I learned yesterday that Charlie Chesterman passed away earlier in the week. Most people won’t know the name, and that’s a shame.
Charlie Chesterman was the frontman for Scruffy The Cat, a band from Boston that had minor national success. two albums, two E.P.s and a split single with The Young Fresh Fellows was the band’s output. Charlie would then go on into the 90s with a solo career.
I mentioned before how I picked up, along with a few others, The Splatcats album Sin 73 on a whim, and in that same stack of records I purchased that day was Tiny Days, the first full length album by Scruffy The Cat. Released in 1987 it is a great album full of “roots rock” style with some punk energy and tinges of country…
Here, let me play a track off that album for you. This is “My Baby, She’s Alright” the opening track.
See?
I never did get to see the band live. 1989’s Moons Of Jupiter was the band’s second (and last) album. It wasn’t until after that I began seeing live music with any regularity. There are some YouTube clips from a show where the band reunited for an evening to raise funds to help Charlie with his mounting medical bills. That’s as close as I’ve ever gotten.
Here is a track from Charlie’s second solo album, 1996’s Studebakersfield. “So Long Now” has much more of that country feel to it, but also serves as a showcase for what sort of songwriter he was.
So I don’t really have any insight into the man or musician. I was saddened to learn of his passing and feel his output was not given its due. This is just my small way of paying tribute. Rock on Charlie.