Michael "Mo" Paul

Mo was born Oct. 30, 1951, in St. Louis, to Clifton Lawrence Paul and Ruth Ferrell Livingston, both deceased. He is survived by his wife, Nina, brother Mark Paul, and sister Lisa Krenning, his three children, Natasha Stevenson, Robert Austin, and Miles Paul, six grandchildren and numerous cousins.

After graduating high school in 1969, Mo took some college art courses, hitchhiked to New Orleans twice, and eventually settled into work as a sign painter and graphic artist and musician. He was an aficionado of the Blues, Jazz, Looney Tune cartoons, black & white movies, The Three Stooges, monster movies, and musical artists such as Frank Zappa, Dr. John the Nighttripper, and Howlin’ Wolf. The musician’s life drew him to Branson, Missouri, and then to Kansas City.

As a child, Mo had contracted polio, before the Salk Vaccine was introduced, and he suffered the after effects the rest of his life, dealing with numerous hospital stays, gradually losing mobility, and eventually relying on a wheelchair.

He developed tremors that forced him to abandon drawing by hand. But he taught himself to use computer illustration programs and continued to create visual art, including posters and t-shirts, for various Blues bands and festivals in and around Kansas City.

Mo cut quite a swath as a musician, playing harmonica and singing Blues and rock ’n’ roll. He raised many a roadhouse roof with his inventive harmonica improvisations and robust, bluesy howl. He loved to rib his audiences with lines like, “This next tune’s called, ‘Don’t Bend Over In The Garden, Granny, ‘Cause All Them Taters Got Eyes’.” He is fondly recalled by his former band members from over the decades, and he is deeply missed. Mo was, above all else, “unique,” in the strict sense of the term — meaning “one of a kind.”

Among his many musical aggregations, the jazzy quartet, Duke Elephant, and The Old Crows, a band Mo fronted for nearly 13 years.

From his seat in the wheelchair in front of a band, Mo sported an outsized sense of humor, cracked jokes, waved a conductor’s baton around frantically while not singing and playing, and generally created good-natured havoc. But when he played and sang, he was deadly serious. And he was incredible.

Mo’s health situation grew increasingly complicated in recent years. But he was a tough ol' dude, who soldiered on, who kept getting back up off "the matt.” His dogged perseverance, humor, and warm heart were hallmarks of his stage presence.

In the fall of 2022, Mo decided to retire from playing live music. He just couldn’t physically do it anymore. The Old Crows had a date set for his last performance, but even that turned out to be too much. Mo had to cancel.

Celebrate Mo Paul by going out for a night of live music, or with a night of vintage movies or a Three Stooges marathon. That’s what he would have done!

A memorial service for Michael will be held Saturday, July 29, 2023 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM at McGilley Antioch Chapel, 3325 Northeast Vivion Road, Kansas City, MO 64119.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.mcgilleyantiochchapel.com for the Paul family.