Jimmy Scott - "Everybody Needs Somebody" (1950)

Jimmy Scott passed away on Friday in Las Vegas. He was a tremendously gifted singer who influenced everyone from Billie Holiday to the Four Seasons and Little Anthony. He is the only singer who could make Madonna cry with his vocals. His career spanned the late 1940's and almost ended in a dispute with his record company in the late 1960's. But quality cannot be denied and Mr. Scott made a comeback in the last 20 years of his life, still performing until quite recently. Explore his work on You Tube and see what you missed.

____________________________________________________

"Learning to Smile Again" - Johnny Hartford 

This is not the version of the song I wanted to post, though it is close. The performance is almost the same, but the sound is lacking in quality. For whatever reason the big machine wouldn't recognize the code from You Tube and so I had to settle for this. But I can provide a link to the better version, and I will.

I have posted Johnny Hartford here before. He is a direct link to the days before Delta Blues, Appalachian Music, and even New Orleans Jazz. His is the world of the steamboats which once plied the Mississippi loaded with cotton, and slaves, as it transited the Big Muddy. The grand boats weaved through free and slave states alike, giving birth to new music and even literature. Mark Twain once piloted a river boat there, and so would Johnny Hartford. He was a man of the river, you might say.

Apparently the following link is to the album which is now out of print. Johnny Hartford rented a studio and set it up with one spotlight and a small area in which to perform his personal favorite songs; some of which he wrote; some of which were always there. He uses every bit of his body, heart and soul in each song. His voice doubles as train whistles, steamboats, washing machines. He even provides a rhythm section in the form of his considerable tap dancing talents as he both sings and plays his fiddle; or sometimes banjo; or sometimes guitar. Al;l while singing.

This is the way most Americans heard music back in the middle of the 19th Century; in the days before Edison invented the wax cylinder; or Marconi the wireless. If you didn't go to church you most likely never heard live music. And if you did it was probably at a tavern or political gathering with the entertainment performed by someone dressed just like Mr. Hartford.

Most people remember him as the guy who stood up with Glen Campbell each Sunday evening playing the banjo to the song he wrote "Gentle on My Mind." But he was so much more. It ocurs to me that there must be a reason I am thinking about him lately. Well, I just looked and it's been 13 years since his death from cancer at age 64. Of all the artists who have passed in that time period Johnny Hartford is the one I probably miss the most.

But watching these videos; the link to which is provided below; he lives forever; tapping and singing his way into our collective American experience. The music has it's roots in Scots-Irish ballads but became decidedly American in both composition and lyrics. It was the precursor to everything which came after in American music. I hope you enjoy the clarity of the following performance;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BI1N08FEo0

Johnny Hartford - Gentle on My Mind

It seems like each spring I re-discover the music of John Hartford. I suppose it has to do with the river. The Mississippi was Mr. Hartford's place. He even held a river pilot's license for the Big Muddy. Its waters ran through his veins. And each year when spring arrives I picture that river coming back to life after a long, hard winter. I see the old riverboats in my minds eye; and Mr. Hartford is always on board, playing the banjo, or guitar, or mandolin to entertain the passengers.

Most of us became aware of this incredibly talented musician/singer/songwriter/historian/poet/storyteller/foot dancing minstrel during the opening moments of The Glen Campbell Show on Sunday nights. Mr. Hartford was the lanky, long haired fellow in a vest who stood up in the audience each week playing his banjo as Glen Campbell sang "Gentle On My Mind", which was written by Mr. Hartford. And for many folks, that's as far as it went.

I was captivated the first time I saw this guy with sleeve garters and a vest, looking as if he'd just stepped out of a saloon circa 1870. And with time I realized that that's exactly who he was. He was just born in the wrong century. He had a passion for Civil War era music and what has come to be called Americana in general.

His version of "Lorena", the most popular song from the Civil War, is probably the best ever recorded, in that it captures so well what the music must have sounded like at the time it was written. Many people have recorded the song; some before Mr. Hartford; but none have captured the song as it was originally written, as Mr. Hartford has. But then again, I may be a wee bit biased.

