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.
Louise
Mance Lipscomb Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Louise' by these artists:
Acetone Don't turn your eyes away And please say that you will…
Adam & Dave's Bloodline Everyone when she was young, They said she was the pretty…
Ambrose and His Orchestra Wonderful! Oh, it's wonderful To be in love with you. Beau…
Beautiful Inside Doesn't matter 'bout the clothes that your dressed in …
Bell Book & Candle Fell in love were just children she was born Blind that's…
Benjamin Bohem comment t-oublier louise? réponds-moi comment t-oublier loui…
Benny Goodman Wonderful! Oh, it's wonderful To be in love with you. Beauti…
Benny Goodman and His Orchestra Wonderful! Oh, it's wonderful To be in love with you. Beau…
Big Bill Broonzy Louise, you the sweetest gal I know Louise, you the sweetest…
Bing & Dixie Lee Crosby Wonderful! Oh, it's wonderful To be in love with you. Beauti…
Bing Crosby Wonderful! Oh, it's wonderful To be in love with you. Beau…
Bing Crosby & Paul Whiteman Wonderful! Oh, it's wonderful To be in love with you. Beauti…
Bob Haring and His Orchestra Wonderful! Oh, it's wonderful To be in love with you. Beau…
Bob Seger Now Louise she is an outlaw, in the year of…
Bonnie Raitt Well they all said Louise was not half bad It was…
Bonnie Tyler I watched you move - so self assured So merciless -…
Bowser and Blue Sweet dreams of you every night I go through Why can't…
C. Walker Hey babygirl Let me show you how Reckless does it Haha Come …
camille jansen You've got to go You don't love me anymore You…
Canned Heat Hooker Louise, you're the sweetest gal I know Louise, yo…
Caroline Jones Honey hair falls in her face Wish boys would look at…
Cesare Cremonini Fa sorridere, ma non è allegria Fa commuovere, ma tristezza…
Chevalier Maurice Wonderful! Oh, it's wonderful To be in love with you. Beauti…
Chris And Adam Carroll Block My Ears Blank your sound Dry the tears Deafen the shou…
Circus Custers Louise, lieve Louise Jij met je klaterende lach Louise, li…
Clan of Xymox Louise, Its been a long time I know, Louise, Ill always reme…
Clouseau Wie gaat er nou nog voor me zorgen Als jij er…
Clouseau - Close Encounters Wie gaat er nou nog voor me zorgen Als jij er…
Coattail Riders Woke up in my head Good times never end With bad back…
Coutin En vérité, faut que j'vous dise Je vais pas bien, je…
Daniel Romano Echoes off the shore of her abandoned dreams. Deep beneath t…
Dean Martin Every little breeze seems to whisper Louise Birds in the tre…
Desperados Louise Ge mig kraft, ge mig mod Ge mig hopp, ge mig…
Die Höchste Eisenbahn Es ist nicht so, dass ich gestern mit meinen Jungs An…
Django Reinhardt Wonderful, oh, it′s wonderful To be in love with you Beautif…
E.Garner Peg o'my heart I love you, don't let us part I love…
Eisblume Sie waren verliebt Und fast noch Kinder. Die Ewigkeit en…
Eric Clapton [Chorus:] Oh Louise, yes you're the sweetest girl I know. Do…
Eric Clapton & Jimmy Page [Chorus:] Oh Louise, yes you're the sweetest girl I know. …
Eric Clapton and Yardbirds [Chorus:] Oh Louise, yes you're the sweetest girl I know. Do…
Eric Clapton Jack Bruce & Ginger Baker [Chorus:] Oh Louise, yes you're the sweetest girl I know. …
Erroll Garner Peg o'my heart I love you, don't let us part I love…
FERSEN Thomas Tes lèvres, Louise, sont des portes d'église Où j'entre le m…
Frankie Trumbauer And His Orchestra Wonderful! Oh, it's wonderful To be in love with you. Beau…
Fuzigish She's called Louise, she's got tattoo's on her knees She alw…
Gary White Well they all said Louise was not half bad It was…
