John Hartford
Something was needed to listen to, while downloading pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”. (where today’s images come from) This is how things work. The tv set has not been turned on since the super bowl. Entertainment is what you make it.
The ear candy for that afternoon was a broadcast with John Hartford. That’s him in the embedded video. He is singing about vinyl records, and one of the problems they face. Vinyl is supposedly making a comeback. It was always high maintenance. This is not the case with John Hartford, who was a treasure of American music. In 1967, Glen Campbell had a summer replacement series in the Smothers Brothers time spot. During the intro, Mr. Campbell would be in the audience, singing “Gentle on my mind”. John Hartford would stand up, and start playing his banjo. Mr. Hartford wrote the song.
The show Mr. Hartford was on is Wired For Books. The appearance was promoting a book, Steamboat in a Cornfield. A boat got caught in a flood, and wound up in a cornfield. It became a tourist attraction. In addition to picking and grinning, Mr. Hartford liked to pilot river boats. Yes, there is a reason for the past tense. John Hartford went to that bluegrass festival in the sky on June 4, 2001.
PG saw John Hartford one night. It was a saturday night without much happening, and PG walked over to the Great Southeast Music Hall. It was after the formal show was over. John Hartford was playing with Lester Flatt and Benny Martin. Six weeks later, Lester Flatt died.
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John Hartford died on June 5, 2001, leaving behind over 30 years dedicated to writing and playing music. It would be difficult to locate a musician more respected and liked by his peers than Hartford , so recordings like A Tribute to John Hartford naturally follow. This tribute, recorded on September 24, 2000, isn’t a by-the-number affair. Some artists play Hartford songs, others do not. Hartford himself makes an appearance, playing and singing several songs. The set kicks off with “Gentle on My Mind,” an obvious choice that may seem a little tired; the song, however, receives such a fresh and lovely treatment by Kathy Mattea and Tim O’Brien that it’s an inspired choice. Riders in the Sky offer a fun Western swing version of “Billy the Kid,” while John Cowan , singing soulfully as always, delivers a six-minute version of “Dark as a Dungeon.” Gillian Welch and David Rawlings lay down their signature, old-time groove on “In Tall Buildings,” a Hartford classic shot through with his romantic sensibility, while Bela Fleck and Pat Flynn present a nifty version of “On the Road.” The last five songs are left to the master himself, including tributes to his own heroes, Bill Monroe , Benny Martin , and Earl Scruggs . Pieces like “In the Heart of the Cross Eyed Child” and “Watching the River Go By” are more like spoken, traditional raps than songs, filled with Hartford ‘s trademark humor. He offers a few moving, if typically bizarre, words on the reason for the little get-together and a short version of “Give Me the Flowers While I’m Living,” and the show is over. It is a fitting end to a fitting tribute to the late, great John Hartford .
was born on December 30, 1937 in New York City to parents Dr. Carl and Mary Harford. He spent his childhood in St. Louis, Missouri . There he was exposed to the influence that would shape much of his career and music—the Mississippi River. From the time he got his first job on the river, at age 16, Hartford was on, around, or singing about the river.