Larry Campbell “Sicker Than He’s Ever Been” with the Coronavirus

Well-respected country and roots multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell is “sicker than he’s ever been in his life” after contracting the Coronavirus, according the Campbell’s wife and frequent collaborator, Teresa Williams.
“Larry tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday. If you didn’t know anybody who has it now you do,” Teresa informed fans on March 24th, explaining that Larry is currently quarantined in Upstate New York, while she has been told to stay in New York City. “He’s really too sick for him to receive phone calls and texts there at the house.”
Larry Campbell’s list of credits is immense. Though he might be best known as being a member of Bob Dylan’s band from 1997 to 2004, and for being a regular tour partner of Levon Helm, he’s played on countless country and roots records as a pedal steel, lap steel, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, and guitar player. From the 2010 self-titled album by Whitey Morgan and the 78’s, to albums from Willie Nelson, Rosanne Cash, K.D. Lang, Buddy and Just Miller, Emmylou Harris, The Black Crows, and so many more, Larry Campbell is one of the most respected musicians in the greater Americana realm.
Originally from New York City, he was one of the bridges between the city’s country and folk scene in the 70’s and 80’s. Campbell performed regularly at the Texas-themed Lone Star Cafe, and was a member of The Woodstock Mountains Revue. More recently Campbell’s been performing and touring with wife Teresa. In 2008, he was honored by the American Music Association with the Lifetime Achievement Award as an instrumentalist.
Teresa Williams offered an update Wednesday evening (3-25), saying, “He’s about the same sadly. But I’m hoping it’s going to be turning up soon. The nurse came out to see him today, and they’re going to be calling him every day … Thanks for all the love and outpouring of support. I just can’t even express how great the support is.”
Larry Cambell joins a growing list of musicians who contracted the Coronavirus, including Jackson Browne who also announced on Wednesday he’d tested positive.
March 25, 2020 @ 8:14 pm
Get well Larry! He is quite a musician and a very nice guy.
March 25, 2020 @ 8:34 pm
Remember back when cancelling SXSW was overreacting? Those were good times.
March 26, 2020 @ 8:34 am
Pretty sure Trigger never said that Covid-19 wasn’t serious or that people weren’t going to get sick.
March 26, 2020 @ 8:50 am
“The “disaster” is not the specter of Coronavious possibly affecting someone who may attend SXSW. It’s canceling the event due to the embarrassing hysteria we have allowed to fester over this concerning, but limited disease that is likely to subside with the onset of spring, right when the music portion of SXSW is scheduled to commence.”
profits over people. where have i heard that before?
March 26, 2020 @ 9:08 am
While you’re selectively pull quoting, here’s some more.
“This is not in any way to say there isn’t cause for concern about the Coronavirus, or cause for concern about the Coronavirus somehow affecting SXSW festivities, or other live music events.”
“If cases began to appear in Austin, or a dramatic spike in the spread of the disease occurred,” (which is what happened) “there would still be time to cancel the event in the future.”
March 26, 2020 @ 2:45 pm
I think it’s well past time to say that canceling was the correct move. The timing isn’t really even an issue – waiting longer would have likely caused more problems for those planning on attending/performing.
I think the most important part of gentile’s quote is “the embarrassing hystera we have allowed to fester of this concerning, but limited disease that is likely to subside with the onset of spring…” It was the correct move. I would think that given the struggles of hospital infrastructure in certain parts of the country that it’s hard to call coronavirus limited and that it has yet to subside despite spring’s arrival.
I’m also not able to respond to your comment down below. You tell gentile that this is an open forum where people can post whatever they want. You say right before that comment that “[You are] not going to allow [gentile] to turn this comments section into a train wreck.”
Choose one, Trigger. You can’t be directing the conversation only where you want to lead it while also claiming that people can post whatever they want.
Your music content is excellent. Your coronavirus content (especially the SXSW article) has been lousy.
March 26, 2020 @ 3:54 pm
Cancelling SXSW was the correct move.
