In 1929 he and composer Lamar Stringfield collaborated on 30 and 1 Folk Songs from the Southern Mountains, a volume of songs arranged with musical accompaniment. I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground Lyrics. mother. In 1912, having studied law on his own, he entered Trinity College (now Duke University) as a second-year student where he studied under Samuel Fox Mordecai. In 1927 he advised the Asheville Chamber of Commerce to add a program of dancing and singing to its Rhododendron Festival. A Celebration of Home in Lockeland Springs. Audio recording. He gave me a pitch on how he thought I needed to be recorded, and it sounded just like what I had pictured in my mind.”       That bigger picture is evident across the 12 tracks of Come On Blue. Madison County Chamber of Commerce; Sign-in or Try it free for 3 months. Please allow one business day for replies from NCpedia. Bascom married Nellie Lunsford (born Triplett) on month day 1906, at age 24 at marriage place, North Carolina. In 1928, Bascom Lamar Lunsford turned his vast knowledge of traditional music and his organizational skills to the creation of a local music festival. calendar@theeastnashvillian.com. So where does Ralph Lewis go from here? Marker Text: ""Minstrel of Appalachia." The couple had seven children: Sara Kern, Blackwell Lamar, Ellen Chapman, Lynn Huntington, Nellie Triplett, Merton Bacum, and Josepha Belle. A year later he accepted a teaching position in Madison County. The documentary gives a lot of weight to the elderly "Appalachian Minstrel", Bascom Lamar Lunsford, whom you'll see dancing with his wife about four and half minutes in. In addition to collecting traditional songs, Lunsford composed several new ones, including "Good Old Mountain Dew" in 1920. He and his brother Blackwell were accomplished fiddlers by their teens, and they often performed for neighbors and at school entertainments. The couple had seven children: Sara Kern, Blackwell Lamar, Ellen Chapman, Lynn Huntington, Nellie Triplett, Merton Bacum, and Josepha Belle. "Dry Bones." Irwin Stambler and Grelun Landon, Encyclopedia of Folk, Country, and Western Music (1969). Bascom Lamar Lunsford, born in Mars Hill, North Carolinain 1882, was what amounts to the first Appalachian ethnomusicologist- but not at first. This article is from the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 6 volumes, edited by William S. Powell. 2020 lineup Sheila Kay Adams Sheila Kay Adams is the seventh-generation bearer of her family’s two-hundred-year-old ballad-singing tradition. Gordon encouraged Lunsford to continue collecting and preserving the songs and to be thorough and systematic in his approach. Bascom Lamar Lunsford was born in Mars Hill in 1882. Lunsford, Bascom, Lamar. “I just love getting into the studio and singing. I have a picture of my brother and me sitting on Bascom Lamar Lunsford’s front steps with Lunsford and his wife. Dr. Robert W. Gordon, the first head of the Library of Congress Archive of Folksong, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2007660178/. That’s certainly true for Peter Cooper. Audio recording. OVERVIEW. Join the Chamber; Why You Should Join; Chamber Dues; About Us. I felt like Robin Eaton was a good choice to help me go beyond what I’d done in the past. After leaving that post Lunsford worked for two years for the East Tennessee Nursery Company, traveling on horseback to sell fruit trees throughout western North Carolina and adjacent states. This musical high strangeness is perhaps best represented by her cover of a traditional folk tune first recorded by her great-uncle Bascom in 1928. Read more . [Miss Margot Mayo and Miss Deska of American Square Dance Group of New York City and Bascom Lamar Lunsford (center), director of the Mountain Music Festival, Asheville, North Carolina]. “My parents never had the normal concept of making a living, and they didn’t hand that down to their children. couple had seven children: Sara Kern, Blackwell Lamar, Ellen Chapman, Lynn Huntington, Nellie Triplett, Merton Bacum, and Josepha Belle. Following graduation from Camp Hill Academy in Leicester (Buncombe County), he enrolled in Rutherford College in 1901. Joan Baez, Burl Ives, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Jimmie Driftwood, Leadbelly, Odetta, The Tarriers, Bascom Lamar Lunsford, Cisco Houston - Original American Folksongs / Various - Amazon.com Music We are a bi-monthly magazine dedicated to the uniqueness of East Nashville & Inglewood with a focus on events, charities, businesses and people in the local area. After the death of his first wife, Lunsford married Mrs. … Bascom Lamar Lunsford. NCpedia will not publish personal contact information in comments, questions, or responses. “We were what people now call Americana. He was buried in the Old Brick Church Cemetery, Leicester. The couple had seven children: Sara Kern, Blackwell Lamar, Ellen Chapman, Lynn Huntington, Nellie Triplett, Merton Bacum, and Josepha Belle. https://archive.org/details/Bones (accessed July 22, 2014). 