Rita Kyle remembers the first time she met Richard Morgan.
“I met Rick about eight years ago at the monthly Acoustic Jam at the (Brackendale) art gallery,” said the local musician and performer. “We started making music together almost immediately.”
Morgan — who passed away suddenly on April 9 at the age of 64 — had a voice that blended perfectly with Kyle’s. He also knew all the music that she liked.
“He could play all the favourites,” she said. “He knew a lot of songs and played stuff from the ’40s right through to classic ’80s tunes.”
Kyle said Morgan’s passing will be felt throughout the Squamish music scene.
“He was an important part of our local music scene; a regular performer at the summer and winter farmers’ markets, Canada Day celebration (downtown), Christmas Market (downtown), a favourite at Shannon Falls Residence (and previously The Renaissance), Squamish Manor, Squamish Garden Tour and Brackendale Fall Fair,” she wrote in an email to The Chief following his death.
“Last summer, he made his dinner-show debut at Pepe and Gringos, and also played for On the Farm Market. He had been in shows at the Howe Sound Inn and Brewing Co. and the BAG.”
In addition, Morgan played with Kyle and local troubadour Cam Salay in the band Old Dog, as well as just with Kyle in A Little R and R.
“I loved the way he played guitar,” Salay said. “He had quite the finger-picking style. It was a gentle, finger-picking style. He also had a big, warm, friendly voice. He knew lots of songs… just an amazing repertoire, and he loved to share music with people. He was always digging up songs for people and telling them, ‘You should play this. It’d be great for you.’”
But Morgan wasn’t just generous with song selections.
“He gave us an electric guitar and amp to use as a ‘house guitar’ at the art gallery,” said Thor Froslev, BAG owner. “He was very, very generous like that.”
In fact, Morgan loved pairing musicians with good instruments, much to the benefit of local players.
“He always had his nose in stores or on Craigslist looking for good deals on instruments,” Salay said. “If anyone needed a guitar or bass, he could find it for you cheap.”
Morgan even lent Kyle his own bass guitar to use while he scouted out a deal for her.
“I played his bass when I started learning, until he found one for me,” she said. “He’s also the one who found me my first good guitar. I don’t know how many students have benefitted from him getting them a good guitar.”
Morgan was also a fixture at the BAG’s monthly open jams.
“He was the strongest player at the jams,” Kyle said. “He had such a really good sense of rhythm.”
“This guy was good,” Froslev said.
Salay said although he was indeed a strong player, Morgan wasn’t the type to try to take centre stage or upstage anyone else.
“I think when he moved to Squamish, he found a really friendly music scene,” he said. “We all help each other out, and he liked that. The jam was one of his favourite things. I don’t think he had missed a jam in five years.”
He liked the BAG’s jam night so much that he had just taken over hosting the evening before he died.
“I asked Rick to do it, and it wasn’t even a matter of discussing it,” said Froslev. “He just said, ‘Sure. No problem.’ That’s the way he was. He was a perfect guitar player, and a perfect gentleman.”
On April 6, just three days before his death, Morgan hosted his first Acoustic Jam.
“When he hosted the jam, all the old timers who hadn’t been there in a while showed up,” Kyle said. “It was a great night.”
Adding that Morgan was a gentle and patient music teacher as well, Kyle said his death was a big blow to the local music community.
“Personally, working with Rick was my best musical experience,” she said. “And his passing has left not only a big hole in my life, but in Squamish’s music scene.”
Morgan’s friends will perform some of his songs on May 16 during the official launch of the Sea to Sky Gondola, according to Salay.
“He was a big supporter of the gondola, and very excited about it,” he said. “For the launch we are going to be performing a couple of his songs, and using his guitar to play them.”
In lieu of flowers, Morgan’s family requested donations be made to Operation Smile (operationsmile.org).
