33 Facts About John Hartford

John Cowan Hartford was an American folk, country, and bluegrass composer and musician known for his mastery of the fiddle and banjo, as well as for his witty lyrics, unique vocal style, and extensive knowledge of Mississippi River lore.

John Hartford invented his own shuffle tap dance move, and clogged on an amplified piece of plywood while he played and sang.

John Hartford was posthumously inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2010.

John Hartford said often that the first time he heard Earl Scruggs pick the banjo, it changed his life.

John Hartford immersed himself in the local music scene, working as a DJ, playing in bands, and occasionally recording singles for local labels.

John Hartford's recording of the song was only a modest success, but it caught the notice of Glen Campbell, who recorded his own version, which gave the song much wider publication.

John Hartford played banjo and sang the vocal harmonies on the Guthrie Thomas song "I'll be Lucky".

John Hartford played with The Byrds on their album Sweetheart of the Rodeo.

John Hartford was a regular on The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour and The Johnny Cash Show.

In live performances, John Hartford was a true one-man band; he used several stringed instruments and a variety of props such as plywood squares and boards with sand and gravel for flatfoot dancing.

John Hartford recorded several albums that set the tone of his later career, including Aereo-Plain and Morning Bugle.

John Hartford switched to the Flying Fish label several years later and continued to experiment with nontraditional country and bluegrass styles.

John Hartford changed recording labels several more times during his career; in 1991, he inaugurated his own Small Dog a'Barkin' label.

John Hartford recorded a number of idiosyncratic records on Rounder, many of which recalled earlier forms of folk and country music.

John Hartford made his final tour in 2000 with the Down from the Mountain tour that grew out of that movie and its accompanying album.

John Hartford is considered a co-founder of the newgrass movement, although he remained deeply attached to traditional music as well.

John Hartford said that it would have been his life's work "but music got in the way", so he intertwined them whenever possible.

John Hartford worked as a towboat pilot on the Mississippi, Illinois, and Tennessee Rivers.

John Hartford used to talk to the boat captains by radio as their barges crawled along the river.

An accomplished fiddler and banjo player, John Hartford was simultaneously an innovative voice on the country scene and a reminder of a vanished era.

John Hartford's song "Let Him Go on Mama" from Mark Twang was inspired by retired Streckfus Steamers musician Mike O'Leary.

John Hartford was the author of Steamboat in a Cornfield, a children's book that recounts the true story of the Ohio River steamboat The Virginia and its beaching in a cornfield.

John Hartford's album The Speed of the Old Longbow is a collection of Haley's tunes.

John Hartford died of the disease at Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, on June 4,2001, at age 63.

John Hartford is interred at Spring Hill Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee.

John Hartford was given a star on the St Louis Walk of Fame in honor of his work.

John Hartford was given a posthumous president's award by the Americana Music Association in September 2005.

John Hartford acknowledged that the royalties he earned from "Gentle" allowed him to live the life he wanted as a musician, author, folklorist and steamboat pilot.

John Hartford was initially married to Betty and later to Marie, who survived him.

John Hartford recorded more than 30 albums, ranging across a broad spectrum of styles, from the traditional country of his early RCA recordings, to the new and experimental sound of his early newgrass recordings, to the traditional folk style to which he often returned later in his life.

John Hartford's albums vary widely in formality, from the stately and orderly Annual Waltz to the rougher and less cut recordings that typified many of his later albums.

John Hartford sketched the cover art for some of his midcareer albums, drawing with both hands simultaneously.

John Hartford is a published author, including 1971's collection of poetry Word Movies and 1986's Steamboat in a Cornfield, a poetic retelling of a steamboat running aground along the Ohio River.