twenty songs. He went to Boston and New York City to play in folk clubs and was eventually noticed by Milton Kramer, who became his manager. He signed a record deal with Atlantic, which released his self-titled debut album in 1970.

Wainwright is perhaps best known for the 1972 novelty song "Dead Skunk (in the Middle of the Road)" and for playing Captain Calvin Spalding (the "singing surgeon") on the American television show M*A*S*H. His appearances spanned three episodes in the show's third season (1974–1975).[5]

Using a witty, self-mocking style, Wainwright has recorded over twenty albums on eleven different labels. Three of his albums have been nominated for Grammy Awards: I'm Alright (1985), More Love Songs (1986),[6] and High Wide & Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project (2009), for which he won the Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album in January 2010.

Wainwright has also appeared in a number of films, including small parts in The Aviator (with two of his children), Big Fish, Elizabethtown, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, 28 Days, and Knocked Up, and the television series Undeclared and Parks and Recreation.[5] In the UK, he recorded sessions for John Peel from 1971 onwards and appeared on a simultaneous broadcast on BBC TV and on Radio 1 in February 1978 (known as Sight and Sound in Concert).[7] However, it was in the late 1980s that he gained much wider popularity in Britain, when he appeared as the resident singer with comedian Jasper Carrott in his show Carrott Confidential.

He appeared as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live in the first season's fifth episode, which was hosted by Robert Klein and broadcast on November 15, 1975. He performed "Bicentennial" and "Unrequited to the Nth Degree".

Wainwright has said that, like many of his contemporaries, he was inspired musically by seeing Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival in 1963. He was one of many young folk singers tagged as the "new Dylan" in the early 1970s, a fact that he later ruefully satirized in his song "Talking New Bob Dylan" from the album History (1992).[6]

Wainwright was a judge for the fourth annual AIM Independent Music Awards.[8]

The singer entered a period of deep depression following the death of his mother in 1997 and believed he could never write again. Retreating to his mother's cabin in the woods, he underwent therapy and gradually recovered, eventually recording Last Man on Earth in 2001. Since then, his recording career has mostly returned to its previous frequency.

Wainwright and musician Joe Henry composed the music for the 2007 Judd Apatow film Knocked Up. In addition to composing the soundtrack, Wainwright appeared in the film in a supporting role as the protagonists' obstetrician.[9] He has also composed music for the new theatre production of Carl Hiaasen's Lucky You, which premiered at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.[10]

Personal life

Wainwright's first marriage, to singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle, ended in divorce. During their marriage, they had two children: Rufus and Martha. Rufus was the inspiration behind two of Wainwright's songs: "Rufus Is a Tit Man" (referring to his breastfeeding) and "A Father and a Son", a retrospective. Wainwright's songs inspired by Martha are "Pretty Little Martha" (also about her as an infant), "Five Years Old" (about missing her fifth birthday), the confessional "Hitting You", the duet "Father/Daughter Dialogue", and the comedy number "I'd Rather Be Lonely".

Both Rufus and Martha are singer-songwriters. Rufus has written the song "Dinner at Eight" about his conflicted relationship with his father.[11] Martha composed the song "Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole", which, according to her, is about her father.[12] Martha and her father sang a duet on "Father Daughter Dialogue" (on Wainwright's 1995 album, Grown Man) and collaborated on the song "You Never Phone" (on Wainwright's 2003 live album, So Damn Happy).

Wainwright had a relationship with singer Suzzy Roche, during which they had a daughter, Lucy Wainwright Roche, who is also a singer. The relationship ended, although Wainwright and Suzzy Roche remain on good terms and occasionally appear onstage together, sometimes with Lucy. Wainwright's second marriage, to Ritamarie Kelly, ended in divorce. They have a daughter, Alexandra (Lexie) Kelly Wainwright (born 1993).

Since 2015, Wainwright has lived with Susan Morrison, an editor at The New Yorker.[13][14][15]

Discography
Main article: Loudon Wainwright III discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations
  • One Man Guy: The Best of Loudon Wainwright III 1982–1986 (1994)
  • The Atlantic Recordings (1999]]
  • Dead Skunk: The Complete Columbia Years (2007)
  • Essential Recordings: One Man Guy (Best of Rounder Records Perfect 10 Series) (2009)
  • 40 Odd Years (2011)
  • Years in the Making (2018)

Filmography

References
  1. Thomas, Huw (April 22, 2015). "BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards: Cat Stevens, Loudon Wainwright honours". BBC News. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  2. "Loudon Wainwright III". Lw3.com. June 20, 1999. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
  3. "Loudon Wainwright, III Biography (1946–)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
  4. Needles, Tim. "Legendary Songwriter Loudon Wainwright III". Short and Sweet NYC. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
  5. imdb.com – Loudon Wainwright III Retrieved October 6, 2008
  6. "Loudon Wainwright III Web Site: Bio". Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
  7. BFI Film & TV Database Retrieved January 16, 2011
  8. Independent Music Awards – Past Judges Archived July 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  9. imdb.com – Knocked Up Retrieved October 6, 2008
  10. "Carl Hiaasen's Lucky You". Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Retrieved July 16, 2008.
  11. DeCurtis, Anthony (August 31, 2003). "Rufus Wainwright Journeys to 'Gay Hell' and Back". The New York Times.
  12. Jinman, Richard (April 15, 2005). "The Guardian profile: The Wainwrights". The Guardian.
  13. Seabrook, John (September 21, 2009). "The Patriarch". The New Yorker.
  14. Dollar, Steve (May 15, 2012). "Barking Up the Family Tree". Wall Street Journal.
  15. Kelly, Lexie. "Wainwright & I" (PDF). Ross School. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
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