We are well past the time that I have said this numerous times and in numerous places, to the point where I don’t understand why people continue to characterize my opinion as being that we should be going full speed ahead with life right now in America with no restrictions. The only reason I don’t continue to say this over and over is because at this point I’m being redundant. I understand some people may have not seen those clarifications, but I also feel like people are taking that initial article as my static opinion, when clearly it has evolved over time. I knew that cancelling SXSW would decimate the Austin music community, which also happens to be my music community, and that it would lead to venues getting shut down, musicians losing careers, side players and personnel losing jobs, and I spoke in defense of the music community that I’m sworn to help be a voice of. This wasn’t putting money over lives, it was making sure the lives of musicians were being spoken for. This is my job.
If I was trying to soften the blow of Coronavirus, or sweep its impact under-the-rug, I would not be posting articles about people such as Larry Campbell and John Prine’s wife contracting it. I said in the initial article about the cancelling of SXSW that I could see a situation where cancelling it was appropriate, and we met that criteria by the time SXSW was scheduled to commence, and have followed up with that opinion numerous times. I’ve also said that if I wrote that ititial article today, it would have taken a different tone.
All that said, people still don’t seem to understand that it was HOW SXSW got cancelled that was so devastating, specifically how the city gave the organization assurances it would be allowed to go forward, then pulled the rug out from under it in a manner that made it impossible for them to pivot to the online platform for this year they were planning, and they were forced to lay of 1/3rd of their employees.
Also, no matter how bad the Coronoavirus has gotten, this is still a story that is being driven by hysteria by the media who continue to site worst case projections as the likely scenario. The California Governor is on record saying 25 million Californians will get it. The Washington Post is claiming 1.1 million people will die in the United States, and 2.2 million would have if we hadn’t taken any precautions. These unreasonable and unlikely scenarios have paralyzed this country due to fear, raised cortisol levels that have enhanced the spread of this virus, and it’s unlikely they will ever have to answer for their irresponsible fear mongering like I’m being asked to answer for a stupid little blog that didn’t age well, but most certainly did not characterize Coronavious as a hoax, or a non serious issue.
When the dust has settled from all this mess, I will revisit the issue in article form. But until then, I am continuing to do my job, which is informing the public about important developments, including the serious illness of this important member of our music community.
March 26, 2020 @ 3:58 pm
As for thegentile, he’s been allowed to comment here no different than anyone else. But he has exhibited a very specific tendency to attempt to trainwreck comments sections and veer them off topic numerous times which discourages the important dialogue these comments sections are about. Whenever that happens, and whomever that happens with, I will take action to make sure this doesn’t happen.
It’s a real shame that the discussion here has been about me, about commenters and comments, and not about Larry Campbell. He is a legendary musician in American music, and I was looking forward to people’s recollections and opinions of him. Instead, this comments section has turned into mostly bullshit.
March 26, 2020 @ 7:49 pm
I don’t see gentile starting anything, only responding to comments that were already not on topic. One guy pushing some quack pseudoscience and the other telling a story about how they were stuck once
March 25, 2020 @ 9:08 pm
It’s a criminal shame that the healing power of high-dosage intravenous vitamin C is being actively suppressed, ridiculed, and attacked in America. Dr. Richard Cheng in China has recently reported on his success using that treatment on dozens of coronavirus patients. No huge vaccine profits in that approach, so it will never gain wide acceptance here.
https://www.transcend.org/tms/2020/03/three-intravenous-vitamin-c-research-studies-approved-for-treating-covid-19/
March 26, 2020 @ 8:09 am
ah yes, transcend.org… the website everyone goes to for trustworthy medical advice. oh and a broken link to boot.
March 26, 2020 @ 8:29 am
Censored already? Try this…
https://wholefoodsmagazine.com/columns/vitamin-connection/vitamin-c-and-the-immune-system-nutritional-fortification-to-support-defenses-against-viruses/
March 26, 2020 @ 8:35 am
not a medical doctor.
March 26, 2020 @ 8:49 am
Good. Traditional doctors get zero training in nutrition.
March 26, 2020 @ 8:56 am
oh i know, once the hospitals are overrun we can just move all the patients to an orchard!
March 26, 2020 @ 9:05 am
thgentile (and others),
I’m not going to allow you to turn this comments section into a train wreck. Larry Campbell is a very important member of the roots music community who by all accounts is very sick, and that’s where our focus and discussion needs to be. Please respect each other and the topic at hand, or move on.
March 26, 2020 @ 9:18 am
i think you should be addressing your comment to Jim L for spreading misinformation from non-reputable sources like a whole foods blog for turning this into a train wreck and endangering more people. i can’t think of a better way to respect larry and the situation he is in than to make sure people get reliable, medically sound information.
