Biography

Despite the undeniably high quality of his songs -- which have been covered by the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Ian Matthews, and Waylon Jennings -- Paul Siebel was far from being a household name. Within folk circles and among songwriters, however, his two albums, 1969's Woodsmoke and Oranges and 1971's Jack-Knife Gypsy, were legendary. A combination of stage fright, substance abuse, and industry disillusionment caused Siebel to step away from music in the early-80s. He passed away from complications of pulmonary fibrosis on April 5, 2022. Siebel was born in 1937 in Buffalo, New York. Inspired by Hank Williams and Hank Snow, he taught himself to play guitar while in his teens. By the early '60s, after serving in the military, he began playing folk clubs, eventually moving to Greenwich Village, where he found support in the coffeehouse circuit. In 1969, a collection of demos he made with David Bromberg caught the attention of Elektra Records owner Jac Holzman, who offered him a modest recording deal -- reportedly he was only given enough money to finance four three-hour recording sessions. The resulting album, Woodsmoke and Oranges, was met with critical praise, with multiple publications dubbing him the next Bob Dylan. Despite the attention, the album and its equally acclaimed follow-up, Jack-Knife Gypsy, sold disappointingly. Siebel's songs had their champions, however. Linda Ronstadt included a version of the evocative and poignant "Louise" on her 1970 album Silk Purse. The song became Siebel's best known composition, with Bonnie Raitt and Leo Kottke, among others, also recording their own renditions. Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, and longtime friend David Bromberg found varying degrees of success with their versions of the Siebel-penned "Spanish Johnny." Live at McCabes, a concert LP with Bromberg and Gary White, which was made in 1978 and released in 1981, served as the last recorded output from Siebel, who retired from music shortly thereafter -- an eponymous, career-spanning compilation was released by Elektra in 2004. Siebel spent the remainder of his life in Eastern Maryland, where he worked as a bread baker and county park worker. He died in 2022 at the age of 84. ~ Chris Woodstra & James Christopher Monger, Rovi