Jerry Doucette

{{Short description|Canadian guitarist and singer-songwriter (1951–2022)}}

{{Infobox person

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1951|9|9}}

| birth_place = Montreal, Quebec, Canada

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2022|4|18|1951|9|9}}

| death_place = Delta, British Columbia, Canada

| occupation = Musician

| years_active = 1957 - 2018{{cite web | url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2022/04/19/jerry-doucette-known-for-hits-mama-let-him-play-and-nobody-dies.html | title=Jerry Doucette, known for hits 'Mama Let Him Play' and 'Nobody,' dies at 70 | website=Toronto Star | date=19 April 2022 }}

| website = [https://www.jerrydoucette.ca/ www.jerrydoucette.ca]

}}

Jerry Victor Doucette (9 September 1951 – 18 April 2022) was a Canadian guitarist and singer-songwriter. He was noted for his hit single "Mama Let Him Play", which made the Billboard Top 100. His band, Doucette, won the Juno Award for Most Promising Group of the Year in 1979.

Early life

Doucette was born in Montreal on 9 September 1951.{{cite news|title=Tsawwassen music icon Jerry Doucette dies|url=https://www.delta-optimist.com/local-news/tsawwassen-music-icon-jerry-doucette-dies-5279464|first=Sandor|last=Gyarmati|date=19 April 2022|access-date=20 April 2022|newspaper=Delta Optimist}} His family relocated to Hamilton, Ontario, when he was four.{{cite web |title=CANOE -- JAM! Music - Pop Encyclopedia - Doucette |url=http://jam.canoe.com/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/D/Doucette.html |website=Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia |access-date=20 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309205612/http://jam.canoe.com/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/D/Doucette.html |archive-date=9 March 2016 |location=web.archive.org |date=2015}} Two years later, he started playing the guitar after his father purchased one for him.{{cite news|title=Jerry Doucette: Mama let him play at the Bay City Music Hall|url=https://www.thespec.com/entertainment/music/2016/03/04/jerry-doucette-mama-let-him-play-at-the-bay-city-music-hall.html|first=Graham|last=Rockingham|date=4 March 2016|access-date=20 April 2022|newspaper=The Hamilton Spectator}}{{cite news|title=Jerry Doucette, known for hits "Mama Let Him Play" and "Nobody," dies|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2022/04/19/jerry-doucette-known-for-hits-mama-let-him-play-and-nobody-dies.html|first=David|last=Friend|date=19 April 2022|accessdate=20 April 2022|newspaper=Toronto Star|agency=The Canadian Press}}

Doucette joined numerous bands prior to his solo career, starting with The Reefers at the age of 11.{{cite web |author1=Dan Brisebois |author1-link=Dan Brisebois |url=https://www.canadianbands.com/Doucette.html |title=Doucette |website=CanadianBands.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028180852/https://www.canadianbands.com/Doucette.html |archive-date=28 October 2021 |location=web.archive.org |date=1 November 2003 |access-date=20 April 2022 }} He later migrated to Toronto by the time he was twenty years old, and played in Buxton Kastle and the final incarnation of Brutus.{{cite news|title='Mama Let Him Play': Rocker and Canadian music veteran Jerry Doucette dies at 70 in Delta, B.C.|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/rocker-jerry-doucette-dead-at-70-1.6157174|first=David P.|last=Ball|date=19 April 2022|access-date=20 April 2022|publisher=CBC News}}

Career

Doucette moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1972 and joined the Seeds of Time, and worked with Lindsay Mitchell and Rocket Norton, both of whom later joined Prism, and Alexis Radlin."Hit song launched Doucette's career". Regina Leader-Post, 27 February 2003. After the Seeds of Time, Doucette joined Rocket Norton in The Rocket Norton Band,{{cite news|title=Canadian classic rock guitarist Jerry Doucette, 70, dies in B.C.|url=https://bc.ctvnews.ca/canadian-classic-rock-guitarist-jerry-doucette-70-dies-in-b-c-1.5866956|first=Alyse|last=Kotyk|date=19 April 2022|access-date=20 April 2022|publisher=CTV News}} along with Rick Enns and John Hall.{{cite web|title=Seeds of Time|url=http://citizenfreak.com/artists/102699-seeds-of-time|access-date=20 April 2022|publisher=Museum of Canadian Music}} He wrote the B-side, "Donkey Chain", for the band's first single.{{cite web|title=Rocket Norton Band – I'm Your Submarine b/w Donkey Chain|url=http://citizenfreak.com/titles/323167-rocket-norton-band-i-m-your-submarine-b-w-donkey-chain|access-date=20 April 2022|publisher=Museum of Canadian Music}} He subsequently signed a solo recording deal with Mushroom Records, and commenced recording under his surname only.

