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Jerry Riopelle, A Fixture Of The Arizona Live Scene, Dies At 77
Courtesy Danny Zelisko Presents – Jerry Riopelle
Jerry Riopelle, an adopted cultural fixture in Arizona, died from complications of cancer Dec. 24 – days before he was scheduled to perform a pair of sold-out “farewell” shows at the Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz.
His name may not be familiar outside of Arizona, but his is a story of how an artist can be a great success on his own terms in his own community.
Riopelle was working in the mid-1970s as a songwriter and performer in Los Angeles before Danny Zelisko, then an aspiring concert promoter, met him. Riopelle was to become a staple on KDKB-FM, the top station in Phoenix and among college students at nearby Arizona State University in Tempe.
“I’d heard him on the radio and, when he was doing a radio station tour, I ran over to the radio station to meet him,” Zelisko tells Pollstar. “I was maybe 19 at the time. We became friendly, as much as you can for just meeting somebody in a parking lot. I was just starting to promote shows and I tried to put together a show with him headlining over Buckingham Nicks and Dan Fogelberg. I didn’t pull the trigger on that show, which has haunted me for over 40 years. Because it would have been, at that time, a classic and truly pivotal show.”
The Riopelle/ Buckingham Nicks / Dan Fogelberg bill may not have panned out, but Riopelle became a fixture in Phoenix, Tucson, Scottsdale and beyond, as a conscious choice as opposed to spending a life on the road. And Zelisko went on to become a fixture himself as a concert promoter in Phoenix and beyond, growing his own business into Evening Star, selling to SFX, and then returning to his roots as an independent promoter with Danny Zelisko Presents.
“He never really seemed to have the desire to go out and beat the pavement for months at a time trying to break,” Zelisko says of
Riopelle. “He did so well here, and there were so many shows for 10-15 years, I think he made a living from his songwriting and playing here. I think he decided he could live a better life than beating his ass on road all the time. Breaking an act…it was such an art back in the day and he got what he needed to have, which was airplay.”
The radio airplay drew concert audiences, including sellouts at the newly opened Compton Terrace, the first outdoor amphitheater in Phoenix, where he sold 15,000 tickets at the grand opening, according to the Arizona Republic.
“Starting in 1975, he started selling out shows, multiple shows in multiple years. I think he sold out like 10 shows at the Celebrity over three different stints, in just one year. If you add it up, it’s like 25,000 people,” Zelisko says.
Riopelle’s shows were the stuff of legend in Phoenix – so much so that he was sometimes dubbed the “Elvis of Phoenix.” In addition to his stage performances, Riopelle was known for developing Human Beamz, a system of tubes and lasers that plays music tones as beams are triggered by hand.
A diagnosis of prostate cancer several years ago didn’t slow him down, and was thought until recently to be in remission. Zelisko says they’d decided to book the Dec. 28-29 shows at Talking Stick when it appeared he was better.
“When he was getting treated last year, and earlier this year, the doctors thought it was gone. But this shit’s sneaky,” Zelisko, himself a cancer survivor, says. “We waited until he was feeling better and we waited to book these shows. I could have probably added one or two more. It’s a testament to how big he was here. Not just in numbers but how important he was to the people that were his fans and his friends.”