Jean Ruth Ritchie (December 8, 1922 – June 1, 2015) was an American folk singer, songwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player,[1] called by some the "Mother of Folk".[2] In her youth she learned hundreds of folk songs in the traditional way (orally, from her family and community), many of which were Appalachian variants of centuries old British and Irish songs, including dozens of Child Ballads.[3][4] In adulthood, she shared these songs with wide audiences,[5] as well as writing some of her own songs using traditional foundations.[4]
Jean Ritchie | |
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![]() Ritchie playing the dulcimer, c. 1950s | |
Born | Jean Ruth Ritchie December 8, 1922 Viper, Kentucky, U.S. |
Died | June 1, 2015 Berea, Kentucky, U.S. | (aged 92)
Education | University of Kentucky |
Occupation | Folk musician |
Labels |
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Spouse |
She is ultimately responsible for the revival of the Appalachian dulcimer, the traditional instrument of her community, which she popularized by playing the instrument on her albums and writing tutorial books.[4]
She also spent time collecting folk music in the United States and in Britain and Ireland,[6][7] in order to research the origins of her family songs and help preserve traditional music.[4]
She inspired a wide array of musicians, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Shirley Collins, Joni Mitchell, Emmylou Harris and Judy Collins.[5][2][8]
Out of Kentucky
editFamily
editJean Ritchie was born to Abigail (née Hall) Ritchie (1877–1972) and Balis Wilmar Ritchie (1869–1958) of Viper, an unincorporated community in Perry County in the Cumberland Mountains of southeastern Kentucky.[1] The Ritchies of Perry County were one of the two "great ballad-singing families" of Kentucky celebrated among folk song scholars (the other was the Combs family of adjacent Knott County, whose repertoire formed the basis of the first scholarly work on the British ballads in America, a doctoral thesis by Professor Josiah Combs of Berea College for the Sorbonne University published in Paris in 1925).[9] Jean's father Balis had printed up a book of old songs entitled Lovers' Melodies[10] in 1910 or 1911, which contained the most popular songs in Hindman at that time, including "Jackaro," "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender," "False Sir John and May Colvin" and "The Lyttle Musgrave."[11] However, Balis preferred playing the Appalachian dulcimer to singing, often singing entire ballads in his head along with his dulcimer playing.[12] In 1917, the folk music collector Cecil Sharp collected songs from Jean's older sisters May (1896–1982) and Una (1900–1989),[13][14][15] whilst her sister Edna (1910–1997) also learnt the old ballads, much later releasing her own album of traditional songs with dulcimer accompaniment.[16] Most of the Ritchie siblings seemed dedicated to performing and preserving traditional music.[17] Many of the Ritchies attended the Hindman Settlement School, a folk school where students were encouraged to cherish their own backgrounds and where Sharp found many of his songs.[18] It is possible that many of the Ritchies' songs were absorbed from neighbors, relatives, friends, school mates and even books, as well as being passed through the family.[11]
The paternal ancestors of the Ritchie family, Alexander Ritchie (1725–1787)[19] and his son James Ritchie Sr. (1757–1818) of Stewarton, East Ayrshire, Scotland,[20] emigrated to the United States. James Ritchie Sr. fought in the Revolutionary War in 1776 (including at the Siege of Yorktown), and lived in Virginia before settling on Carr Creek Lake in what is now Knott County, Kentucky, with his family. When he drowned in the lake in 1818,[11] his family moved back to Virginia except his son Alexander Crockett Ritchie Sr. (1778–1878), Jean Ritchie's great-great-grandfather.[21]
Most of the Ritchies later fought on the Confederate Side in the Civil War, including Jean's paternal grandfather Justice Austin Ritchie (1834–1899), who was 2nd Lieutenant of Company C of the 13th Kentucky Confederate Cavalry.[22]
Alan Lomax wrote that:
They were quiet, thoughtful folks, who went in for ballads, big families and educating their children. Jean's grandmother was a prime mover in the Old Regular Baptist Church, and all the traditional hymn tunes came from her. Jean's Uncle Jason was a lawyer, who remembers the big ballads like "Lord Barnard". Jean's father taught school, printed a newspaper, fitted specs, farmed and sent ten of his fourteen children to college.[23]
Her "uncle" Jason (1860–1959), who was actually her father's cousin,[24] practiced law whilst owning a farm in Talcum, Knott County, Kentucky.[11] He was the source of several of Jean Ritchie's songs and Cecil Sharp narrowly missed meeting him in 1917, stating in his diary that "they couldn't get hold of him".[24]
Early life
editAs the youngest of 14 siblings,[1] Ritchie was one of ten girls who slept in one room of the farming family's farm house. Ritchie and her family sang for entertainment, but also to accompany their manual work. When the family gathered to sing songs, they chose from a repertoire of over 300 songs including hymns, old ballads, and popular songs by composers such as Stephen Foster, which were mostly learnt orally and sung unaccompanied.[6] The Ritchies would sing improvised harmonies to accompany some of their songs, including "Pretty Saro".[25]
Ritchie graduated from high school in Viper and enrolled in Cumberland Junior College (now a four-year University of the Cumberlands) in Williamsburg, Kentucky,[6] and from there graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in social work from the University of Kentucky in Lexington in 1946.[1] At college she participated in the glee club and choir as well as learning the piano.[26] According to Ritchie, Maud Karpeles later said "[Ritchie] cannot be termed a folksinger, because she has been to college," which she took as a compliment.[27]
During World War II, she taught in an elementary school.[28] Meanwhile, in 1946, whilst still in Kentucky, Ritchie was recorded performing traditional songs with her sisters Edna, Kitty and Pauline by Emily Elizabeth Barnacle[29][24] and by Artus Moser.[30]
New York
editAfter graduating she got a job as a social worker at the Henry Street Settlement in New York, where she taught her Appalachian songs and traditions to local children.[6] This caught the attention of folk singers, scholars, and enthusiasts based in New York, and she befriended Woody Guthrie, Oscar Brand, Pete Seeger, and Alan Lomax.[24] To many, Ritchie represented the ideal traditional musician, due to her rural upbringing, dulcimer playing, and the fact her songs came from within her family.[6]
In 1948, Ritchie shared a stage with The Weavers, Woody Guthrie, and Betty Sanders at the Spring Fever Hootenanny.[31] By October 1949, she was a regular guest on Oscar Brand's Folksong Festival radio show on WNYC.[24]
In 1949 and 1950, she recorded several hours of songs, stories, and oral history for Lomax in New York City.[32] All of Lomax's recordings of Ritchie are available online courtesy of the Lomax Digital Archive.[33] She was recorded extensively for the Library of Congress in 1951.
By 1951, Ritchie became a full-time singer, folksong collector, and songwriter.[24] Elektra records signed her and she released her first album of family songs, Singing the Traditional Songs of Her Kentucky Mountain Family (1952),[4] which included family versions of such songs as "Gypsum Davy", "The Cuckoo", and "The Little Devils", a song which had particularly fascinated Cecil Sharp when he heard it from Una and Sabrina Ritchie in 1917.[24]
The Fulbright expedition
editIn 1952, Ritchie was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to trace the links between American ballads and the songs from England, Scotland and Ireland.[34] As a song-collector, she began by setting down the 300 songs that she already knew from her mother's knee.[6] Then, Ritchie and her husband, George Pickow, spent 18 months tape recording, interviewing and photographing singers,[34] including Elizabeth Cronin,[4] Tommy and Sarah Makem,[24] Leo Rowsome,[24] and Seamus Ennis in Ireland;[34] Jeannie Robertson[4] and Jimmy MacBeath in Scotland; and Harry Cox and Bob Roberts in England.[24] When people asked what sort of songs they were looking for, Ritchie would sometimes ask them if they knew Barbara Allen and sing a few verses for them.[35] In 1954, Ritchie released some of the British and Irish recordings on the album Field Trip, side by side with Ritchie family versions of the same songs;[4] a broader selection was issued by Folkways on the two LPs Field Trip–England (1959) and As I Roved Out (Field Trip–Ireland) (1960).[24] Some transcriptions and photographs were later published in Ritchie's book From Fair to Fair: Folksongs of the British Isles (1966).[24]