The most incredible thing about Mr. Hartford as a performer was that he used his whole body to create the music he loved so well. For example, in the above video of Mr. Hartford performing "Gentle On My Mind" you will hear a tapping sound and wonder where it is coming from. That's his feet. By the end of the song you will be able to see those feet in action beneath the bell bottoms, but at first you can only hear the sound.

There are times when he would use those same feet to slide on the stage floor to create a shuffling sound to accompany himself. He was like a train. He pulled the weight of all the music which defined America in the years before and after the Civil War. And when he played a song from the Civil War, he didn't do "Dixie" or the "Battle Hymn of the Republic". He did the one song which soldiers on both sides of that conflict sang each evening around fires, thinking of the loved ones they had left behind.

"Lorena" was a favorite of both sides in the war simply because it spoke to every man. It was universal in its expression of longing for home and the fear that when you returned all would not be the same. Lovers move on and hearts are broken.But through it all there is an acceptance of that failed love. When he sings the verse about "We loved each other then Lorena", he sings about what might have been but never could be again. And then accepts it without bitterness. The pain was the price payed for the memories, and was well worth it. It was also written in 1857, before the war began, and so served as a powerful and common reminder of better days for both sides.

Here is Mr. Hartford playing "Lorena" dressed as I will always remember him;

"Live From Mountain River Stage" - John Hartford (2000 release)

I became a fan of John Hartford in about 2 seconds while watching the opening segment of the old “Glen Campbell Show” on CBS. If you’re old enough to remember, Glen Campbell used to sit in the audience and stand up as the show began, singing his landmark recording “Gentle On My Mind”. Standing with him was the song’s author, John Hartford, playing the banjo.

For years afterwards I always looked for John Hartford, either as a solo act, or playing backup on other artist’s recordings. Ask anyone in the music business and they will tell you with all honesty that John Hartford was the man who helped keep the genre of “Americana” alive through all of the changes in music which occurred during the 1970’s and 1980’s. He was the curator of part of our cultural history.

With his trademark bowler hat and sleeve garters, Mr. Hartford tap danced and fiddled his way across America during his almost 5 decades in show business, appearing on TV Shows, College Campuses and County Fairs. He was like a vision; a glimpse into the past of America; a time when steamboats roamed up and down the Mighty Mississippi, transporting cotton, and gamblers to their respective destinations. He was like a part of that scenery, although 100 years removed.

American music is composed of so many different styles, and comes from so many different roots. In it, you hear jazz, blues, slave chants, folk tunes from scores of countries, and even oriental influences combined into something unique. John Hartford fell hard for the Scots/Irish blend of fiddle music and banjo playing. And along the way he learned to write. From his earliest hits, like “Gentle On My Mind”, to his most obscure of later work, his music always evoked something of the American past. You can hear it in “Gentle On My Mind.” That banjo part just cuts through the whole song.

Curiously, he was born in New York City, before moving at an early age to Missouri, where he first saw his beloved river. In addition to all of his musical accomplishments; he played several instruments, and wrote many songs; he was a licensed riverboat Captain.

This album is a compilation of three concerts recorded by Mr. Hartford for West Virginia’s NPR “Mountain Stage” shows at the West Virginia Cultural center Auditorium in Charleston; between March of 1994 and May of 1996. This album was released in 2000, a year prior to Mr. Hartford’s death in 2001.  A quick look at the song list above will give you an idea of what he played. From classics such as Johnny Bond’s “I Wonder Where You are Tonight” and Carl Butler’s poignant “My Tears Don’t Show”, and then his own classics, such as “Lorena”, “Gentle On My Mind” and the humorous “Bring Your Clothes Back Home…”, it is easy to feel the connection that he had with his audience. They loved the man. It was that simple, and palpable. He frequently tapped danced as he played, and you can hear his feet accompanying him on many of the tracks.

His death in 2001 left a vacuum in American music which has never quite been filled. But, whenever you see a juggler, a street musician, or anyone engaged in “street” art, you are looking at part of Mr. Hartford’s soul. He was our troubadour, our wandering minstrel. And, we will likely never see his like again.