Loudon Wainwright III (born September 5, 1946 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina) is an American songwriter, folksinger, and humorist.

Biography

He is best known to the general public for a 1972 novelty song hit "Dead Skunk (in the Middle of the Road)", and for playing "the Singing Surgeon" on three episodes of the American television show M*A*S*H in 1975, but his musical reputation is much deeper. Using a witty, self-mocking style and unusual, high-pitched voice, Wainwright has made a number of albums, two of which were nominated for Grammy awards.

Wainwright has claimed that, like many of his contemporaries, he was inspired musically by seeing Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival in 1962. He was one of many young folksingers tagged as the "new Dylan" in the early 1970s.

His father, Loudon Wainwright II , was a well-known writer for Life magazine.

Wainwright's son Rufus Wainwright and daughter Martha Wainwright, through his onetime marriage to Canadian singer/songwriter Kate McGarrigle, are both singer/songwriters as well. (Rufus was the subject of another of Loudon's more famous songs, the breastfeeding ode "Rufus is a Tit Man", and Martha has been greeted with the gentle song "Five Years Old" on her fifth birthday.)

Free Samples

On Wainwright's homepage, the song Presidents' Day, created in early 2004, is available for free download. The singer expresses his hope to be able to look forward again to the annual Presidents' Day in February.

Discography

• Loudon Wainwright III (1970)
• Album II (1971)
• Album III (1972)
• Attempted Mustache (1973)
• Unrequited (1975)
• T Shirt (1976)
• Final Exam (1978)
• A Live One (1979)
• Fame and Wealth (1983)
• I'm Alright (1985)
• More Love Songs (1986)
• Therapy (1989)
• Fame and Wealth / I'm Alright (1991)
• History (1992)
• Career Moves (1993)
• One Man Guy: The Best of Loudon Wainwright III 1982-1986 (1994)
• Grown Man (1995)
• Little Ship (1997)
• BBC Sessions (1998)
• Social Studies (1999)
• Last Man on Earth (2001)
• So Damn Happy (2003)
• Here Come The Choppers! (2005)

External Links

• Short autobiography
• Loudon Wainwright III on VH1