Fritz Richmond, 66; Acclaimed Player of Jug, Washtub Bass

Fritz Richmond, 66, a folk musician considered one of the world’s finest players of the jug and washtub bass, died Sunday in Portland, Ore., after a yearlong battle with lung cancer.

Born in Newton, Mass., Richmond became a key figure in the Boston folk music scene, where he worked as the house bassist at Club 47.

Drawing on his expertise as an Army helicopter mechanic, he strung the washtub bass with a steel cable. To play it, he developed his own steel-and-rawhide gloves.

Richmond won national attention in 1963 with the Jim Kweskin Jug Band. In the early 1970s, he moved to Los Angeles and was an engineer for Electra Records, working on albums for Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and others.

He moved to Portland in 1977, taught recording classes and played in the Metropolitan Jug Band and Fritz Richmond’s Barbecue Orchestra.

Richmond appeared on the radio show “A Prairie Home Companion” and toured with John Sebastian’s J-Band. The Smithsonian has one of his washtub basses in its collection.