⬇️ MANCE LIPSCOMB ⬇️
(Beau De Glen Lipscomb)
DISCOGRAPHY 1972-2002 (12CD)
BIOGRAPHY
Lipscomb was born April 9, 1895. His father was an ex-slave from
Alabama; his mother was half Native American (Choctaw). Lipscomb spent
most of his life working as a tenant farmer in Texas.
He was discovered and recorded by Mack McCormick and Chris Strachwitz
in 1960, during revival of interest in the country blues. He recorded
many albums of blues, ragtime, Tin Pan Alley and folk music (most of
them released by Strachwitz's Arhoolie Records), singing and
accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. Lipscomb had a "dead-thumb"
finger-picking guitar technique and an expressive voice. He honed his
skills by playing in nearby Brenham, Texas, with a blind musician, Sam
Rogers.
His first release was the album Texas Songster (1960). Lipscomb
performed songs in a wide range of genres, from old songs like "Sugar
Babe" (the first he ever learned) to pop numbers like "Shine On, Harvest
Moon" and "It's a Long Way to Tipperary".
In 1961 he recorded the album Trouble in Mind, released by Reprise
Records. In May 1963, he appeared at the first Monterey Folk Festival,
in California.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, he did not record in the early blues
era, but his life is well documented thanks to his autobiography, I Say
Me for a Parable: The Oral Autobiography of Mance Lipscomb, Texas
Bluesman, narrated to Glen Alyn (published posthumously), and also a
short 1971 documentary film by Les Blank, A Well Spent Life.
He began playing the guitar at an early age and played regularly for
years at local gatherings, mostly what he called "Saturday night
suppers" hosted by someone in the area. He and his wife regularly hosted
such gatherings for a while. Most of his musical activity took place
within what he called his "precinct", the area around Navasota, until
around 1960.
Following his discovery by McCormick and Strachwitz, Lipscomb became an
important figure in the American folk music revival of the 1960s. He was
a regular performer at folk festivals and folk-blues clubs around the
United States, notably the Ash Grove in Los Angeles, California.
He died in Navasota in 1976, two years after suffering a stroke.
(Wikipedia)