GENTLE ON MY MIND - John Hartford; Molly Tuttle
- Written and performed by John Hartford.
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- John Cowan Hartford (Dec. 30, 1937 June 4, 2001) was an American folk, country, & bluegrass composer & musician known for his mastery of the fiddle & banjo, as well as for his witty lyrics, unique vocal style, & extensive knowledge of Mississippi River lore. His most successful song is 'Gentle on My Mind', which won 3 Grammy Awards & was listed in 'BMI's Top 100 Songs of the Century'. Hartford performed with a variety of ensembles throughout his career, & is perhaps best known for his solo performances where he would interchange the guitar, banjo, & fiddle from song to song. He also invented his own shuffle tap dance move, & clogged on an amplified piece of plywood while he played & sang.
.. Newgrass: Hartford changed recording labels several more times during his career; in 1991, he inaugurated his own Small Dog a'Barkin' label. Later in the 1990s, he switched again to Rounder Records. He recorded a number of idiosyncratic records on Rounder, many of which recalled earlier forms of folk & country music. Among them was the 1999 album Retrograss recorded with Mike Seeger & David Grisman, with bluegrass versions of '(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay', 'Maybellene', 'When I'm Sixty-Four', & 'Maggie's Farm'.
He recorded several songs for the soundtrack to the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou, winning another Grammy for his performance. He made his final tour in 2001 with the Down from the Mountain tour that grew out of that movie & its accompanying album. While performing in Texas in April, he found that he could no longer control his hands due to non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which ended his life 2 months later. ~ Hartford is considered a co-founder of the newgrass movement, although he remained deeply attached to traditional music as well. His last band and last few albums reflect his love for pre-bluegrass old-time music...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hartford
- John Hartford at MerleFest, 2000.
- Gentle On My Mind - Molly Tuttle at Augusta Bluegrass Week 2016. Augusta Heritage Center of Davis & Elkins College. Filmed at the Center's Bluegrass week. The Augusta Heritage Center of Davis & Elkins College is known internationally for teaching, presenting, & nurturing traditional music, folklife & folk arts. It holds intensive week-long workshops in traditional music, dance, craft, & folklore.