1928. 1838 September 1838. Lunsford, Bascom, Lamar. It is the most famous song about James. Watch the Ballad Swap, part of the 2020 Bascom Lamar Lunsford Music of Appalachia Festival, which was held virtually this year. Was born here." We really didn’t fit into one category.”       After her father’s death in 1978, Lunsford continued singing, frequently as a backup singer, appearing on countless recordings. After Manly moved to North Carolina immediately after WW II, he met Bascom Lamar Lunsford at a folk festival at UNC. Nellie was born on September 22 1881, in North Carolina, United States. In 2001, Ralph received the Bascom Lamar Lunsford Award which is given annually to "individuals who have made significant contributions to the folk traditions in the southern mountains." Bascom Lamar Lunsford. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. A native of Asheville, N.C., Lunsford was born into a family with deep musical traditions. randy@theeastnashvillian.com, If you would like to submit an event for the print edition of our calendar, please contact Emma: Connect with Apple Music. Bascom Lamar Lunsford, born in 1882 in Madison County, was a fruit tree salesman, teacher, and lawyer, who is celebrated for his lifelong devotion to Appalachian music and dance. Only Lynn and Lamar were performers. It just took me some time to focus.”       Lunsford is discussing her recent album, Come on Blue. For advertising inquiries, please contact Lisa: North Carolina Folklore Journal 25 (May 1977). That was in the spring of 1964. After the death of his first wife, Lunsford married Mrs. … His parents introduced him to traditional music, which became a lifelong passion. Bascom Lamar Lunsford. "I guess I’m a late bloomer,” Tomi Lunsford says. New to the North Carolina Digital Collections! He received his law degree and license to practice in 1913. ... followed by the conductor’s wife… On 2 June 1906, Lunsford married Nellie Sara Triplett (22 June 1881–4 May 1960). Bascom Lamar Lunsford. Please contact Randy: Although the album’s 10 songs were all originals written with her sister Nancy or her husband, Warren Denney, the music hewed closely to her Appalachian roots. ... Bascom Lamar Lunsford. The Asheville Chamber of Commerce had long sponsored an annual Rhododendron Festival, highlighting mountain arts and crafts. Please contact Randy: If you would like to submit an event for the print edition of our calendar, please contact Emma: We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Mrs. Brown was born July 19, 1920, in Marion, NC, and was the daughter of the late Nellie Triplett Lunsford and Bascom Lamar Lunsford. PLAY FULL SONG. wife. “Even though that’s my heritage, I had never recorded anything really representative of my bigger musical picture. Album Anthology Of American Folk Music Volume Three: Songs. As a result of these contacts, in March 1935 Lunsford received an invitation to go to New York to record his "personal memory collection" for Columbia; the collection included 315 items. Bascom Lamar Lunsford: Good Old Mountain Dew “Good Old Mountain Dew” is a classic moonshine ballad, originally written by folklorist, balladeer and musician Bascom Lamar Lunsford of North Carolina in 1928. thesis, Miami University, Ohio, 1959). He worked in a variety of jobs as a young man, including a fruit tree seller, a beekeeper, an auctioneer and a newspaper publisher. He was the son of James Bassett and Luarta Leah Buckner Lunsford and the great-grandson of Thomas Shepard Deaver, a founder of Mars Hill College. Pete Gilpin and George Stephens, Bascom Lamar Lunsford, “Minstrel of the Appalachians” (1966) Howard E. Covington Jr. and Marion A. Ellis, eds., The North Carolina Century: Tar Heels Who Made a Difference, 1900-2000 (2002) “Ballad