GONE TOO SOON: Jay Reatard (1980 – 2010)
Jay Reatard was the stage name of Jimmy Lindsey Jr. who recorded music thru the 90′s and early 2000′s with the bands The Reatards and Lost Sounds. Under the moniker of Jay Reatard, he would find critical praise and a rising level of success before his untimely death in 2010, attributed to a drug overdose on cocaine. Today marks the two-year anniversary of the demise of Jay Reatard, but his music lives on and continues to be discovered posthumously by many fans of punk, garage, and indie rock music.
After the break up of both The Reatards and Lost Sounds, Lindsey released his debut solo album Blood Visions in 2006, leading to an exclusive deal with Matador Records after offers from some major labels. Matador would compile a collection of singles recorded by Jay during 2008. His final album, Watch Me Fall, was released just months before Lindsey’s death and included the single “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me” that had promise to catapult the Jay Reatard to mainstream success. Unfortunately, that would never happen. Once again, drugs destroyed another promising career.
Here’s some awesome footage of Jay Reatard performing “My Shadow” outside of the Sailor Jerry store in Philly. The kids in Boystown look shocked in horror, but I would have been swinging from a tree like the crazy asshole helping record this. Glad to see Jay got to go off in Philly before his passing.
