Timothy Young, a kind man who lived for music, died on September 26, he was the the semi-deaf man who would go to every concert around here in Northampton. Ironic, because though deaf he loved live music shows with a passion. He was always supporting me, giving me the hi-5, shouting “BONGOHEAD” across the street, telling others about my DJ gigs or concerts, going to almost every Latin Night and concert I was involved with, every live show big or small, from rock to jazz, noise to salsa, even obscure stuff. He was a fixture here, always going somewhere around downtown, on a mission, working for the Iron Horse Entertainment Group, etc. He lived alone, kept to himself except if he saw you, it was always a warm "Bongohead!!" and a rundown of all the upcoming events and concerts, I know you know him if you are from the area and went to shows. He was a regular at all the venues since at least the mid-80s. I just spoke to my friend Officer Chico Jimenez, who I DJ Latin Nights with sometimes, and he said Timmy died alone in his condo, Al from the Horse had gone to check on him – last time we saw him was at the Calvin the night of Los Lobos and he was looking kind of sick...nobody in the apartment building had seen him for a few days. Chico told Al that if he was worried about Timmy, to go and check up on him. Al came back to the station and said he had found Timmy in his bed. The cops then went and verified that he was dead. Coroner’s report is not available but we suspect it was flu or some infection, maybe heart attack – who knows – his only relatives don’t live in town and he always was a loner. I talked with Jim Neil & he said Timmy graduated from Clark and that Timmy's sister and brother are in town. Not sure if there’s a funeral or memorial, but Bill Dwight tells me there is an obituary planned for the Gazette – Timmy's dad, who according to Bill was a Smith Prof, is long gone (Timmy would have been 60 this New Years) and his mom is deceased too. Anyway, I was wandering around downtown this morning, kind of lost, wondering how this had happened, unable to comprehend the really sad news, and sure enough I bumped into several people in the street who gave me what info they knew – it really stinks, and add to that what happened to Lori and her son and their downstairs neighbor, with the house burning down, all in all it’s a pretty bad Thursday...there is a tribute concert and benefit at the Elevens this Friday, see you all there.
