I received a phone call tonight from fellow Des Moines bluesman, and bass player, that Jim Faur died on Wednesday. His obit online was rather short on details, or about him, which is unfortunate because Jim was a remarkable man who had a lot of demons to struggle with. Jim was an incredibly gifted individual in not only music but engineering. He received a Bachelors of Electrical Engineering from the University of Iowa in 1978. He worked first in Minneapolis and then in Atlanta. When I first met him in 1994 he was playing the jam sessions as a bass player. When I first started the Tom Gary Blues Band it was a three piece band that featured myself and John "Woody Wood on drums, and we needed a new bass player since the guy who was playing with us had to quit the band. Jim was available we quickly added him, and he was the glue that really made us into a great band. John Lukehart was the last piece and we started a year run that I wish could have continued for many years. Jim really was an outstanding bass player, but he did have one problem, and while it was hard to notice at first it really grew worse and worse over the year. He was an alcoholic. We fired Jim, and then we brought him back, and over the years I would add him to my bands, but Jim unfortunately was always fighting demon alcohol. Every time I saw him sober I thought perhaps this time he will make it, but someone, or something would reintroduce booze into his life and he would slip back into his old habits. It was really sad, because when he was sober he was one of the nicest people you would have ever met. He would help you out of a jam, and I don't know how many times he fixed my equipment when it broke down before a gig, and never asked for extra money. However, alcohol had a terrible effect on his personality, and you didn't want to cross him when he was drinking. I don't know if alcohol claimed his life or if his body just gave up, but I do want to thank the Salvation Army who so many times helped Jim and put him back on his feet again. So many times they welcomed him to their shelter and fed him, got him into to AA, and turned his life around. To my knowledge they never turned him down and always did a great job for him. It is unfortunate that there are not more long term programs to help people with chemical dependence. I think that if there were longer programs Jim would probably still be with us today.
God bless you Jim. You were a friend and a hero to me. I will miss you very much.
Tom
