James Murphy's Statement on Dimebag Darrell 12/10/04

[ms. anthrope]

I first met Darrell about 18 years ago at a show in Texas around 85-86. Pantera was playing to a pretty packed house at this little hole-in-the-wall venue.. a bar really, with a stage jammed into one corner. I had not come for the music, but rather to socialize and have a few drinks. I was only 18 or 19 (18 was old enough to buy beer in Texas and Louisiana in those days) and I had never heard of Pantera before. I nursed my beer and mingled as the band on stage played a diverse collection of cover songs and soon enough I started to take note of the killer playing of the lone guitarist on stage and became more and more impressed as the band started to work in some original music. I took note of two things in particular: 1. how this band with this single guitarist could sound so thick and powerful on stage, and 2. how that guitarist who looked to be about the same age as me could play so damn well and with such an original style. He was, in my estimation, light years ahead of me.

As the night was wrapping up I made my way to the band's merchandise table where I noticed some cassette tapes for sale, asked which one was the most recent, and purchased it. I then made my way over to where the guitarist was hanging out off to the side of the tiny stage and introduced myself. Diamond Darrell, as he was known in those days, extended his hand warmly and though he was tired and trying to pack up some gear he still took the time to chat and tell me more about himself and the band. Having met many "bar band" guitarists by that point from the Texas and Louisiana club circuit I was immediately struck by how truly nice Darrell was by comparison to some of the other guys I had talked to... he showed me his guitar, his rig, and tried to show me a couple cool guitar licks on his unplugged instrument over the din of the bar crowd. I was in awe of this guy, and when I asked he revealed to me that he was less than one year older than me.. I was floored and rushed home with my new Pantera cassette determined to practice until I was on a level somewhere close to Darrell's by the following year.

That tape was titled "I Am The Night" and though the tape itself wore out years ago from constant play, I recall that the line-up consisted of all but Phil Anselmo out of the line-up we all know from the most famous albums.. i. e., from CFH onward. I liked every song and Darrell's incredibly tight rhythm playing was evident throughout the album, but there was also an instrumental track that showcased Darrell's amazing solo guitar talent, I think it was titled "D-G-T-T-M" and I wore my fingers and ears out trying to learn it.

I met Darrell many more times over the years, especially as my career started moving forward in 1990, and no matter how big Pantera got he was always the same as that first meeting.... genuinely nice. Sometimes he would remember me, other times he didn't seem to at all, but he never treated me any differently.

I will miss you Darrell, the world will miss you. My deepest sympathies to Vinnie, Rita, and the entire Abbott family as well as to all those like myself who are, have been, and always will be, in awe of what you accomplished, what you played, and most importantly, who you were.

Rest in peace brother.

James Murphy
Dec. 10, 2004

 

[VEHEMENCE]

That was well said James, I could'nt imagine to have known and seen Dime throughout all his career from the beginning watching him pack up his own equiptment. I hear some of the same dual harmonizations, that you use James, actually when I heard Pantera first, then heard Testament - Low second around the 1994 era I noticed that similarity first.

When I heard that “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott was murdered while on stage, all I could think about at the time was then I met him when I was 15 at Zia Records by my house in Phoenix, AZ. I waited some hours to get my poster autographed by all of Pantera, most importantly my favorite metal guitarist of all time. Years later, I had the privilege to talk to him at an adult level about 3 months before this tragedy happened, at the age of 22. With a beer in my hand at the famous Rainbow Room Bar and Grill on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, I ran into Dime by the cigarette machine and asked him if I could speak with him. We talked about a lot of things for about 5 min, like when he played Mesa Amphitheater in Mesa, AZ on The Great Southern Trendkill tour in 1996. He was real responsive and friendly, and I wished him much future success in his new band Damageplan which I was impressed by with the work he did on their debut album New Found Power. When I thought about how we said goodbye, what happened was Dime and I hit both our fists together, and I said, “See ya at the Damageplan show in Tempe, AZ and his typical saying he said to me was “You know it brother,” I basically cried the second I heard the news and reminisced on that great moment.

He was such a down to earth guy, and influenced my life as a guitar player all throughout my teenage years. It was spiritual to get ready for a Pantera concert and to hear the man play live growing up. This affects all the metal communities worldwide, it will affect me for the rest of my life, and he will go down in history as a guitar legend and as a lifestyle. As a musician, I am not afraid when I perform on stage, even if a band doesn’t have any security, there is that sense of decency at least for a human not to harm another human over music. For this person with mental illness or whatever it was that triggered the murder, the stalker like obsession for musicians or any celebrity should be reported immediately to authorities. I don’t think this has ever happened before in the history of music, as far as someone getting on stage and executing someone while they are still handling their instrument. I will never forget this tragic event, to me it hit harder than 9/11.

We dedicated our show to Dimebag Dec 10th, 2004 at The Marquee Theater at the same venue Damageplan performed about a month prior from the show. The show started out as a local metal bands fest, but it was declared a memorial for Dimebag with about 800 in attendance. Channel 5 news did a coverage story about the issue of violence at metal shows with me and some of the Motive members. Our vocalist Nathan Gearhart did guest vocals with a thrash metal band from Phoenix, called Motive, they performed Fucking Hostile by Pantera. R.I.P. Dimebag, shred some licks with Chuck Schuldiner in the spiritual world, and we will meet again. My deepest condolences go to the family and friends of the victims in this berserk asinine shooting.