John Hartford

John Hartford continues to be identified most closely with the country-pop classic "Gentle on My Mind," which became a major hit through Glen Campbell's version and later received interpretations from vocalists as varied as Frank Sinatra and Aretha Franklin. Few compositions in popular music history have been recorded as frequently, and the song's copyright delivered Hartford more than a hundred thousand dollars in annual earnings for an extended period. Yet his artistic identity extended well beyond the unusual blend of literary folk writing and MOR romantic nostalgia conveyed through the eyes of a homeless man recalling an idealized romance. Hartford excelled as a versatile old-time instrumentalist, a licensed riverboat captain, a composer of pointed satire, a charismatic one-man entertainer, and a foundational figure in both progressive country and the revival of old-time string-band music. Over his lifetime he released no fewer than 33 albums, exploring old-time fiddle traditions, bluegrass and newgrass, folk, blues, jazz, and country through a production approach that defied conventional categorization. Although commercial peaks comparable to "Gentle on My Mind" proved elusive, Hartford maintained steady success while recording for RCA, Warner Bros—which released the 1971 landmark Aereo-Plain—Dot, Rounder, and Flying Fish. The 1985 collaboration Vassar Clements, John Hartford, Dave Holland is now viewed as a landmark in newgrass-jazz fusion, and The Speed of the Old Long Bow: A Tribute to the Fiddle Music of Ed Haley brought renewed attention to the pioneering fiddler Ed Haley. In 1999, the year preceding his death, Hartford issued two widely praised projects: Retrograss alongside longtime associates David Grisman and Mike Seeger, and Good Old Boys with John Hartford & the Hartford String Band.

Born John Harford in New York City to a medical resident and his wife, a painter—the extra "t" originated with Chet Atkins—the future musician grew up in St. Louis beside the Mississippi River that would remain a lifelong passion. He secured his initial riverboat position at age ten. As a child he developed a fondness for the traditional country sounds broadcast on the Grand Ole Opry from Nashville, and by thirteen he had become a skilled fiddler and five-string banjo player shaped chiefly by Stringbean and Earl Scruggs. Guitar and mandolin soon joined his instrumental command. While still in high school he organized his first bluegrass ensemble, then left Washington University after a single year to focus on music. Working as a performer, DJ, and occasional commercial graphic artist across Missouri and Illinois, Hartford cut several singles for modest regional labels in the early 1960s. In 1965 he relocated with his wife and son Jamie to Nashville, where he took a DJ position at WSIX. There he quickly connected with the key figures of the city's emerging songwriting scene—Kris Kristofferson, Mickey Newbury, and the Glaser Brothers, who operated a state-of-the-art studio and began championing Hartford and his material on Music Row.

RCA signed him in 1966, and Atkins produced the debut album John Hartford Looks at Life. Johnny Cash observed in the liner notes that "He is himself and will not be told how to write or sing, because he has only his own world." Earthwords & Music, the follow-up, contained both the modest hit "Gentle on My Mind" and forward-looking pieces such as "The Good Old Electric Washing Machine Circa 1943," whose playful mouth-music simulation of the machine signaled Hartford's independent direction. He moved to Los Angeles in 1968, becoming a regular on CBS's Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and later The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour while also contributing to the Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo and Doug Dillard's The Banjo Album. By decade's end Hartford had earned his riverboat pilot's license. With financial stability assured by "Gentle on My Mind," he chose to devote the remainder of his career to an artistic vision grounded in country traditions.

Returning to Nashville in 1971, he assembled a bluegrass unit that included guitarist Norman Blake, dobroist Tut Taylor, and fiddler Vassar Clements. The all-acoustic Aereo-Plain, issued that year by Warner Bros., and its successor Morning Bugle introduced a liberated bluegrass approach widely regarded as foundational by both progressive bluegrass players and participants in the modern jam-band movement. Hartford appeared as a guest on recordings by James Taylor, Seals & Crofts, and Hoyt Axton, and in 1975 he recorded the bluegrass album Tennessee Jubilee with assistance from Benny Martin and Lester Flatt.

During the mid-1970s he developed a distinctive solo format featuring his trademark bowler hat and black vest. Recording without accompaniment, he released the uncategorizable Mark Twang in 1976 and received a Grammy for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording. The album inaugurated a series of largely solo Flying Fish releases that juxtaposed traditional numbers with Hartford's incisive originals. Although he had moved away from mainstream country, he remained in Nashville and continued session work on projects such as the Dillards' Permanent Wave and Shel Silverstein's The Great Conch Train Robbery. He also partnered with Opryland to establish a nostalgic steamboat excursion.

By the late 1980s Hartford was contending with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, yet he persisted in recording and performing until losing the use of his hands shortly before his death in 2001. He collaborated frequently with his son Jamie, re-recorded and reissued earlier material on his own Small Dog Barking label, and undertook numerous additional endeavors, among them narration for Ken Burns's public-television series The Civil War. Several later Rounder albums stand as highly personal statements: 1998's The Speed of the Old Long Bow paid tribute to the underrecognized fiddler Ed Haley by performing his compositions and supplying lyrics that outlined Haley's life. As news of Hartford's illness circulated, tributes arrived from numerous musicians he had influenced. Retrograss, recorded with David Grisman and Mike Seeger, presented perceptive, spirited renditions of bluegrass, folk, and pop standards ranging from Bill Monroe's "Uncle Pen" to the Beatles' "When I'm Sixty-Four." His final lifetime release, Good Old Boys with the Hartford String Band, served as a long-awaited continuation of their 1989 album Down on the River. Hartford had just finished the Rounder project Hamilton Ironworks when he succumbed to cancer in 2001; the label issued it that same year and later joined Flying Fish in reissuing 1987's Gum Tree Canoe. In 2002, Rounder Select gathered previously unreleased material from the 1971 Aereo-Plain sessions under the title Steam Powered Aereo-Takes, encompassing unissued songs, alternate takes, early versions of later compositions, and revealing performances of several bluegrass standards. Between 2002 and 2017 additional reissues and compilations appeared on labels including BMG and Australia's Raven Records. In March 2019 Real Gone Music released Backroads, Rivers & Memories: The Rare & Unleashed John Hartford, a 27-track collection containing five previously unheard originals, sixteen unreleased songwriting demos from 1965 to 1969, three unissued 1964 radio performances, eight early singles with the Ozark Mountain Trio, and previously unavailable recordings of "Gentle on My Mind," "This Eve of Parting" from the film Lady Bird, and the first recorded rehearsal of "Steam Powered Aereo Plain." Nineteen of the twenty-seven tracks had never before appeared in any form. Sanctioned by the Hartford estate, which supplied numerous rare photographs, the set was compiled and annotated by Hartford scholar Skip Heller and mastered by Kevin Chubirka.