Gérard Berliner Mais qui a soulagé sa peine Porté son bois porté les…
Gers Pardoel ik denk de hele dag aan Louise in elke droom kkomt…
Harvard Whole to my break I know what you think You are the…
Hawkins Woke up in my head Good times never end With bad back…
Howlin' Wolf Louise, sweetest girl I know Louise, sure the sweetest girl …
Howlin´ Wolf Louise, sweetest girl I know Louise, sure the sweetest girl…
I and the Sky Louise (SóCiro / Deb Ribeiro/ Samantha Machado / Kadri /…
J. Karjalainen Emma Louise Daylight she walks the street No one calls her n…
J.B. Lenoir She said We need a reset Talking at me like I got…
Jackie Gleason Wonderful! Oh, it's wonderful To be in love with you. Beau…
Jackie Gleason and His Orchestra Wonderful! Oh, it's wonderful To be in love with you. Beauti…
Jackie Gleason Bobby Hackett Wonderful! Oh, it's wonderful To be in love with you. Beau…
James Marsters Who'll tell you just where to get off And when to…
Jett Rebel I hardly ever get it right But when I get it…
John Hammond Oh Louise, yes you're the sweetest girl I know. Don't you…
John Lee Hooker Louise, you the sweetest gal I know Louise, you the sweetest…
Jona Lewie Oh, you never keep me waiting Never need for complaining You…
Jonny Lang Her name was Louise She came from Mississip' She had a way…
Jonny Lang & The Big Bang Her name was Louise She came from Mississippi She had a way…
Kadril 't Was de achttiende van mei 't juiste jaar ben ik…
Kindbergs Var det hon som ringde häromdan? Var det hennes rygg jag…
KITCHEN - The Black Keys I said Louise, the sweetest girl I said Louise, the sweetest…
Kottke Leo They said that Louise was not half-bad It was written on…
L. C. I had a love he was mine said he'd love…
L. C. "Lightnin' Jr." Williams Every little breeze seems to whisper Louise Birds in the tr…
L.C. Hey babygirl Let me show you how Reckless does it Haha Come …
Leo Kottke They said that Louise was not half-bad It was written on…
Leonard Joy Wonderful! Oh, it's wonderful To be in love with you. Beau…
Leonard Joy & Maurice Chevalier Wonderful! Oh, it's wonderful To be in love with you. Beauti…
Les Garçons Bouchers On l'appelait Louise, celle là Louise, quand tu étais là Tu …
Les Hurlements d'Léo Trop ravissante pour son âge, elle tape d'un coup vers…
Let Go Serenade The night runs out As the moment fades we're wearin…
Lewis Furey Louise the name I feel the blade in my back how come everyon…
Linda Ronstadt Well they all said Louise was not half bad It was…
Logan Pilcher We dance Like our first time Louise look in my eyes With…
Louis Armstrong Every little breeze seems to whisper Louise Birds in the tre…
Maurice Chevalier Wonderful! Oh, it's wonderful To be in love with you. Beauti…
Mazarin It is possible to see in this debris? I say these…
Michel Pagliaro Ah Louise Tu es la seule que j'désire Ah Louise Tu es la…
Mick Harvey louise when i first saw you all my dreams use to…
Middle Of The Road I would like to be On the Baltic Sea With my little…
Mike & The Mellotones I stopped the thought before its drip became insistent, I ru…
Mipso Me and Louise, we never had much luck Just a couple…
Mississippi Fred McDowell I said, Lou-ee-ise The sweetest girl I know I said, Louise T…
NOFX She had to walk with a silicone cock Stinking in her…
NOFX (usa) She had to walk with a silicone cock Stinking in her…
Oingo Boingo (English verse) The way you speaak - into my ear…
Oscar Peterson Every little breeze seems to whisper Louise Birds in the tr…
P.K.O I've got a huge drum kit in my front room I've…
Papooz My girl looks like David Bowie Not sure if it's a…
