Yesterday I received an e-mail from my friend Steve. It simply said, “Ed the Tuba Man dies” along with this link.
I was awestruck, and after reading it was due to complications from a beating while being robbed, I wondered who would do such a thing to a beloved, friendly, pseudo-icon? Police have arrested two of the five teenagers who allegedly attacked The Tuba Man and are still searching for the other three.
For those of you who don’t know or don’t remember Ed “The Tuba Man” McMichael, he usually sat outside of Sonics, Seahawks and Mariners games playing his signature brass instrument with tunes ranging from ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game” to “Jingle Bells.” If his hat didn’t represent one of the three sports teams, it looked like something straight out of a Dr. Seuss book.
There are plenty of street musicians in the Seattle area. Spend an afternoon at the Pike Place Market and you’ll see the rotation of magicians, guitarists and a cappella groups. But there was nobody as recognizable as The Tuba Man.
There were many times where I dropped some spare change into his coffee can before Sonics games, and I even once saw him standing outside a gas station in a black-and-white Dr. Seuss hat yelling at somebody across the street. It’s a shocking loss for the city but I’m sure he’s right outside of the pearly gates tooting away with his rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
Feel free to post your memories of The Tuba Man below, and Art Thiel may have said it best in his article, “As America changed Tuesday, one corner lost a little eccentricity and originality. We're used to losing, sure. But not this guy, this way.”
Addendum: I found this website with a photo/video/audio memorial to The Tuba Man
Comments
Ah man, running into Ed was right up there with seeing Artis the Spoon man open for Mudhoney. Now as a professional trombonist in Boston and NY, I remember the tuba guy from my youth as a bright spot everytime we went to games. When I was a kid, seeing a tuba in public somehow connected me to traditions that have been going on long before all the other street musicians traded in their horns for guitars. And then in 10th grade he gave me hope that I too could play a low brass instrument and still be cool: I was going to a Pearl Jam show and saw him outside the Key, playing Black Sabbath and stopping only to say, "Hooray for Pearl Jam on a Sunday!"
I can't remember where I read it, but it went along the lines of "you never knew whether Ed was a little off or right on." I think this characterizes Ed perfectly. With his slow speech and booming voice to go along with with his tuba and funny hats, Ed was definitely eccentric, but he was able to connect with everybody who walked by. I will miss seeing him around town. I found a great blog post by photographer Rod Mar at
http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/bestseatinthehouse/index.html#034005
Who knew Ed could play Flight of the Bumblebee?
Also, good to hear you're still playing trombone, Grant!
The Tuba Man will be missed :(
The Tuba Man was a good part of the Seattle sports scene. He always made me smile.
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