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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZLIPSCOMB, Mance(b 9 April 1895, Navasota TX; d 30 Jan. '76) Blues guitarist, singer. Like Furry Lewis, Mississippi John Hurt and others, he played ballads, spirituals, children's songs and excellent ragtime guitar as well as blues; when they were rediscovered and began recording again, Lipscomb made his first record. He had played for friends and neighbours as a tenant farmer for 50 years when Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records went to Texas to record him. When he performed at the Berkeley Folk Festival in '61 it was the first time he'd left Texas; his roots in dance music and the ethnic music of Texas made him an all-rounder and with his fine slide guitar he became one of the best-loved of the country blues genre. He was featured in film A Well Spent Life, by Les Blank. Albums on Arhoolie incl. six vols of Texas Sharecropper And Song- ster (no. 5 incl. 'Texas Blues'), You'll Never Find Another Man Like Mance '64. |