Paul Siebel

Country-Folk Singer-Songwriter

BORN 1937

While Buffalo, New York native Paul Siebel came up through the Greenwich Village folk scene, he sang and wrote hardcore country songs with literate lyrics, ranging from mythological epics to bus-stop weepers. His voice was a gorgeous, high-lonesome wail. Two studio albums, Woodsmoke And Oranges (1970) and Jack-Knife Gypsy (1971), were ignored by the public, but beloved by fellow musicians. Both Linda Ronstadt and Bonnie Raitt cut Louise, the story of a low-rent prostitute that was his most well-known song, while the duo of Waylon Jennings and Emmylou Harris covered Spanish Johnny. The lovely, if modest Live At McCabe’s (1978) ended his recording career and, silenced by stage fright and a drinking problem, he ended up as a baker and parks worker. Like a character in a Paul Siebel song, he lived on the fringes, and left a wistful tale in his wake.

Michael Simmons

“Paul Siebel lived on the fringes, and left a wistful tale in his wake.”