Home → Overview → Blues Artists → Mance Lipscomb

Mance Lipscomb (1895-1976)

His Repertoire Spanned Two Centuries

Mance Lipscomb (April 9, 1895 – January 30, 1976) was an influential blues singer, guitarist and songster. Born Beau De Glen Lipscomb near Navasota, Texas, he as a youth took the name of 'Mance' from a friend of his oldest brother Charlie (Mance short for emancipation). Lipscomb was the son of an ex-slave from Alabama and a half Choctaw Indian mother. Lipscomb spent most of his life working as a tenant farmer in Texas and was "discovered" and recorded by Mack McCormick and Chris Strachwitz in 1960 during the country blues revival. He released a few albums of blues and folk music (most of them on Strachwitz' Arhoolie label), singing and accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. He had a fine finger-picking guitar technique, and an expressive voice well suited to his material. His debut release, Texas Songster (1960) revealed how broad and catholic his repertoire was, and further sets for Arhoolie made that point in greater detail, Lipscomb happily turning from a blues number to It's a Long Way to Tipperary. Lipscomb's song Baby, Let Me Lay It On You" was picked up and reworked into Baby, Let Me Follow You Down by urban folksingers Eric Von Schmidt and Bob Dylan after a New York performance. One of his best songs, Sugar Babe, was the first song he learned on guitar. Lipscomb performed and recorded a country blues version of Shine On, Harvest Moon. Trouble in Mind was recorded in 1970, and released on a major label, Reprise. Unlike many of his contemporaries like Blind Blake and Blind Willie McTell his life is well documented and he appeared in several films, including the 1971 documentary, A Well Spent Life. His autobiography, I Say Me for a Parable: The Oral Autobiography of Mance Lipscomb, Texas Bluesman, narrated to Glen Alyn, was published posthumously. Despite his fame in the 1960s and early 1970s he died poor in his hometown of Navasota in 1976, two years after suffering a stroke. (quoted from wikipedia.org)

Blues Search Engine

Home
Overview
Booking Agencies
Blues Artists
→  Mance Lipscomb
Blues Societies
Blues Directories, Portals
Blues in General
Blues Live on Stage
Learn to Play the Blues
Blues and Science
Record Companies
Search Page
Submit a Site
Contact
Your Own Search Engine
Bookmark This Site!

Search for Mance Lipscomb recordings at cduniverse.com:

Artist Title Song Soundtrack Label

Home → Overview → Blues Artists → Mance Lipscomb