Last week, OffBeat.com reported on Reverend Goat Carson, who was in hospice care. Unfortunately, the celebrated local personality has passed away. Papa Mali, a longtime friend of the Grammy winning songwriter and Dr. John collaborator, confirmed the news of his death with a lengthy, touching post on Instagram:
“Rest In Peace, old friend. I used to jokingly refer to you as the ‘Forrest Gump’ of the counter-culture, because you always seemed to be, as our friend and songwriting partner, Dr. John would say “in the right place”. As a Cherokee renegade kid in Oklahoma, you met and had a meaningful interaction with Hank Williams, who inspired you to follow your dreams – and coming from a long line of medicine men and shaman, dreams were your realm. In the 60s, as a young actor, trying to find work in NYC, you became friends with Andy Warhol, at the time an up-and-coming artist who you met “hanging flyers on telephone poles”. This led to minor parts in his films and a brief romance w Nico (Whaaaat?!) When The Factory / VU scene got “too druggy and strung out”, you split for California, arriving just in time for the Summer of Love. In the seventies you ran for president, garnering over 100,000 votes (truth is stranger than fiction) and then, with your friend Kinky Friedman, you toured with Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Review. But, it was here in New Orleans, where you settled and found your higher calling – using the spirit medicine of your ancestors and your poetic voice to bring people together. In 1994, acting on a vision, you organized White Buffalo Day, an officially recognized annual day of ceremony (August 27) that for the first time since slavery days (when Native Americans would provide safe harbor for runaways) brought together the indigenous peoples of North America w the Black Indians of New Orleans to celebrate the Lakota prophecy of The White Buffalo. Miraculously, this prophecy was realized w the birth of a white buffalo calf in Wisconsin, on the day after the proclamation was signed by the New Orleans city council. Miracles and magic were your stock-in-trade. The songs you sang on Baby Bell, the harp you crafted from a buffalo jawbone, will resonate in my heart forever. You were one-of-a-kind, a true original. And even though I know you were tired of being chained to your worn-out body, wracked with pain and withering away, it’s tough to let you go. So long, my wolf brother. See you in dreams.“
Below, read OffBeat.com’s previous report on the Reverend, published on June 21.
Reverend Goat Carson is a man of many talents, beloved in New Orleans as a musician, master of the barbecue and man of…some kind of God. The eclectic character born David Lee Carson has written Grammy-winning material for Dr. John (“City That Care Forgot”) and takes his “Goat” moniker from his life’s mantra, Go On And Try. Sadly, he is reportedly in hospice care, according to news shared by longtime friend Papa Mali.
“This is my dear friend, Cherokee Medicine Man, Rev Goat Carson,” he wrote in an Instagram post today (June 21). “Join me in saying a prayer, sending positivity or however you choose to momentarily meditate on it and send well wishes. He is in hospice, preparing for his final journey, after several years of health issues. A poet, musician, actor, activist, prolific Grammy-winning songwriter, shaman and genuine New Orleans character, let’s let him know that he is loved.”
In a 2013 profile in New Orleans Magazine, Carson said “I was the first man to offer to share a pipe, an ancient American Indian, with a black man.” The feature offers a glimpse into Rev. Goat’s unique approach to life.
The OffBeat family is thinking of the Rev and sends his family and the man himself much, much love.