Whilst in Britain, Ritchie sang at concerts for the English Folk Dance and Song Society, including its annual Royal Albert Hall festival, and presented several BBC radio programmes, appearing on "Ballad Hunter" which was presented by her friend Alan Lomax.[4][36] On one occasion, Maud Karpeles took Ritchie and Pickow to visit Ralph Vaughan Williams and his wife Ursula, for whom she sang "Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies"; Pickow photographed the four of them together.[37]
Musical achievements
editIn 1955, Ritchie wrote a book about her family called Singing Family of the Cumberlands.[38] The book documented the role of the family songs in everyday life, such as accompanying everyday tasks on the farm and in the home, or being sung when gathered on the porch in the evening to “sing the moon up”. Singing Family of the Cumberlands is widely regarded as an American classic, and continues to be used in American schools.[4]
As well as work songs and ballads, Ritchie knew hymns from the "Old Regular Baptist" church[6] she attended in Jeff, Kentucky.[39] These were sung as "lining out" songs, in a lingering soulful way, including the song "Amazing Grace",[40] which she helped popularize.[4] Family versions of "Amazing Grace" and the hymn "Brightest And Best" were released on the 1959 album Jean Ritchie Interviews Her Family, With Documentary Recordings.[41]
Ritchie directed and sang at the first Newport Folk Festival in 1959,[4][24] and served on the first folklore panel for the National Endowment for the Arts.[24]
Her album Ballads from Her Appalachian Family Tradition (1961) compiled many traditional Ritchie family versions of Child Ballads, including False Sir John, Hangman, Lord Bateman, Barbary Allen, There Lived an Old Lord (Two Sisters), Cherry Tree Carol and Edward.[42]
Her traditional version of "My Dear Companion" (Roud 411) appeared on the album Trio recorded by Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, and Emmylou Harris.[43] Judy Collins recorded some of Ritchie's traditional songs, "Tender Ladies" and "Pretty Saro", and also used a photograph by George Pickow on the front of her album "Golden Apples of the Sun" (1962).
In 1963, Ritchie recorded an album with Doc Watson entitled Jean Ritchie and Doc Watson Live at Folk City (1963).[4] The traditional Appalachian song "Shady Grove" was popularized by Doc Watson after he most likely learnt it from Jean Ritchie, who in turn learnt it from her father Balis Ritchie.[44]
As folk music became more popular in the 1960s, new political songs overshadowed the traditional ballads. Whilst Ritchie largely stuck to the traditional songs, she wrote and recorded Kentucky-themed songs with wider implications, such as the destruction of the environment by loggers and the strip-mining techniques of coal firms.[45] These songs included "Blue Diamond Mines", "Black Waters" and "The L&N Don’t Stop Here Anymore", which was covered by Johnny Cash,[4] after he heard his wife, June Carter Cash, singing it.[46] Ritchie had written numerous songs about mining under the pseudonym "'Than Hall", to avoid troubling her non-political mother, and believing they might be better received if attributed to a man.[47]
Nottamun Town (which Ritchie had learned from her uncle Jason and performed in 1954 on Kentucky Mountains Songs and in 1965 on A Time For Singin) was covered by Shirley Collins (1964), Bert Jansch (1966) and Fairport Convention (1969),[48] and the tune was used by Bob Dylan for his 1963 song "Masters of War" on the album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.[49]
From her uncle Jason (actually her father's first cousin),[24] Ritchie had learnt to alter tunes and lyrics from verse-to-verse and performance-to-performance, viewing elements of improvisation and variation as a natural part of traditional music. Her versions of family songs and original compositions vary slightly between performances, and she often created new songs by using bits of material from existing ones or adding newly composed verses to flesh out song fragments she recalled from her childhood.[6] Unfortunately, Cecil Sharp had failed to arrange a meeting with Jason Ritchie when he stayed in Knott County in 1917.[24]
