In the wake of Good Records Recordings' relaunch last week, it was interesting stumbling across this 1999 Zac Crain-penned piece about the late Tripping Daisy guitarist Wes Berggren.
For more than a decade, much ado has been made about Berggren's untimely death, brought on by a drug overdose. But this is a rare look at the guitarist's early years and upbringing through the eyes of his father, Don, who told the Observer his story only weeks after his son's death.
Don talks about the parenting style he and his wife Joan implemented. Wes and his brother Andy had no rules and ran around naked for the first few years of their lives because they didn't feel like wearing clothes. Both Wes and Andy were the valedictorian of their classes at the high school in the small East Texas town of Malakoff.
Andy went on to be a doctor and Wes dropped out of college to play in Tripping Daisy. Don talked about his sons with pride, but couldn't do so without mentioning his one regret. Read about it in the entire story on the following page.
To read the article online, check out the Observer archives.