March 26, 2020 @ 9:29 am
This is an open forum and people have the right to post whatever they want here. Clearly nobody should be taking serious medical advice from the comments section of a country music blog. But Jim L has a right to post a link, and people can read the article and decide for themselves.
My bigger issue is when people’s troll-like behavior like yours stifles and trainwrecks the discussion and turns it unnecessarily ugly, especially on a sensitive subject like this. You have a history of posting aggressively down-looking comments. Please, understand the seriousness of the subject matter here, and respect all commenters.
March 27, 2020 @ 5:24 am
Doctors in New York have begun trying out this for treatment. Are they fake doctors too?
March 26, 2020 @ 11:00 am
I don’t know why he is so sick this is all a democratic hoax remember?
March 26, 2020 @ 3:32 am
I wish both Larry & Teresa all the strength they will both need to get through this. May God look after them. Seems nobody else can. My thoughts and prayers are with them. And, unfortunately, so many others.
March 26, 2020 @ 10:20 am
I think Trigger does a pretty good job of amending his opinions and admitting when he has been wrong. At the same time he writes like a real live person and that is one reason I appreciate his work. I certainly don’t agree with everything here and that is one reason I like it. Keep up the good work.
March 26, 2020 @ 5:56 am
While I’m not famous, about 12 maybe 13 years ago I came down with the flu. I was so sick at the Petro Truck Stop in Amarillo I wondered if maybe I was gonna die. I stayed at the Truck Stop for 3 days then drove on to the Petro at Kingman Az and had to stay there for 2 days when the fever came back.
I had no medical attention. I took nothing, not even aspirin. I didn’t even eat much since I had no appetite. Slept a lot without even taking my clothes off.
I’m here, at age 72, typing this in 2020. I suppose if I were famous my story would be news worthy. Instead what I get from message board posters is what they *feel* everyone should be doing to assuage their media induced fears – SMH
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/2009-h1n1-pandemic.html
March 26, 2020 @ 8:06 am
no one cares what you did 12 maybe 13 years ago. imagine bragging because you thought you were going to die and didn’t even take anything to bring down your fever. not badass. just stupid.
March 26, 2020 @ 10:41 am
This discussion started with the news of Larrys illness why don’t you just go away.
March 26, 2020 @ 10:47 am
the guy i responded to didn’t even address larry. just told an unrelated story about them being sick once over a decade ago. guess that’s on me again guys! didn’t realize the rules only applied to some.
March 26, 2020 @ 4:15 pm
I care
March 26, 2020 @ 11:02 am
COVID-19 is neither the flu nor H1N1, so I’m not sure what your point is.
Definitely hoping for the best for Mr Campbell. What anecdotes I’ve read suggest you can feel like death for weeks with this one, even if you’re going to survive. We talk a lot about the older legends on this site, and I can only imagine if a Willie Nelson or a John Prine caught it.
March 26, 2020 @ 11:10 am
What point are you trying to make here… People dying from Covid-19 are weaker than you and should just not seek medical attention?
Your virtue signaling at 72 is just as ridiculous as a 20 yr old SJW type that does the same thing. You guys that want someone to make you a cake for your every “accomplishment” are amazing.
March 26, 2020 @ 10:33 am
Apologies Trigger.
gentile, shut the hell up.
And, DJ?
We Care
March 26, 2020 @ 1:06 pm
Way to go Di. DJ who does care? Probably you.
March 26, 2020 @ 1:50 pm
No,
Meant i sincerely care.
I do care DJ.
One of my biggest faults is i have great love & empathy
March 26, 2020 @ 2:25 pm
Nooooo.
Not Larry.
Please not Larry.
March 26, 2020 @ 2:33 pm
Man, that sucks about Larry Campbell. I hope and pray he recovers fully and that his family gets all the love and support they need at this time. I don’t know the guy, and I’ve never even heard of him, but I know plenty of people aged 60+, and they’re not happy campers. There are plenty of scares, too. My brother lives in a dense area and had high fever and dry cough. We were worried about him. Even though he’s a math whiz (it runs in the family) and is rightly skeptical of numbers — he knows as well as the rest of us how politicized people are — he was worried, too. This is no picnic for anyone.
Mr. Campbell, best wishes for a speedy recovery.