Mance Lipscomb (April 9, 1895 – January 30, 1976) was an American blues sin… Read Full Bio ↴Mance Lipscomb (April 9, 1895 – January 30, 1976) was an American blues singer, guitarist and songster. Born Beau De Glen Lipscomb near Navasota, Texas, United States, he as a youth took the name of 'Mance' from a friend of his oldest brother Charlie ("Mance" being short for emancipation).
Lipscomb was born April 9, 1895 to an ex-slave father from Alabama and a half Native American (Choctaw) 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 many albums of blues, ragtime, Tin Pan Alley and folk music (most of them on Strachwitz' Arhoolie label), singing and accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. He had a "dead-thumb" finger-picking guitar technique, and an expressive voice. Lipscomb often honed his skills by playing in nearby Brenham, Texas, with a blind musician, Sam Rogers. His debut release was Texas Songster (1960). Lipscomb performed old songs like "Sugar Babe," the first song he ever learned, to pop numbers like "Shine On, Harvest Moon" and "It's a Long Way to Tipperary".[4]
Trouble in Mind was recorded in 1961, and released on a major label, Reprise. In May 1963, Lipscomb appeared at the first Monterey Folk Festival in California.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, he did not record in the early blues era, but his life is well documented thanks to his autobiography, I Say Me for a Parable: The Oral Autobiography of Mance Lipscomb, Texas Bluesman, narrated to Glen Alyn, which was published posthumously, and also a short 1971 documentary by Les Blank, A Well Spent Life.
He began playing guitar early on and played regularly for years at local gatherings, mostly what he called "Saturday Night Suppers" hosted by someone in the area. These gatherings were hosted regularly for a while by himself and his wife. The majority of his musical activity took place within what he called his "precinct", meaning the local area around Navasota, until around 1960.
Following his "discovery" by McCormick and Strachwitz, Lipscomb became an important figure in the folk music revival of the 1960s. He was a regular performer at folk festivals and folk-blues clubs around the United States, notably the Ash Grove in Los Angeles, CA.
He died in his hometown of Navasota in 1976, two years after suffering a stroke.
A Well Spent Life (1971). Documentary directed by Les Blank and Skip Gerson. El Cerrito, California: Flower Films. Released on video in 1979. ISBN 0-933621-09-4.
He also appeared in Blank's The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins (1970)
An annual Navasota Blues Festival is held in his honor, and on August 12, 2011, a bronze sculpture of him was unveiled in Mance Lipscomb Park in Navasota. The statue was sculpted by artist Sid Henderson of California and weighs almost 300 pounds. It portrays Lipscomb playing his guitar whilst seated on a bench, with room for fans to sit beside him and play their own guitars "with" him.
Mance Lipscomb (1895-1976), guitarist and songster, was born to Charles and Jane Lipscomb on April 9, 1895, in the Brazos bottoms near Navasota, Texas, where he lived most of his life as a tenant farmer.
Lipscomb represented one of the last remnants of the nineteenth-century songster tradition, which predated the development of the blues.
Though songsters might incorporate blues into their repertoires, as did Lipscomb, they performed a wide variety of material in diverse styles, much of it common to both black and white traditions in the South, including ballads, rags, dance pieces (breakdowns, waltzes, one and two steps, slow drags, reels, ballin' the jack, the buzzard lope, hop scop, buck and wing, heel and toe polka), and popular, sacred, and secular songs. Lipscomb himself insisted that he was a songster, not a guitarist or "blues singer," since he played "all kinds of music." His eclectic repertoire has been reported to have contained 350 pieces spanning two centuries. (He likewise took exception when he was labeled a "sharecropper" instead of a "farmer."
Between 1905 and 1956 he lived in an atmosphere of exploitation, farming as a tenant for a number of landlords in and around Grimes County, including the notorious Tom Moore, subject of a local topical ballad. He left Moore's employ abruptly and went into hiding after he struck a foreman for abusing his mother and wife. Lipscomb's own rendition of "Tom Moore's Farm" was taped at his first session in 1960 but released anonymously (Arhoolie LP 1017, Texas Blues, Volume 2), presumably to protect the singer. Between 1956 and 1958 Lipscomb lived in Houston, working for a lumber company during the day and playing at night in bars where he vied for audiences with Texas blues great Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins,qv whom Lipscomb had first met in Galveston in 1938. With compensation from an on-the-job accident, he returned to Navasota and was finally able to buy some land and build a house of his own. He was working as foreman of a highway-mowing crew in Grimes County when blues researchers Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records and Mack McCormick of Houston found and recorded him in 1960.
