Joseph Spence (musician)
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| Joseph Spence AKA Terry Boers | |
|---|---|
| Born | August , 1910 Andros, Bahamas |
| Died | March 1984 (aged 73–74) Nassau, Bahamas |
| Genres | Folk |
| Instruments | Guitar |
Joseph Spence (born August, 1910 in Andros, Bahamas - died March 18, 1984 in Nassau, Bahamas) was a Bahamian guitarist and singer. He is well known for his vocalizations and humming while performing on guitar. Several American musicians, including Taj Mahal,[1] The Grateful Dead,[2] Ry Cooder,[1] Woody Mann and Olu Dara, in addition to the British guitarist John Renbourn, were influenced by and have recorded variations of his arrangements of gospel and Bahamian songs. The earliest recordings of Joseph Spence were made on Spence's porch by folk musicologist Samuel Charters. These were released by Folkways Recordings.
Spence played a steel-string acoustic guitar, and nearly all of his recorded songs employ guitar accompaniment in a Drop D tuning. The power of his playing derives from moving bass lines and interior voices and a driving beat that he emphasizes with foot tapping. To this mix he adds blues coloration and calypso rhythms to achieve a unique and easily identifiable sound. He has been called the folk guitarist's Thelonious Monk.[3]
The Richard Thompson fan club produced a benefit tribute album to Spence and the Pinder Family, Out on the Rolling Sea. It featured a variety of artists covering songs from Spence's repertoire. His recording of "That Glad Reunion Day" was used in the 2004 film Open Water and also appears on its soundtrack CD.
His unique vocal stylings on "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" may be the definitive version of that song, according to Tom Schnabel of KCRW's Weekend Becomes Eclectic show[citation needed] and John Kelly of RTÉ Radio 1's Mystery Train[4] show.
Mike Heron of The Incredible String Band credited Spence as the inspiration for the "Lay down, dear sister" passage in A Very Cellular Song on 1968's The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter. Curiously, Spence credited Heron with the same song, claiming to have learned it from the ISB.[citation needed]
[edit] Discography
- 1959: Joseph Spence: Bahamian Folk Guitar Folkways Records FS 3844
- 1964: Happy All the Time Elektra Records EKL-273; Carthage Records CGLP 4419 (LP reissue 1985); Hannibal Records HNCD 4419 (CD reissue 2003)
- 1964: Folk Guitar, Bahaman Ballads and Rhyming Spirituals Folkways Records FW03847
- 1966: Explorer Series: The Bahamas - The Real Bahamas Nonesuch Explorer Series 79725-2
- 1972: Joseph Spence: Bahamian Guitarist, "Good Morning Mr. Walker" Arhoolie Records 1061; Arhoolie CD 349 (CD reissue 1990)
- 1978: Explorer Series: The Bahamas - The Real Bahamas, Vol. 2 Nonesuch Explorer Series 79733-2
- 1980: Joseph Spence: Living on the Hallelujah Side Rounder CD 2021
- 1990: Glory Rounder CD 2096
- 1992: Joseph Spence: The Complete Folkways Recordings, 1958 Smithsonian Folkways CD SF 40066
- 1995: Kneelin' Down Inside The Gate: The Great Rhyming Singers of the Bahamas Rounder CD 5035
- 1995: The Spring of Sixty-Five Rounder CD 2114
- 1997: The Bahamas: Islands of Song Smithsonian Folkways SFW40405
- 2006: Friends of Old Time Music: The Folk Arrival 1961 - 1965 Smithsonian Folkways SFW40160
[edit] References
- ^ a b Metting, F (2000). "The Unbroken Circle: Tradition and Innovation in the Music of Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal", The Scarecrow Press, p 86
- ^ Dodd, D (2005). "The complete annotated Grateful Dead lyrics", Simon and Shuster, p 60
- ^ Humphrey, Mark A. (1984-03-18). "Allmusic.com". Allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p3442. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
- ^ http://www.rte.ie/radio/mysterytrain