"Mama Let Him Play", the single from the first Doucette album release of the same name in the fall of 1977, earned platinum status (sales of 100,000 units) in Canada having reached #46 on the charts,{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.4588a.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - May 20, 1978}} plus substantial publicity and tour promotion. The single and record were not successful to the same degree in the United States,Stephen Thomas Erlewine, [http://www.allmusic.com/album/mama-let-him-play-mw0000109057 Review of Mama Let Him Play]; Allmusic. Retrieved 25 November 2012. though the single charted in the Billboard Top 100 and the album in the Billboard 200.{{cite web |title=Doucette {{!}} Chart History |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/doucette/chart-history/tlp/ |publisher=Billboard |access-date=20 April 2022}} The recording band for the single and album was composed of Duris Maxwell on drums, Brent Shindell on guitar,Also played with Shari Ulrich and Valdy, among others. See Gord Mitchell, [http://pnwbands.com/shindell.html Portrait of Shindell]; Pacific Northwest Bands. Retrieved 27 November 2012. Don Cummings on bass, and Robbie King on keyboards.

The following year's release, The Douce is Loose, was less successful, although it earned gold status (50,000 units sold, #27 on the charts{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.4536a.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Albums - August 4, 1979}}) in Canada,{{cite news|title=The Douce is Back in the Hammer|url=https://themusicexpress.ca/the-douce-is-back-in-the-hammer/|first=Keith|last=Sharp|date=29 February 2016|accessdate=20 April 2022|magazine=Exclaim!}} and produced the popular single "Nobody" co-written with Maxwell.(#18 Can.).{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.4484a.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - August 18, 1979}}{{cite magazine|last1=|first1=|date=28 April 1979|title=Billboard's Top Album Picks|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9yMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT109|magazine=Billboard|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|volume=91|issue=17|page=90|issn=0006-2510}} Mushroom Records eventually succumbed to financial problems in 1980. This left Doucette to find a new label for his third album, Coming up Roses, which was eventually released by Rio Records.{{cite news|title=Canadian Guitarist and Songwriter Jerry Doucette Dies at 70|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/canadian_guitarist_and_songwriter_jerry_doucette_dies_at_70|first=Calum|last=Slingerland|date=19 April 2022|accessdate=19 April 2022|magazine=Exclaim!}} This, plus the emergence of new wave music, were blamed for Doucette's lack of follow-up success in the music industry. After a fifteen-year hiatus, he made a comeback with Price Of An Education in 1995.

Both of Doucette's Mushroom Records albums, Mama Let Him Play and The Douce Is Loose, were re-released on compact disc and digital formats for the first time in 2013 through Hamilton, Ontario-based independent record label Linus Entertainment.{{cite news|title=Retro-Canadian reasons to live: Chilliwack, Doucette and Spoons|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2013/11/02/retrocanadian_reasons_to_live_chilliwack_doucette_and_spoons.html|first=Ben|last=Rayner|date=2 November 2013|accessdate=20 April 2022|newspaper=Toronto Star}}

Personal life

Doucette was married to Maggie for 43 years until his death. Together, they had five children.{{cite news|title=Vancouver musician Jerry Doucette dies following battle with cancer|url=https://vancouversun.com/entertainment/local-arts/vancouver-musician-jerry-doucette-dies-following-battle-with-cancer|first=Aleesha|last=Harris|date=19 April 2022|accessdate=20 April 2022|newspaper=Vancouver Sun}} He resided in Ladner, British Columbia, and Tsawwassen during his later years.{{cite news | url=https://www.delta-optimist.com/entertainment/they-re-playing-for-toys-1.1586370 | title=They're playing for toys | newspaper=Delta Optimist | date=14 November 2014 | accessdate=31 October 2020 }}

In August 2016, Doucette collapsed while performing at the Rock the Lake Festival in Kelowna. He retired from music two years later due to his declining health. He died of cancer on 18 April 2022, at the Irene Thomas Hospice in Delta, British Columbia, aged 70.

Awards and honours

1979: Juno Award, Most Promising Group of the Year{{cite web |title=Doucette |url=https://junoawards.ca/artist-profile/doucette/ |website=The JUNO Awards |access-date=20 April 2022}}

Discography

=Albums=

1977: Mama Let Him Play (Mushroom, reissued 1995 on Reluctant){{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jerry-doucette-mn0001656084/credits|title=Jerry Doucette – Credits|work=AllMusic|access-date=19 April 2022}} (#43 Can.{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.5484a.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Albums - April 29, 1978}})
1979: The Douce is Loose (Mushroom) (#27 Can.{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.4536a.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Albums - August 4, 1979}})
1981: Coming up Roses (Rio)
1995: Price of an Education (Reluctant)

=Singles=

Down the Road (1977) (#71 Can.{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.5529b.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - April 1, 1978}})
Mama Let Him Play (1977) (#46 Can. {{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.4588a.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - May 20, 1978}})
All I Wanna Do (1977) (#56 Can. {{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.0056b.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - December 16, 1978}})
Nobody (1979) (#18 Can. {{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.4484a.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - August 18, 1979}})
Someday (1979){{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jerry-doucette-mn0001656084/songs/all|title=Jerry Doucette – Songs List|work=AllMusic|access-date=19 April 2022}}
Run Buddy Run (1979) (#83 Can. {{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.6856b.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - November 10, 1979}})
It Only Hurts the First Time (1980){{fact|date=May 2022}}
It Doesn't Matter (1981){{fact|date=May 2022}}
How Strong (1994) (#41 Can. {{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.7776.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - February 13, 1995}})