Arhoolie Records (El Cerrito, California) has released seven albums of material by Lipscomb: Mance Lipscomb: Texas Songster and Sharecropper (Arhoolie 1001); Mance Lipscomb Volume 2 (Arhoolie 1023); Mance Lipscomb Volume 3: Texas Songster in a Live Performance (Arhoolie 1026); Mance Lipscomb Volumes 4, 5, and 6 (Arhoolie 1033, 1049, and 1069); and You'll Never Find Another Man Like Mance (Arhoolie 1077). Trouble in Mind was released by Reprise (R-2012). Individual pieces are included in other anthologies.
Lipscomb was born April 9, 1895 to an ex-slave father from Alabama and a half Native American (Choctaw) 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 many albums of blues, ragtime, Tin Pan Alley and folk music (most of them on Strachwitz' Arhoolie label), singing and accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. He had a "dead-thumb" finger-picking guitar technique, and an expressive voice. Lipscomb often honed his skills by playing in nearby Brenham, Texas, with a blind musician, Sam Rogers. His debut release was Texas Songster (1960). Lipscomb performed old songs like "Sugar Babe," the first song he ever learned, to pop numbers like "Shine On, Harvest Moon" and "It's a Long Way to Tipperary".[4]
Trouble in Mind was recorded in 1961, and released on a major label, Reprise. In May 1963, Lipscomb appeared at the first Monterey Folk Festival in California.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, he did not record in the early blues era, but his life is well documented thanks to his autobiography, I Say Me for a Parable: The Oral Autobiography of Mance Lipscomb, Texas Bluesman, narrated to Glen Alyn, which was published posthumously, and also a short 1971 documentary by Les Blank, A Well Spent Life.
He began playing guitar early on and played regularly for years at local gatherings, mostly what he called "Saturday Night Suppers" hosted by someone in the area. These gatherings were hosted regularly for a while by himself and his wife. The majority of his musical activity took place within what he called his "precinct", meaning the local area around Navasota, until around 1960.
Following his "discovery" by McCormick and Strachwitz, Lipscomb became an important figure in the folk music revival of the 1960s. He was a regular performer at folk festivals and folk-blues clubs around the United States, notably the Ash Grove in Los Angeles, CA.
He died in his hometown of Navasota in 1976, two years after suffering a stroke.
A Well Spent Life (1971). Documentary directed by Les Blank and Skip Gerson. El Cerrito, California: Flower Films. Released on video in 1979. ISBN 0-933621-09-4.
He also appeared in Blank's The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins (1970)
An annual Navasota Blues Festival is held in his honor, and on August 12, 2011, a bronze sculpture of him was unveiled in Mance Lipscomb Park in Navasota. The statue was sculpted by artist Sid Henderson of California and weighs almost 300 pounds. It portrays Lipscomb playing his guitar whilst seated on a bench, with room for fans to sit beside him and play their own guitars "with" him.
Mance Lipscomb (1895-1976), guitarist and songster, was born to Charles and Jane Lipscomb on April 9, 1895, in the Brazos bottoms near Navasota, Texas, where he lived most of his life as a tenant farmer.
Lipscomb represented one of the last remnants of the nineteenth-century songster tradition, which predated the development of the blues.
Though songsters might incorporate blues into their repertoires, as did Lipscomb, they performed a wide variety of material in diverse styles, much of it common to both black and white traditions in the South, including ballads, rags, dance pieces (breakdowns, waltzes, one and two steps, slow drags, reels, ballin' the jack, the buzzard lope, hop scop, buck and wing, heel and toe polka), and popular, sacred, and secular songs. Lipscomb himself insisted that he was a songster, not a guitarist or "blues singer," since he played "all kinds of music." His eclectic repertoire has been reported to have contained 350 pieces spanning two centuries. (He likewise took exception when he was labeled a "sharecropper" instead of a "farmer."
Between 1905 and 1956 he lived in an atmosphere of exploitation, farming as a tenant for a number of landlords in and around Grimes County, including the notorious Tom Moore, subject of a local topical ballad. He left Moore's employ abruptly and went into hiding after he struck a foreman for abusing his mother and wife. Lipscomb's own rendition of "Tom Moore's Farm" was taped at his first session in 1960 but released anonymously (Arhoolie LP 1017, Texas Blues, Volume 2), presumably to protect the singer. Between 1956 and 1958 Lipscomb lived in Houston, working for a lumber company during the day and playing at night in bars where he vied for audiences with Texas blues great Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins,qv whom Lipscomb had first met in Galveston in 1938. With compensation from an on-the-job accident, he returned to Navasota and was finally able to buy some land and build a house of his own. He was working as foreman of a highway-mowing crew in Grimes County when blues researchers Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records and Mack McCormick of Houston found and recorded him in 1960.
Arhoolie Records (El Cerrito, California) has released seven albums of material by Lipscomb: Mance Lipscomb: Texas Songster and Sharecropper (Arhoolie 1001); Mance Lipscomb Volume 2 (Arhoolie 1023); Mance Lipscomb Volume 3: Texas Songster in a Live Performance (Arhoolie 1026); Mance Lipscomb Volumes 4, 5, and 6 (Arhoolie 1033, 1049, and 1069); and You'll Never Find Another Man Like Mance (Arhoolie 1077). Trouble in Mind was released by Reprise (R-2012). Individual pieces are included in other anthologies.
