On April 5th, my friend Dennis Flannigan shared some sad news about his old friend Barrie Jackson, who used to manage The (Fabulous) Wailers and The Sonics.
There are the good ones, and the great ones, and beyond those are the friends that always stay on the front page. Such was Barrie Jackson, a legendary soul. Barrie managed the Wailers and the Sonics from Tacoma; he served as a Congressional Aide for Floyd Hicks in Congress; he ran political campaigns in Tacoma for judges and others that kept winning, and he created the funniest parody in T-Town, the SPASMODIC TIMES, a gentle grapefruit in the face for Tacoma’s self-loving leadership. Together with Woodie Henry, Chuck Clancy, and a few other folks the “Spaz” would jab and jibe it’s way into your funny bone, and suggest that Tacoma was too big for its britches and should just be proud of being Tacoma. So, here’s to Barrie Jackson, the bright, funny, embracingly real soul of the City back in the 1960s and ’70s. Barrie passed this morning in Seattle, friend Chuck Pennington and I shared lunch with him last week. A last laugh and a big hug to a magician with words and deeds.
Lots of love on the other side.
I wish I could have met him. Rest in peace, Barrie.
Check out Barrie’s obituary at Seattle Times