Eric Von Schmidt

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Eric Von Schmidt (May 28, 1931 — February 2, 2007) was an American singer-songwriter associated with the folk/blues revival of the 1960s and a key part of the East Coast folk music scene[1] that included Bob Dylan[2] and Joan Baez. He was known mostly for his associations with Bob Dylan during the latter's early career.

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[edit] Background and associations with Dylan

Von Schmidt's father, Harold, was a Western painter who did illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post. Von Schmidt began selling his own artwork while still a teenager. Following a stint in the army, he won a Fulbright scholarship to study art in Florence. He moved to Cambridge in 1957, where he painted and became the centre of the coffeehouse scene.

Von Schmidt shared his large repertory of traditional music, passing them along to new performers who were developing a more modern version of folk music. He influenced Tom Rush, with whom he revived and arranged the traditional song "Wasn’t That a Mighty Storm?," about the 1900 hurricane that destroyed Galveston.[3] When he met Dylan, the two traded harmonica licks, drank red wine and played croquet. Dylan eagerly absorbed von Schmidt's voluminous knowledge of music, including folk, country and the blues. "I sang [Dylan] a bunch of songs, and, with that spongelike mind of his, he remembered almost all of them when he got back to New York," von Schmidt said in The Boston Globe.[4]

Von Schmidt is widely (and erroneously) credited as the author of the song, "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down", which was for years a staple of Dylan's musical catalogue. Dylan verbally credited the song to 'Rick von Schmidt' in the spoken introduction to the song on his 1961 debut album, and told of meeting him "in the green pastures of Harvard University." In fact, von Schmidt had himself adapted the song from Blind Boy Fuller. Eric von Schmidt himself credits the Reverend Gary Davis as author of "three-quarters" of the song.[5] In 1979, he co-wrote a book of the same name about the Cambridge scene.

In 1963, von Schmidt and Richard Fariña recorded in London's Dobell's Jazz Record store, with Dylan on harmonica. Two years later, The Folk Blues of Eric von Schmidt appeared atop a pile of records on the cover of Dylan's album Bringing It All Back Home.

In the liner notes for Von Schmidt's 1972 Poppy album "2nd Right 3rd Row", Dylan wrote:

  • Of course we had heard about Eric Von Schmidt for many years. The name itself had become a password. Eventually, after standing in line to meet him, there it was -- his doorstep, a rainy day, and he greeted his visitors, inviting them in. He was told how much they liked Grizzly Bear and he then invited the whole bunch to the club, where he was about to perform the thing live. "C'mon down to the club" he said -- "I'm about to perform it live." We accepted the invitation. And that is what his record is. An invitation. An invitation to the glad, mad, sad, biting, exciting, frightening, crabby, happy, enlightening, hugging, chugging world of Eric Von Schmidt. For here is a man who can sing the bird off the wire and the rubber off the tire. He can separate the men from the boys and the note from the noise. The bridle from the saddle and the cow from the cattle. He can play the tune of the moon. The why of the sky and the commotion from the ocean. Yes he can.[6]

[edit] Artistic career

Von Schmidt had a parallel career as a painter, and created album covers for Baez, Cisco Houston, John Renborn, Reverend Gary Davis, Geoff and Maria Muldaur, the Blue Velvet Band, Jackie Washington and for James Baldwin's readings. In the final 30 years of his life, von Schmidt recorded only two records, and instead focused on his art career.

Four years before his death, von Schmidt painted his last epic of American history. The canvas' subject was of Lewis and Clark's Corp of Discovery honoring its bicentennial. He also continued work on his "Giants of the Blues" series of paintings.

[edit] Awards and legacy

Von Schmidt was known for an exuberant musical style that he liked to apply to American folk classics. "Eric's got that wild spirit, and he doesn't water the music down for polite society," Ramblin' Jack Elliott told The Boston Globe in 1996.[7]

Von Schmidt's music has been recorded by Travis MacRae and Jeff Buckley. In 2000, the same year he was diagnosed with throat cancer, he was honored with the ASCAP Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award[8] at an event[9] which featured a reunion of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band including Fritz Richmond.

In 1997, he won a Grammy Award for his work on a compilation album entitled Anthology of American Folk Music, Vol. 1-3. He painted up until his death, and completed an epic mural of the Battle of the Alamo.

Von Schmidt was twice divorced and had two daughters. He suffered a stroke in August 2006, and died seven months later, aged 75.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Theband.hiof.no
  2. ^ Bobdylanroots.com
  3. ^ Oldies.com
  4. ^ Nytimes.com
  5. ^ Von Schmidt, Eric, with John Kruth: Remembering Reverend Gary Davis Sing Out! 51(4) 67-73 2008
  6. ^ Bobdylanroots.com
  7. ^ Martin, Douglas. Eric von Schmidt , 75, A Performer and Inspiration to Folk Singers, Dies (New York Times obituary article). Retrieved on 2008-02-23.
  8. ^ Geocities.com
  9. ^ Chrisyeager.com
  • Obituary, The Guardian, 5 February 2007.
  • Prefacing Bob Dylan's cover of "Baby Let Me Follow You Down" he says "I first heard this from Ric Von Schmidt. He lives in Cambridge. Ric's a blues guitar player. I met him one day in the green pastures of Harvard University."

[edit] External links

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