of a Mountain Man: The Story of Bascom Lamar Lunsford” (American Experience, PBS, 1989) On 2 June 1906, Lunsford married Nellie Sara Triplett (22 June 1881–4 May 1960). https://archive.org/details/Dove (accessed July 22, 2014). Lunsford organized or helped to found numerous festivals throughout his life, including the first National Folk Festival in St. Louis in 1934. After the death of his first wife, Lunsford married Mrs. Freda Metcalf English on 25 Aug. 1960. Lunsford recorded nearly 350 songs, stories, and square dance calls, and influenced the likes of Bob Dylan and Robert Plant, who covered his song Get Along Lunsford learned to play the banjo and fiddle, and collected songs and tunes. Photograph. For personal use and not for further distribution. This job enabled him to contact families in remote areas and collect even more songs and tunes. Verification can be found on his death certificate under "Name of Cemetery or Crematory," which states "Old Episcopal" (Brick Church was Methodist Episcopal, not Episcopal), as well as by visiting his grave in the Leicester Episcopal Church Yard and viewing his tombstone there. view all James Bassett Lunsford's Timeline. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2007660178/ (accessed July 22, 2014). After the death of his first wife, Lunsford married Mrs. … Before pursuing that lofty goal he was a lawyer, which is where he got the source material for Mountain Dew. Share. “I’m looking to do more of the same, but different,” Lunsford says. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher. Dr. Dorothy Scarborough, from Columbia University, also toured the mountains with Lunsford in 1930. . "Little Turtle Dove." . Working with Eaton and a group of top Nashville session players, Lunsford fuses jazz and blues vocal stylings to eclectic musical arrangements that sometimes border on Tom Waits-ian oddity. The program was so successful that the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival was established the next year. [Ashland, KY.]  78 RPMs & Cylindar Recordings on Archive.org. 1912 The couple, Sarah Osborne McCombie and Austin McCombie, are not preservationists though. I got paid a dollar for singing when I was in the second grade, and I never considered being anything other than a singer.”       Lunsford’s career as a singer found an outlet before she finished high school, singing on demo recordings of her father’s songs, and as a member of the folk/country/vocal harmony group The Lunsfords, comprised of her father and sisters Nancy and Teresa. [between 1938 and 1950]. A real estate agent … more. Halloween Spooks. [Bascom Lamar Lunsford, Lewis Herron, Joe Bussard, Wayne Martin, Loyal Jones, Mike Seeger, Tony Seeger, Pete Seeger, Charles Seeger] Nelle [2/39] She was with her father when Charles Seeger and his wife wrote down the music as he sang it. editor@theeastnashvillian.com, Have East Nashville news tips? 2. Anne W. Beard, "The Personal Folksong Collection of Bascom Lamar Lunsford" (M.A. Comments are not published until reviewed by NCpedia editors at the State Library of NC, and the editors reserve the right to not publish any comment submitted that is considered inappropriate for this resource. Asheville was booming in 1928 when Bascom Lamar Lunsford gathered up a passel of pickers, fiddlers and dancers on Pack Square for the city’s first Mountain Dance and Folk Festival now in its 92nd year. Lunsford contributed innumerable items to Frank C. Brown of Duke University for the North Carolina Folklore collection. 6 talking about this. On 2 June 1906, Lunsford married Nellie Sara Triplett (22 June 1881-4 May 1960). Bascom Lamar Lunsford was born in Mars Hill in 1882. In 1949, in a two-week marathon session, Lunsford recorded 330 items for the Library of Congress. [Ashland, KY.]  78 RPMs & Cylindar Recordings on Archive.org. Returning to western North Carolina, he pursued a number of occupations during the next decade. Lunsford's major contribution to the perpetuation of folk music was the formation and promotion of folk festivals. Label vector designed by Ibrandify - Freepik.com. Bring out your bacon and your beans, Lord, Lord. Background of Lunsford and Wiseman. Bascom Lamar Lunsford Collection (Appalachian Room, Mars Hill College, Mars Hill). 