Born 124 years ago today, in Reading, Pennsylvania, the tremendous Roy Smeck. I became aware of Roy from a 1992 reissue on Yazoo, Roy Smeck Plays Hawaiian Guitar, Banjo, Ukulele and Guitar. The stuff is incredible. He isn’t widely known in the present day, but his status and influence as a musician is second-to-none. His popularity at one time was such that he performed at FDR’s inaugural ball in 1933. He made more than 500 recordings for several labels and had an endorsement deal with Harmony ukuleles and Gibson guitars which included his signature on the headstock. He was tapping the strings, playing with his teeth, playing behind his back, and with a violin bow, long before Van Halen, Hendrix, or Jimmy Page did. His instructional books on the instruments he played are still in print. He remained active into his ’90’s. Check this out, from a 1932 short Club House Party:

Another man in the news today, who played no instrument, is also an enormously influential man in the lives of long-forgotten and aspiring musicians. Dick Waterman was a Great man. News just broke in the last day or so that he earned his rainbow in late January, in Oxford, Mississippi. He grew up in Plymouth, Massachusetts, studied journalism at Boston University, and would go on to become editor of Broadside Magazine in the early 60’s. He was covering The Newport Folk Festival in 1963 when he discovered the Blues, witnessing a set by Mississippi John Hurt that changed his life there on the spot. “I never saw anything like it. A little old Black man with an acoustic guitar went out in front of 15,000 people and brought them all up on the porch with him. He was magic.”

Waterman gave up his journalism and dedicated his life to the Blues, helping to re-discover and bring an audience to musicians long overlooked, some of whom had given up on their music. He became a concert promoter and manager, working tirelessly on behalf of Hurt, as well as Son House, Skip James, Bukka White and Mississippi Fred McDowell. He established the first Blues-only booking agency, Avalon Productions, named in honor of John Hurt’s Mississippi hometown. He fought for their back royalties, insisted on competitive fees for their performances, and worked on behalf of their estates following their passing’s. What Waterman did for Son House alone enshrines him into American music history, embarking on a cross-country trip to find him, eventually locating Son House living in Rochester, New York, no longer even owning a guitar of his own. It took several days of convincing Son House to try again, that there was an audience waiting for him. Finding a guitar for him, Waterman recorded a demo that got House a contract with Columbia Records, a spot at the ’64 Newport Folk Festival, and success he never imagined. His music is now in the Library of Congress.

Waterman was also a mentor to younger musicians, such as a Radcliffe freshman he discovered in the late 60’s, an artist named Bonnie Raitt. She would eventually fund the placing of a proper headstone on Mississippi Fred Mcdowell’s grave.

He relocated to Oxford, Mississippi in the 1980’s beginning a 2nd career with his photography, documented in a 2003 book well worth tracking down, Between Midnight and Day. Here is just one of his astounding photos, Mississippi John Hurt and Skip James backstage at Newport ’64:

Bonnie Raitt wrote the preface: “Dick knew the meaning of rent money, medical bills, proper billing and payment; how to get a person from some small town in the Delta up to the big East Coast cities for gigs and back. By gathering so many greats under one roof (at Avalon Productions), Dick was able to collectively bargain to [ensure] each artist got to play the best gigs and be paid what they deserved. He steadfastly guarded every aspect of his artists’ professional life and was often their [families’] solid rock during personal crises as well.”

Today’s Playlist is a SomethingIsHappening compendium celebrating the lives of Roy Smeck and Dick Waterman:

Some of Dick Waterman’s photography can be seen here:

https://dickwaterman.com

#BonnieRaitt #DickWaterman #RoySmeck #MississippiJohnHurt #MississippiFredMcDowell #BukkaWhite #SonHouse #SkipJames #Photography #Blues