(CelebrityAccess) — Barry Joseph Goldberg, the noted blues and rock keyboardist, songwriter, and producer, who performed alongside legends such as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and Otis Rush, died on January 22. He was 83.
Publicist Bob Merlis told Mercury News that Goldberg died after a ten-year battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and noted that “Gail Goldberg, his wife of 53 years, and son Aram were at his bedside.”
A native of Chicago, Goldberg began performing with blues legends like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf as a teenager. As a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, he backed Bob Dylan during his now-iconic electrified appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.
He went on to co-found the Electric Flag with Mike Bloomfield and became a sought-after session musician, working with artists such as Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen.
Goldberg also achieved success as a songwriter, co-writing hits with Gerry Goffin for artists like Gladys Knight, including the chart-topping “I’ve Got to Use My Imagination.”
Beyond his career as a musician, Goldberg produced records for a variety of artists and, in 2013, formed The Rides, a blues-rock supergroup, with Stephen Stills and Kenny Wayne Shepherd.
He released his final album, In the Groove, on June 15, 2018, through Sunset Blvd Records.
