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Stefan Grossman

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Stefan Grossman (born April 16, 1945) is an American acoustic fingerstyle guitarist and singer, music producer and educator, and co-founder of Kicking Mule records. He is known for his instructional videos and Vestapol line of videos and DVDs.

[...] He took guitar lessons for several years from Rev. Gary Davis, whom he later described as "one of the greatest exponents of fingerstyle blues and gospel guitar playing" and "an incredible genius as a teacher". He spent countless hours learning and documenting Davis's music, recording much of it on a tape recorder, and developing a form of tablature to take down his teacher's instructions. [...] In the folk and country blues revival of the 1960s he was listening to Broonzy, Brownie McGhee and Lightnin' Hopkins and beginning to collect old 78 rpm records from the 1920s and 1930s. This brought him into contact with other collectors, including John Fahey, ED Denson, Bernie Klatzko, Tom Hoskins and Nick Perls. Collecting the 78s developed into searching for the artists who had recorded them, with many successes: during the mid-60s, Grossman met, befriended and studied guitar with Mississippi John Hurt, Son House, Skip James, Mississippi Fred McDowell and other major blues artists.... (Read more at Wikipedia)

Links to Peel[]

Stefan_Grossman_plays_"Mississippi_Blues"_1981

Stefan Grossman plays "Mississippi Blues" 1981

In 1963-4, Stefan Grossman was one of the founding members of the short-lived Even Dozen Jug Band, whose personnel included other musicians who would go on to have noteworthy careers. Some of them would also feature in Peel's playlists; David Grisman (Earth Opera), Steve Katz (Blues Project), John Sebastian (Lovin' Spoonful), and Joshua Rifkin. He also played with the Fugs for three months and began to teach guitar, making an instructional LP, How To Play Blues Guitar, for Elektra, performed as a solo artist in folk coffeehouses and recorded under a pseudonym for Fonotone Records, the label run by record collector Joe Bussard, which had also issued the first recordings of John Fahey.

In 1967 Grossman came to London and decided to stay, becoming a familiar figure on the British blues and folk scene for many years. He stayed first with Eric Clapton before finding plenty of work in British folk clubs, which were still thriving, unlike in the US where the folk boom was over. Because of his deep knowledge of country blues guitar styles (he continued to publish instruction books, records and videos throughout his career) he became an inspirational figure in the short British country blues boom of the late 1960s, and, like many of the artists involved, appeared on Night Ride. His session was broadcast on 05 June 1968 and he was interviewed by Peel in the studio, displaying a friendly, good-humoured manner which contrasted with many of the more oddball studio guests during Night Ride's run. Peel also introduced him on two In Concert shows, in 1971.

Although Stefan Grossman made no more appearances on Peel shows, he guested regularly on BBC radio folk and blues programmes and did several more In Concerts during the 1970s, all introduced by DJs other than Peel. Later, he even hosted a series of country blues guitar lessons on BBC World Service. In 1971 he appeared on TV on the inappropriately-named BBC2 show Disco 2, which was about to morph into the Old Grey Whistle Test; the show's other guest was Ian Matthews. Other artists with Peel connections who collaborated with Grossman included Jo-Ann Kelly, Mike Cooper and John Renbourn, with whom he recorded several LPs. He also played on the sessions for Bridget St John's album Jumblequeen.

Stefan Grossman had an interesting rivalry with Peel's hero John Fahey. While they both emerged from the same small circle of blues record collectors and enthusiasts, Fahey apparently didn't like Grossman's playing, and recorded a track called "The Assassination of Stephan [sic] Grossman" on his 1975 Old Fashioned Love LP. Grossman responded by recording a piece entitled "The Assassination of John Fahey". But later Fahey recorded an instructional video and was interviewed by Grossman, for the Vestapol series of guitar videos.

Festive Fifty Entries[]

  • None

Sessions[]

One session. "All My Friends Are Gone" available on Live At The BBC

1. Recorded: 1968-06-05. First broadcast: 05 June 1968. Repeated: 19 February 1969.

  • Mississippi Blues / I'm So Glad / All My Friends Are Gone / Requiem (For Pat Kilroy) / You're Gonna Be Sorry

Live[]

  1. Medley. Hot Dogs - Cincinnati Flow Rag - New York City Rag
  2. So They Say
  3. Soldier's March
  4. Little Sally Walker
  5. Mississippi Blues
  6. I'm Satisfied And Tickled Too
  7. Roll And Tumble Blues
  8. Poor Boy A Long Way From Home labelled "Medley: Vestapol - That's No Way To Get Along" on Discogs - that phrase does feature in the lyrics
  9. High Society
  1. Medley: Hot Dogs - Cincinnati Flow Rag - New York City Rag
  2. Teddy Roosevelt
  3. The Theme From "Joe Hill"
  4. River Of Jordan
  5. Medley: Hot Dogs - Cincinnati Flow Rag - New York City Rag
  6. Song For A Brother
  7. Candy Man
  8. Mississippi Blues
  9. My Travelling Song

Other Shows Played[]

See Also[]

External Links[]

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