Fifteen years ago, I was positive David Letterman was on his deathbed. He was in his fifties, which I always heard is when people start to die of bad luck, and his father died of a heart attack at the age of 57. He was having a quintuple bypass – a whole three more bypasses…
On Letterman’s Role in Music History
“Everybody who is here tonight has reason to feel superior to everyone who is not here tonight,” says Letterman. Levon Helm is the musical guest. He’s 69, his voice is ruined and he’s dying. He launches into a cover of “Tennessee Jed” with a determination nobody would demand of him. Each verse sounds like it…