James Corbitt Morris

James Corbitt Morris (born June 20, 1907 in Mountain View , Arkansas , † July 12, 1998 in Fayetteville , Arkansas), better known under the name Jimmy Driftwood (also Jimmie Driftwood ), was an American songwriter and musician . His best-known songs include The Battle of New Orleans and Tennessee Stud .

Driftwood was born on June 20, 1907 in Mountain View , Arkansas . His father was the folk singer Neil Morris. Driftwood learned early to play the guitar on his grandfather's self-made instrument. He played this unusually shaped and sounding instrument throughout his career and said his neck was made from a fence pole, the sides from an ox yoke, and the pegbox and base from the headboard of his grandmother's bed. In addition, he also plays a musical bow - his playing style, which uses the oral cavity as a resonance chamber, seems to originate from an Appalachian tradition and is more reminiscent of a jaw harp .

Driftwood attended John Brown College in northwest Arkansas and graduated from Arkansas Teacher's College as a teacher . During his class time, he began writing songs to introduce his students to American and local history in a fun way.

Twenties and thirties

In his twenties and thirties, Driftwood left Arkansas and hitchhiked around the southwestern United States. In Arizona he took part in a singing competition and won.

In 1936, Driftwood married a former student Cleda Johnson and returned to Arkansas to return to teaching and raising a family. Hundreds of songs were written during this time, but Driftwood did not make serious efforts as a musician. In 1936 he wrote his later most famous song, Battle of New Orleans , to interest a high school class in the subject. The song details the final great battle of the British-American War .

Fifties

In the 1950s, James Corbitt Morris adopted the name Jimmy Driftwood as an artist and real name. In 1957 a publisher from Nashville heard of him, had him auditioned and signed his first record deal with him. Driftwood remembers playing over a hundred of his songs in a single day, out of which twenty were selected for recording. His first album, Newly Discovered Early American Folk Songs , received good reviews but did not sell particularly well.

The Battle of New Orleans was included, but because of its choice of words, it did not meet the radio standard of the time - Driftwood later commented that words like "hell" or "damn" could have been preached at the time, but not sung in public outside the church. He was asked for a shortened and defused version for a live appearance on the radio; singer Johnny Horton heard the song and asked Driftwood to record his own version of it.

Driftwood moved from Arkansas to Nashville and became known through appearances on the Grand Ole Opry , Ozark Jubilee and Louisiana Hayride . During Khrushchev's visit to the United States, he was invited to perform as a typical representative of American music. Driftwood's career reached its peak in 1959, when six of his songs were simultaneously in the pop or country charts , including Johnny Horton's recording of The Battle of New Orleans , which spent ten weeks at the top of the country singles chart and six weeks at the top the pop charts stopped. The song received a Grammy for Best Song of the Year in 1960 and has been considered a classic American folk song ever since. Later on, Driftwood would get more Grammys for Wilderness Road , Songs of Billy Yank and Johnny Reb (these characters are well-known personifications of the northern and southern states of the USA) and Tennessee Stud .

Driftwood became famous and performed at Carnegie Hall and other major folk festivals; his songs have been recorded by Eddy Arnold , Doc Watson , Johnny Cash , Hawkshaw Hawkins , Homer and Jethro , Odetta and others.

The sixties

In 1962, Driftwood returned to Arkansas. There he founded the Rackensack Folklore Society , an association of local folk singers and musicians, and performed regularly at the Mountain View, Arkansas market . Driftwood began promoting Arkansas folk music and singers and invited local musicians to perform at its newly formed festival. This festival grew exponentially over the years and eventually became the annual Arkansas Folk Festival, attracting over one hundred thousand visitors. Driftwood's commitment also led to the establishment of the Ozark Folk Center to preserve the Ozark Mountain culture ; this folk center later grew up in the stately parks of Arkansas and continues to attract tourists to this day.

Environmental commitment

Driftwood was also committed to the environment when the Buffalo River was about to get a dam. Also through his influence, the plan was eventually abandoned and the river declared a national natural monument as the Buffalo National River . Driftwood also played an important role in preserving the Blanchard Springs stalactite caves ; eventually he was appointed chairman of the Arkansas Parks and Tourism Commission .

plant

Driftwood wrote over 6000 folk songs, over 300 of which were recorded by a wide variety of musicians. Later in his life, Driftwood often gave free concerts for high school and college students. He was elected to the Advisory Board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC and as a musicologist to the National Geographic Society .

death

Jimmy Driftwood died of a heart attack on July 12, 1998 in Fayetteville , Arkansas .

Web links

• In Memoriam - Jimmy Driftwood (English)