David Gamble, noted and highly respected participant in the particularly fertile Athens music days of the late 1970s and early 1980s, has died.
News of Gamble’s passing on June 30 spread quickly, and loving tributes were spread across the internet with equal speed. His death came after a battle with cancer.
Gamble is best remembered among music fans as a founding member and drummer of The Method Actors. He was also a member of Boat Of, Tone-Tones, Beauty Contest and Shelf Life, among others.
Bandmate in The Method Actors and longtime friend Vic Varney wrote in a public post: “David was a terrific, thunder-beating, octopus of a drummer… But he was an even greater talker, first, because he was a great listener. Second, because he was brilliant and always had something substantial to say. Third, because he was hilarious. Fourth, because he was never, ever, boring. And finally because he had the most beautiful speaking (and, so sadly fleetingly captured, singing) voice anyone reading this has ever heard, and if you aren’t lucky enough to have done so, just trust me–you’re missing out…Nothing I can say, of course, can capture the sense of what it was like to have known him. I’m embarrassed to even try, but I know I owe him that–and so, so much more. Finally, this: he was beautiful.”
Like what you just read? Support Flagpole by making a donation today. Every dollar you give helps fund our ongoing mission to provide Athens with quality, independent journalism.
