Mixed Experience History Month 2013: Mance Lipscomb, Blues Great
Mance
Lipscomb was born April 9, 1895 in Texas. His father was
African-American and had been enslaved. His mother was mixed-race:
African-American and Choctaw. He took the name Mance from a family
friend. "Mance" was short for "emancipation." When he was 14, his mother
bought him his first guitar. Lipscomb spent his life as a sharecropper.
It wasn't until he was "discovered" and recorded by two white
musicologists that he was heralded as a musician. He released several
blues albums after that. The story of his life is captured in "Say Me
for a Parable: The Oral Autobiography of Mance Lipscom, Texas Bluesman,
narrated to Glen Alyn" which was published posthumously. "A Well Spent
Life," a short Oscar-nominated documentary, also focuses on his life.
Lipscomb became an important figure in the folk music revival of the
1960s influencing Dylan and Janis Joplin among others. He died in
January 1976.
Mixed Experience History Month is the annual blog post series created by New York Times best-selling author Heidi Durrow celebrating the history of the Mixed experience. Established in 2007, Mixed Experience History Month is
an effort to highlight the long history of folks and events involved in the
Mixed experience. Please look for more profiles of people, places
and events of the Mixed experience every weekday of May at Lightskinned-ed Girl, the blog! Thanks for reading. And check out some of the previous year's profiles: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010,2011, 2013. Copyright 2013.
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Mixed Experience History Month 2013: Mance Lipscomb, Blues Great
Mance
Lipscomb was born April 9, 1895 in Texas. His father was
African-American and had been enslaved. His mother was mixed-race:
African-American and Choctaw. He took the name Mance from a family
friend. "Mance" was short for "emancipation." When he was 14, his mother
bought him his first guitar. Lipscomb spent his life as a sharecropper.
It wasn't until he was "discovered" and recorded by two white
musicologists that he was heralded as a musician. He released several
blues albums after that. The story of his life is captured in "Say Me
for a Parable: The Oral Autobiography of Mance Lipscom, Texas Bluesman,
narrated to Glen Alyn" which was published posthumously. "A Well Spent
Life," a short Oscar-nominated documentary, also focuses on his life.
Lipscomb became an important figure in the folk music revival of the
1960s influencing Dylan and Janis Joplin among others. He died in
January 1976.
Mixed Experience History Month is the annual blog post series created by New York Times best-selling author Heidi Durrow celebrating the history of the Mixed experience. Established in 2007, Mixed Experience History Month is
an effort to highlight the long history of folks and events involved in the
Mixed experience. Please look for more profiles of people, places
and events of the Mixed experience every weekday of May at Lightskinned-ed Girl, the blog! Thanks for reading. And check out some of the previous year's profiles: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010,2011, 2013. Copyright 2013.