Patrick Bruel Je ne comprends rien à ton histoire Sur ton coup les…
Paul Siebel Well they all said Louise was not half bad It…
Paul Siebel [feat. David Bromberg & Gary White] Well they all said Louise was not half bad It was…
Paul Whiteman & Bing Crosby Wonderful! Oh, it's wonderful To be in love with you. Beau…
Phil Everly Louise Louise, why did you come today now, What have you…
Pierre Perret Ma femme est partie En emportant mes cigarett's Avec un typ'…
Prince Tui Teka They all said, Louise "was one half bad", It was written…
Pure Prairie League Well won't somebody tell me what I did last night I…
Ralph McTell I woke up this morning, Louise had gone Left me so blue…
Ramblin' Jack Elliott They say you're seeing someone, you're wearing his ring The…
Robbie Williams When he saw her getting of the bus It seemed to…
Robbie Williams (Take That) When he saw her getting off the bus It seemed to…
Sam Faught It's funny what you get When you leave home The face that…
Sanctuary Rig It's the rising moon Speaks roughly to her little girl Don…
Satan's Rats Louise, Louise ohh won't you let me please, please Louise, L…
Schytts louise, för varje gång jag ser dig jag önskar att du…
Shannon Wright Louise has spilled her bottle of pills She speaks with a…
Slurp Louise is the only one I see Louise I hope she's…
St. Vincent Ils s'étaient revus quelquefois Ils avaient dîné au hasard T…
Stan Rogers I would have been here sooner, Your note came yesterday, B…
Starling Fair Louise bought the fad and sold her clothes With…
Sunnyland Slim & J.B. Lenoir She said We need a reset Talking at me like I got…
Swingtime-Group I don't know where I belong I was taught I should…
T-Spoon A Side From Me Is No One Within Me Is Every…
Taylor Brashears Well they all said Louise was not half bad It was…
Taylor Hawkins Woke up in my head Good times never end With bad back…
Tex Don and Charlie Louise, when I first saw you All the dreams that I…
Tex Perkins Louise, when I first saw you All the dreams that I…
The Black Keys I said Louise, the sweetest girl I said Louise, the sweetest…
The Brigade Did you hear about me Me and what I've done I wrote…
The Genes Louise, you the sweetest gal I know Louise, you the sweetest…
The Hollies Louise Coming on strong' Can't be too long, gotta get…
The Human League When he saw her getting off the bus It seemed to…
The Rat Pack Every little breeze seems to whisper Louise Birds in the tr…
The Velvet Underground Louise, take it all back to town Ain't it a shame…
The Yardbirds [Chorus:] Oh Louise, yes you're the sweetest girl I know. Do…
Thomas Fersen Tes lèvres, Louise Sont des portes d'église Où j'entre le …
Tom Waits They say you're seeing someone, you're wearing his ring The…
Trio Bier Haal het doek maar op Het wordt tijd, tijd om te…
TV Girl Louise, she just wasn't thinking When she climbed into his b…
V.A. I've got a huge drum kit in my front room I've…
Veronique Sanson I had a friend He had a name I saw…
Vice Versa Bet she wasn’t an angel, the girl in my dreams I’d…
Willy DeVille They all said louise was not half bad It was written…
Wondermints She lives but she don't move She loves but she don't…
Xymox (Clan Of) Louise, Its been a long time I know, Louise, Ill always r…
Yardbirds feat. Eric Clapton [Chorus:] Oh Louise, yes you're the sweetest girl I know. Do…
yör Fatter ikke hvad det handler om der er ingen oversigter kun …
We have lyrics for these tracks by Mance Lipscomb:
'Bout a Spoonful I′ve been drinkin' bad whiskey all night long, got the…
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,…
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