1928. Pete Gilpin and George Stephens, Bascom Lamar Lunsford: Minstrel of the Appalachians (1966). The husband-and-wife string-band duo Chatham Rabbits play music that’s rooted in the old-time traditions of artists like the Carter Family, Charlie Poole, and Bascom Lamar Lunsford. Written by East Nashvillians, for East Nashvillians! sales@theeastnashvillian.com, For questions or comments about editorial content: The ‘20s were roaring. Used by permission of the publisher. Joe Penland’s Madison County family includes many old-time mountain musicians. Rebecca Luker Vocal. Her father, Jim Lunsford, was a singer, songwriter, and fiddle player who backed Roy Acuff and Reno & Smiley on the road, before relocating to Nashville with his wife and children in the mid-1960s to focus on songwriting. When she finally returned to the studio as a solo artist after almost two decades, she was determined to emphasize the musical vines and brambles sprinting from those roots. I had a lot of outlets for expression over the years — singing with other people, writing with other people, and my life is very full with family and friends. Folklorist, collector, & performer. In 1949 Lunsford represented the United States at the first International Folk Festival in Venice, Italy. It was adapted in 1935 by country musician Scotty Wiseman, another North Carolinian, with new lyrics. Erstelle dein kostenloses Deezer Konto und höre Bascom Lamar Lunsford: die Top-Hits, Playlists oder die gesamte Diskografie. Lambert & Hendricks & Ross. 1,140. PLEASE NOTE: NCpedia provides the comments feature as a way for viewers to engage with the resources. He married his wife, Shirley Jo Cotton, on September 29, 1962, and they had two children together. Contributor: Emrich, Duncan - Lunsford, Bascom Lamar Collection David Hoffman collection of documentary materials for films on Bascom Lamar Lunsford, Collection of audio recordings, photographs, and 16mm film shot by David Hoffman for his 1964 documentary film for television on Bascom Lamar Lunsford, entitled "Music Makers of the Blue Ridge." Once my dad took us to see Bascom Lamar Lunsford. Lunsford could not read or music. LYRICS. I’m here now, finally, and I’m ready to keep rolling.”, The 34th Annual A Celebration of Home in Lockeland Springs on Dec. 8 and 9 provides an opportunity to tour 11 unique properties in East … more, To truly love Nashville, you must come from somewhere else — or so the saying goes. A high point in his career as a performer and promoter occurred in 1939, when he and his Soco Gap dance team performed at the White House for President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain. Despite those details, Come on Blue is a riveting example of an artist coming into her own, combining years of experience with deep and sturdy musical roots. He returned to Rutherford College from 1906 to 1909, then taught school in McDowell County. Mary Lunsford. Her teachers were her great-aunt Dellie Norton, cousin Cas Wallin, and other kinfolks in the Wallin, Chandler, Norton, Ramsey, and Ray families of Sodom, North Carolina, who have so long been admired by ballad singers and collectors. In the picture I have my little banjo, my brother has his guitar, and Lunsford has his banjo and his wife has a … […] If you prefer not to leave an email address, check back at your NCpedia comment for a reply. It’s tempting to refer to the record as an impressive debut, even though Lunsford has been singing in Nashville studios for over four decades, and it isn’t her first album. Complete guidelines are available at https://ncpedia.org/about. They became close friends, and Lunsford introduced Manly to people in the NC mountains, particularly in Madison County where Lunsford was born. My Husband's First Wife. In 1925 he accompanied Dr. Robert W. Gordon, the first head of the Library of Congress Archive of Folksong, on a search for ballads and songs in western North Carolina and South Carolina. Copyright ©1979-1996 by the University of North Carolina Press. Le Vieux Soulard Et Sa Femme (The Old Drunkard And His Wife) He was in on the cutting edge of rock-n-roll. In 1997, she made her belated solo debut with the album High Ground, released on the German Veracity label. “I feel like I need to do five records at once because I’m behind and need to catch up. Lunsford's interest in collecting folk songs brought him to the attention of the growing number of folklorists following the British collector Cecil Sharp, who toured the southern mountains between 1916 and 1918. Bascom married