Frank Hutchison
Encyclopedia
Frank Hutchison was an early country blues
and piedmont blues
musician.
, West Virginia
, United States
, both before and after his career as a recording artist. Between 1926 and 1929, Hutchison recorded forty-one sides for the Okeh record company, of which nine were unissued. Three of the issued sides and three of the unissued were recorded with Sherman Lawson, a Logan County fiddler; others featured Hutchison's guitar, harmonica and voice. Hutchison also performed in the "Okeh Medicine Show," released by Okeh in 1929.
Hutchison is considered to be one of the finest performers of the "white country blues" genre of early folk music
. One of his more famous recordings is "The Train That Carried My Girl From Town." His recording of "Stackalee" was included in Harry Smith's 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music, and influenced a number of musicians during the 1950s and 1960s folk revival.
Some years after his recording career had ended and after he left the Logan County coal mines, Hutchison and his wife operated a store in Lake, West Virginia, where he also served as postmaster. His family lived above the store. The store burned down, Hutchison lost everything and reportedly developed alcohol problems after that. He worked as a riverboat entertainer on the Ohio River and eventually moved to Columbus. He died in 1945 at a Dayton hospital, of liver disease.
Country blues
Country blues is a general term that refers to all the acoustic, mainly guitar-driven forms of the blues. It often incorporated elements of rural gospel, ragtime, hillbilly, and dixieland jazz...
and piedmont blues
Piedmont blues
Piedmont blues refers primarily to a guitar style, the Piedmont fingerstyle, which is characterized by a fingerpicking approach in which a regular, alternating thumb bass string rhythmic pattern supports a syncopated melody using the treble strings generally picked with the fore-finger,...
musician.
Biography
Hutchison is considered to be the first white rural guitarist to record the blues, as he did on several tracks for Okeh records. He worked as a coal miner at various coal mines in Logan CountyLogan County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 37,710 people, 14,880 households, and 10,936 families residing in the county. The population density was 83 people per square mile . There were 16,807 housing units at an average density of 37 per square mile...
, West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, both before and after his career as a recording artist. Between 1926 and 1929, Hutchison recorded forty-one sides for the Okeh record company, of which nine were unissued. Three of the issued sides and three of the unissued were recorded with Sherman Lawson, a Logan County fiddler; others featured Hutchison's guitar, harmonica and voice. Hutchison also performed in the "Okeh Medicine Show," released by Okeh in 1929.
Hutchison is considered to be one of the finest performers of the "white country blues" genre of early folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
. One of his more famous recordings is "The Train That Carried My Girl From Town." His recording of "Stackalee" was included in Harry Smith's 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music, and influenced a number of musicians during the 1950s and 1960s folk revival.
Some years after his recording career had ended and after he left the Logan County coal mines, Hutchison and his wife operated a store in Lake, West Virginia, where he also served as postmaster. His family lived above the store. The store burned down, Hutchison lost everything and reportedly developed alcohol problems after that. He worked as a riverboat entertainer on the Ohio River and eventually moved to Columbus. He died in 1945 at a Dayton hospital, of liver disease.
Original discography
| Matrix | Title | Record # | Recording date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80143 | "Worried Blues" | Okeh 45064 | September 28, 1926 | |
| 80144 | "Train That Carried the Girl From Town" | Okeh 45064 | September 28, 1926 | |
| 80350 | "Stackalee" | Okeh 45106 | January 28, 1927 | |
| 80351 | "The Wild Horse" | Okeh 45093 | January 28, 1927 | |
| 80352 | "Long Way To Tipperary" | Okeh 45089 | January 28, 1927 | |
| 80353 | "The Gospel Ship" | Unissued | January 28, 1927 | |
| 80354 | "The West Virginia Rag" | Okeh 45083 | January 28, 1927 | |
| 80355 | "C & O Excursion" | Okeh 45089 | January 28, 1927 | |
| 80356 | "Coney Isle" | Okeh 45083 | January 28, 1927 | |
| 80357 | "Old Rachel" | Okeh 45093 | January 28, 1927 | |
| 80358 | "Lightning Express" | Okeh 45144 | January 28, 1927 | |
| 80359 | "Stackalee" | Okeh 45106 | January 28, 1927 | |
| 80776 | "Old Rachel" | Unissued | April 28, 1927 | |
| 80777 | "Lonesome Valley" | Unissued | April 28, 1927 | |
| 80778 | "Logan County Blues" | Okeh 45121 | April 28, 1927 | |
| 80782 | "Worried Blues" | Okeh 45114 | April 29, 1927 | |
| 80783 | "The Train That Carried the Girl From Town" | Okeh 45114 | April 29, 1927 | |
| 80784 | "The Last Scene of the Titanic" | Okeh 45121 | April 29, 1927 | |
| 80785 | "All Night Long" | Okeh 45144 | April 29, 1927 | |
| 80786 | "Over the Waves" | Unissued | April 29, 1927 | |
| 401102 | "Cluck Old Hen" | Unissued | September 10, 1928 | & Sherman Lawson |
| 401103 | "Old Corn Liquor" | Unissued | September 10, 1928 | & Sherman Lawson |
| 401104 | "Sally Gooden" | Unissued | September 10, 1928 | & Sherman Lawson |
| 401105 | "Alabama Girl, Ain't You Comin' Out Tonight" | Okeh 45313 | September 10, 1928 | & Sherman Lawson |
| 401106 | "Hell Bound Train" | Okeh 45452 | September 10, 1928 | & Sherman Lawson |
| 401108 | "Wild Hogs In the Red Brush" | Okeh 45274 | September 10, 1928 | & Sherman Lawson |
| 401109 | "Boston Burglar" | Unissued | September 10, 1928 | |
| 401110 | "The Burglar Man" | Okeh 45313 | September 11, 1928 | |
| 401111 | "Back In My Home Town" | Okeh 45258 | September 11, 1928 | |
| 401112 | "The Miner's Blues" | Okeh 45258 | September 11, 1928 | |
| 401113 | "Hutchison's Rag" | Okeh 45274 | September 11, 1928 | |
| 402504 | "The Boston Burglar" | Okeh 45425 | July 9, 1929 | |
| 402505 | "Down In the Lone Green Valley" | Unissued | July 9, 1929 | |
| 402506 | "The Chevrolet Six" | Okeh 45378 | July 9, 1929 | |
| 402507 | "Cumberland Gap" | Okeh 45570 | July 9, 1929 | |
| 402508 | "The Deal" | Okeh 45570 | July 9, 1929 | |
| 402509 | "Railroad Bill" | Okeh 45425 | July 9, 1929 | |
| 402510 | "Johnny and Jane, Part 1" | Okeh 45361 | July 9, 1929 | |
| 402511 | "Johnny and Jane, Part 2" | Okeh 45361 | July 9, 1929 | |
| 402512 | "Cannon Ball Blues" | Okeh 45378 | July 9, 1929 | |
| 402513 | "K.C.Blues" | Okeh 45452 | July 9, 1929 |
External links
- Frank Hutchison audio files at Archive.org
- [ Allmusic]