Mance Lipscomb and Grover Dickson [T3]

Duration: 2:16:53

Texas blues research tape from Mack McCormick, containing an interview he recorded with musician Mance Lipscomb and dubs of Pete Seeger’s 1951 prison field recordings of singer Grover Dickson. McCormick’s reference to an upcoming performance by Lipscomb in Berkeley [at the Folk Music Festival] would appear to date the tape recording to the summer of 1961.

Side 1:

[0:00:05] Monologue - ‘a personal message of hello’ - from McCormick directly addressing Paul Oliver, discussing his dubbing work and other activities including interactions with Chris Strachwitz, playwriting, and the Texas blues book project.

Mance Lipscomb interview [sound is slightly muffled]:

[0:07:50] Discussion of sharecropping and Mance Lipscomb's previous jobs, including working for a lumber company where he was injured in an industrial accident and received compensation. Includes some discussion of contemporary farming and cotton-picking practices. [0:16:09] Mance's experiences as a lone sharecropper and the locations he worked at. [0:19:46] About commissary stores. [0:21:38] Race relations and Mance's personal experiences with white bosses and businessmen. Includes story of a posthumous lynching and the positive influence of an ex-Texas Ranger called Charlie Haymon [actually Hamer]. [0:28:12] Mance's typical performance venues on plantations, the attitudes of farm owners, and how plantation owners found workers among prisoners, including violence on plantations. Mance’s wife expresses anxiety about him saying too much about notorious plantation owner Tom Moore. [0:37:30] About Blind Bob, a musician that taught young people how to play guitar and piano. [0:40:50] About Mance's brother, also a musician. Discussion of blues players and the differing levels of their knowledge of Western Music theory, including Lightnin' Hopkins who only played in E. [0:46:10] Different techniques on the guitar and examples of the techniques. [0:49:58] Performs parts of ‘Woah, Mule’ and ‘Spanish Flang Dang’. Discussion of learning techniques from Mexican musicians and Mexican culture, as well as the overlap between banjo and guitar styles. [0:55:00] About Mance's grandfather, and his life as a slave who was bought by the Lipscomb family, the origin of Mance's surname. The story of an enslaved man who fell in love with a slave on another farm, but because he was physically small, the slave owners didn't want them to be together. [0:59:00] About Mance's father and uncle, who were not born in slavery, as well as how they influenced Mance's music. [1:00:45] About Mance's early music work and performances, including the story of how he began performing for white people, and the different rates of pay for playing at white and black house parties. [1:06:22] Performs instrumental part of ‘Frankie Was a Good Woman’.

Side 2:

Lipscomb interview continued:

[1:08:11] Mance performs ‘Good Time Here’ [?] and opening of ‘Jack O’ Diamonds’ (in different tuning). [1:13:25] Explains how he gave up playing because he was underpaid (‘playing all night for ten dollars’). Discusses learning techniques from Mexican musicians despite the language barrier. [1:15:00] Performs ‘Jack o’ Diamonds’. Discusses his mentality towards performing. [1:17:00] Performs ‘God Moves on the Water’. [1:19:45] Performs ‘Motherless Children’. [1:22:00] Performs ‘Run, Sinner, Run’. [1:24:05] About blues music and church people. Story about him not being allowed to bring his guitar into religious spaces until he made church music his career. [1:28:00] Demonstrates instrumental playing for ‘buck dancing’. Mentions being able to play about sixty or seventy different pieces. [1:29:30] Performs ‘Silver City’. [1:32:56] Performs ‘You've Got to See Your Mama Every Night’. [1:35:12] Performs ‘Sitting on Top of the World’. [1:37:48] Performs ‘Mama Don’t Dog Me’. [1:40:30] Story of meeting Lightnin' Hopkins, performing with him and teaching him chords. Discussions of Hopkins’ life and experiences as a performer. [1:44:20] About the nature of Hopkins' audiences and places people come from, including details about areas in Houston, Texas. [1:45:45] More about Hopkins only playing in E, and philosophical discussion on learning and pride. The importance of punctuality and not being prideful as a performer. Mance compares himself to Chuck Berry. [1:50:27] Discusses having released a record [on Arhoolie], and scratching his copy of it. [1:52:26] Performs examples of two ragtime-style guitar instrumentals.

Field recordings of Grover Dickson, a 45-year old prisoner serving 20 years at Retrieve State Farm, Texas (recorded by Pete and Toshi Seeger, 1951):

[1:55:33] Dickson introduces himself and sings his own song ‘I Been Gone So Long’. [1:57:10] Dickson answers questions about songwriting. [1:58:17] Dickson sings ‘After Hours’. [2:00:22] Dickson sings ‘The Grey Goose’ (with backing chorus of prisoners) [cuts out]. [2:01:45] Dickson sings ‘John Henry’ - other prisoners join in. [2:04:40] Dickson and chorus sing ‘Old Stewball’ [cuts out]. [2:06:38] Dickson and chorus sing ‘Makes a Long Time Man Feel Bad’. [2:10:15] Dickson explains the context in which work songs are performed. [2:11:07] The other prisoners in the chorus introduce themselves [cuts out]. [2:11:43] Group of prisoners sings ‘Let Your Hammer Ring’.

Original file name: POAAAM - T03 - Mance Lipscomb - Grover Dickson

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