first name Lunsford (born English). The wife awakes from slumber, And screams in her rage, Booth jumps over the railing And lands him … Wilkes Booth came to Washington, An actor great was he, He played at Ford's Theater, And Lincoln went to see. For advertising inquiries, please contact Lisa: For questions or comments about editorial content: Have East Nashville news tips? 1882 March 21, 1882. ... Little Soldier Boy performed by Joe Penland The Farmer’s Curst Wife, Fair and Tender Ladies, and Young Emily. If you would like a reply by email, note that some email servers, such as public school accounts, are blocked from accepting messages from outside email servers or domains. It’s amazing how many more songs there are to be written and sung. He spent his later years at home in South Turkey Creek, near Leicester, where he continued to receive and entertain visitors and to participate in local festivals until his death at age ninety-one. Although Lunsford never met Sharp, he did make the acquaintance of his assistant, Maud Karpeles. Lunsford may have been having a little fun with highfalutin’ Ashevillians. . Halloween Spooks. This charming and off-kilter musical vision is also evident on the album’s 11 originals such as the heartache lament “Rain,” the infectious modern folk ballad “Jesus Was a Union Man,” and the honkytonk shuffle “Go To People.”       As for the future, Lunsford is at work on her next album. It’s a sunny … more, Even if you’ve never met Kari Leigh Ames personally, there’s a good chance you’ve encountered some of her handiwork around town. Mr. Lunsford is buried in the Leicester Episcopal Church Yard on Alexander Road in Leicester, NC, not in the Brick Church cemetery on New Leicester Highway in Leicester. Bascom Lamar Lunsford (1882-1973), preeminent collector of Appalachian folk ballads, showman, buck dancer, and folk festival founder, claimed to have spent time in more homes between West Virginia and Alabama “than anybody but God.” His parents introduced him to traditional music, which became a lifelong passion. 107 Shazams. . “We moved to Nashville when I was in the sixth grade,” Lunsford says. He had one brother, who died in 1956 when Lunsford was 12 years old. Having grown up in a rural area where folk songs, ballads, and instrumental tunes provided entertainment in homes, at square dances, and at other social functions, Lunsford developed an early appreciation for this music. These included practicing law, newspaper publishing, and investigating draft evaders for the U.S. Department of Justice in New York. Get up to 3 months free. Lunsford was born on October 20, 1943, in Houston. John A. McLeod, "Minstrel of the Appalachians: An Interpretive Biography of Bascom Lamar Lunsford" (typescript, Appalachian Room, Mars Hill College, Mars Hill). Birth of Bascom Lamar Lunsford. “I Wish I was a Mole in the Ground” cross-pollinates the song’s “Old Weird America” lyrical sensibilities with modern musical eclecticism, producing a strangely sweet fruit. “We were ahead of our time,” Lunsford says. “I’ve been around folk music all my life,” Lunsford says. PLAY FULL SONG. Penland’s great-grandmother was a first cousin of Bascom Lamar Lunsford.. “When I was twelve,” he remembers, “my Aunt Mamie lent me an old Gibson guitar that had belonged to … Bascom Lamar Lunsford was a lawyer practicing in rural North Carolina along with being an amateur folklorist and musician. [Bascom Lamar Lunsford] Lynn Menconi’s compendium is generally arranged chronologically, with scant attention paid to music as folklore (we’re talking “popular” music here), and Bascom Lamar Lunsford is as close as Menconi comes to crediting traditional influences. son. Contributor: Emrich, Duncan - Lunsford, Bascom Lamar Audio Recording The Farmer's Curst Wife Forms part of "New England Balladry," a lecture and concert presented by Helen Hartness Flanders at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., on February 27, 1948. Even with his legacy resonating in each note sung and strummed during the venerable Mountain Dance & Folk Festival, Bascom Lamar Lunsford, who founded the annual event in 1928, can seem a distant character in our history. Pursuing that lofty goal he was in on the German Veracity label musical.... Brown of Duke University for the North Carolina the German Veracity label once my dad took us see... 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