John Hartford - Steam Powered Aereo Plane

He was a singer and songwriter, a multi-instrumentalist in demand for TV appearances and studio recording sessions, a dynamic performer, one of the pioneers of what would come to be known as "newgrass" music (a progressive form of bluegrass).

Oh, yeah...he also was a licensed riverboat pilot.

John Hartford was a catalog of pleasant eccentricities that wrapped around a prodigiously talented musician, as fascinated with traditional music as he was by helping evolve that music into much more sophisticated styles and approaches.

From his biography at JohnHartford.com:

John Hartford won Grammy awards in three different decades, recorded a catalog of more than 30 albums, and wrote one of the most popular songs of all time, "Gentle On My Mind."  He was a regular guest and contributor on the Glen Campbell Good Time Hour and the Smothers Brothers Show.  He added music and narration to Ken Burns’ landmark Civil War series, and was an integral part of the hugely popular "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack and Down From The Mountain concert tour.  But that hardly explains John Hartford.

John Hartford was an American original. He was a musician, songwriter, steamboat pilot, author, artist, disc jockey, calligrapher, dancer, folklorist, father, and historian.

Born John Cowan Harford in New York on December 30, 1937, John grew up in St. Louis.  He was a descendent of Patrick Henry and cousin of Tennessee Williams.  His grandfather was a founder of the Missouri Bar Association and his father was a prominent doctor.

At an early age, John fell in love with two things: music and the Mississippi River.

They were passions that would last his lifetime, and their pursuit would be his life’s passage.

In 1965 he moved to Nashville. The following year he was signed to RCA Records by the legendary Chet Atkins. It was Atkins who convinced John to add a "t" to his last name, becoming John Hartford. In 1967 his second RCA release "Earthwords & Music" featured the single "Gentle on My Mind", a song Hartford wrote after seeing the movie "Dr. Zhivago." That year, the song earned four Grammy awards. Hartford would take home two awards, one as the writer and one for his own recording of the song. The other two went to Glen Campbell who had heard Hartford’s version on the radio and decided to record it. Campbell’s rendition became an instant classic, and the song became one of the most recorded and performed songs of all time, covered by everyone from Elvis Presley to Aretha Franklin.

Hartford often said that "Gentle On My Mind" bought his freedom.

He used that freedom to explore his various creative curiosities, and was usually happy to take his friends along on the trip.

John Hartford became mentor and mystic for a generation of pickers, singers, and songwriters. His landmark record, Aereo-Plain (1971) documented his work with Vassar Clements, Norman Blake, and Tut Taylor. Rooted firmly in tradition but sprouting at the top with hippie hair, the group’s instrumental mastery and free-wheeling style bridged a musical gap between traditional bluegrass and a progressive new audience, making every song a cult favorite and every live performance the thing of legend. According to Sam Bush, "Without Aereo-Plain, there would be no ‘newgrass’ music."

The 2000 documentary/concert film "Down From The Mountain," a show that highlighted the songs and performers featured in the Coen Brother's film "O Brother Where Art Thou," was John Hartford's final filmed performance. Hartford, who won a Grammy for his contribution to the the "O Brother" soundtrack, was wonderful as the emcee for the show. Although he appeared frail, his performance of the old standard "Big Rock Candy Mountain" is just beautiful...his voice as wonderfully relaxed and casual as ever and his fiddling fluid and simple and note-perfect, harkening back to an earlier era. This is a fantastic film, and I can't recommend it more highly.

After a long battle with non-hodgkin’s lymphoma, Hartford died on June 4, 2001. He was 63.

John Hartford was a rare creature, a man who seemed to have the power and the talent to take us all back in time with nothing more than a banjo, a fiddle and a few great old songs with every performance. In my case, it was always a good and welcome trip.

Maybe like a trip on a steam powered aereo plane.