Ella Speed
Mance Lipscomb Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Ella Speed' by these artists:
Alexis Korner Come on and take heed Just remember the death of poor…
Ian & Sylvia Now come all ye and take heed Concernin' the death of…
Jim Kweskin Traditional Come on and take some heed Be sworn by the d…
Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band Traditional Come on and take some heed Be sworn by the d…
Lead Belly Bill Martin he was long an' slender, Better known by bein'…
Leadbelly Bill Martin he was long an' slender, Better known by bein'…
Mungo Jerry Come and take heed, be sworn by the death of…
We have lyrics for these tracks by Mance Lipscomb:
Big Boss Man I got a big boss man, just won't treat me…
Blues In the Bottle Blues in the bottle, Blues in the bottle, stopper in my…
Captain, Captain As' my captain What time o' day As' my Captain What time o'…
Careless Love Love, oh love, oh careless love You've fly through my head…
Charlie James If you see Charlie James comin' down the road Say you,…
Cocaine done killed my baby Cocaine done killed my baby, cocaine try to run me crazy Coc…
Freddie Now Freddie's woman she done something She had never done…
Going Down Slow I done had my fun if I don't get well…
I Want to Do Something for You Well, I want to do something for you, Well, I wanna…
Jack O' Diamonds Well I played him end of spring And he never won…
Knocking Down Windows Goin' uptown, what do you want me to bring you…
Mance'S Short Haired Woman I don't want no wom'n, if her hair it ain't…
Motherless Children Motherless children have a hard time when mother is dead, L…
Night Time Is The Right Time Listen here baby, what I′m gonna say to you I want…
Run Sinner Run Better run, sinner run, and hunt you a hiding place Run,…
Shake Shake Mama Oh, ain't gonna give you no more cherry ball1 Oh, ain't…
Silver City Well I′m on my way, yes, I'm on my way Lord,…
Sugar Babe (spoken: It was the first'un I learnt) Sugar babe, I'm ti…
Sugar Babe It's All Over Now (spoken: It was the first'un I learnt) Sugar babe, I'm tired…
Take Me Back Baby (spoken: Here's about the oldest number that I could recall,…
Texas Blues I was raised in Texas, schooled in Tennessee. x2 I won’t…
Tom Moore's Farm Ain′t but the one thing, see what I done wrong Ain't…
Willie Poor Boy Willie, Willie, Willie poor boy Do let my Saviour be…
You Got to Reap What You Sow Honey, after all I did for you You told me baby,…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
More Genres
No Artists Found
More Artists
Load All
No Albums Found
More Albums
Load All
No Tracks Found
Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Search results not found
Song not found
@johnbishop3370
My personal favorite bluesman
@hansdampf7375
.. mine too. Check "Aint you sorry", another phantastic song.
@stacyblue1980
Best version. No offense to our dear Leadbelly. This just rocks that meaning. .. if you understand. .....
@jeremycline9542
Most of my life I only knew Lead Belly's version, and this is wonderful. Love the differences in the tune and the emotion that comes through.
@donalberto1945
The Freight and Salvage
in Berkeley, Ca. early 70's with my 1st ole lady, recorded old reel to reel tape and took pics...my first real bluesman...
@kevind7422
Lipscomb (b 1895) had been performing this well before Leadbelly's '44 recorded version which brought it to 'popular' conciousness.
This '60 recording is from Lipscomb's very first record!, thanks to Arhoolie Record's indefatigable founder and pilot, Chris Strachwitz, who sought out 'lost' American music & musicians for future generations. A great life's work. This is a piece of that effort.
BTW, like 'Frankie & Johnny', 'Stagger Lee' and countless others (esp those Scots-Irish Appalachian transplants), it's a murder song rooted in historical fact.
@SkipPlaysStrings
That's true, but we do know that Leadbelly was playing this before that recording too - he did a record for the Library of Congress some ten years before his Capitol records version. We don't really know where or when either of them got it, but seeing as how Lipscomb was in the same part of town as Lemon pretty often, chances are they learned it from the same place/person, or from someone who learned it from someone else. etc, or from one another!
You know what they say about it being a small world...
@bubbafreesnake
Shout-out to the old Ash Gove on Melrose in Los Angels and Ed Pearl. You brought us all the old country blues singers, who were still alive and playing. Thanks Ed and thank you tonfunk67.
@lenkowalyshen9571
Nobody today is doing this style of music it is the the gritty story of the Blues , thanks for this , Mance Lipscomb
@michieldhaeze5901
I perform a Mance Lipscomb tune live from time to time.. Blues is not that obscure 😅