Her record None But One (1977), which won the 1977 critics’ award in Rolling Stone magazine, introduced her music to a younger audience,[4] and secured her place in mainstream folk music.[6]
Her 50th anniversary album was Mountain Born (1995), which features Peter and Jonathan, her two sons.[50]
Ritchie was the subject of the 1996 documentary Mountain Born: The Jean Ritchie Story, which was made for Kentucky Educational Television.[24]
The dulcimer revival
editRitchie is credited with bringing national and international attention to the Appalachian dulcimer as the main initiator of the "dulcimer revival".[6] Distinct from the hammer dulcimer, the Appalachian dulcimer (or "mountain dulcimer") is an intimate indoor instrument with a soft, ethereal sound, probably first played by Appalachian Scotch-Irish immigrants in the early half of the nineteenth century.[51] The Ritchies strummed their dulcimers with a goose-feather quill.[4]
Her father Balis (1869–1958) had played the Appalachian dulcimer but forbade his children to touch it, but aged five or six, Ritchie defied this prohibition and covertly played the instrument. Then, by the time her dad decided to teach her how to play, she was already accustomed to the instrument so father labeled her as a "natural born musician".[6] By 1949, her dulcimer playing had become a hallmark of her style. After her husband George Pickow made her one as a present,[52] the couple decided there might be a potential market for them, and Morris Pickow, Pickow's uncle, set up an instrument workshop for them under the Williamsburg Bridge in Brooklyn.[24] At first they were shipped to New York in an unfinished state by Ritchie's Kentucky relative, Jethro Amburgey, back then the woodworking instructor at the Hindman Settlement School. George placed a finish and Jean tuned the dulcimers, and soon they had sold 300 dulcimers. Later they manufactured them themselves from start to finish.[24]
Ritchie's use of the dulcimer and her tutorial, The Dulcimer Book (1974), inspired folk revival musicians both in the US and Britain to record songs using the instrument.[4] Because fans kept asking her "Which album has the most dulcimer?", she finally recorded an album called The Most Dulcimer in 1984,[53] which included the dulcimer on every song.[54]
Personal life and death
editRitchie was married to photographer George Pickow from 1950 until his death in 2010, with whom she had two sons, Peter (1954–) and Jonathan (1958–2020).[55] She lived in Baxter Estates, New York, and was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2008.[56][57][58]
In early December 2009, Ritchie was hospitalized after suffering a stroke which impaired her ability to communicate.[59] She recovered to some degree[60] then returned to her home in Berea, Kentucky.[6] A friend reported on her 90th birthday, "Jean has been living quietly in Berea for the last few years, in good spirits and well cared for by neighbors and family."[61] She died at home in Berea on June 1, 2015, aged 92.[62][63]
Discography
edit- Singing the Traditional Songs of Her Kentucky Mountain Family (1952)
- Appalachian Folk Songs: Black-eyed Susie, Goin' to Boston, Lovin' Hanna (195-)
- Kentucky Mountains Songs (1954)
- Field Trip (1954)
- Courting Songs (1954) (with Oscar Brand)
- Shivaree (1955)
- Songs from Kentucky (1956)
- American Folk Tales and Songs (1956)
- Saturday Night and Sunday Too (1956)
- Children's Songs & Games from the Southern Mountains (1957)
- Singing Family of the Cumberlands (1957)
- The Ritchie Family of Kentucky (1959)
- Riddle Me This (1959) (with Oscar Brand)
- Carols for All Seasons (1959)
- Field Trip – England (1959)[64]
- British Traditional Ballads in the Southern Mountains, Vol. 1 Folkways (1960) (Child ballads)[65]
- British Traditional Ballads in the Southern Mountains, Vol. 2 Folkways FA 2302 (1960) (Child ballads) [66]
- As I Roved Out (Field Trip-Ireland) (1960)[67]
- Ballads from Her Appalachian Family Tradition (1961)
- Precious Memories (1962)[68]
- The Appalachian Dulcimer: An Instructional Record (1964)[69]
- Jean Ritchie and Doc Watson Live at Folk City (1963)
- A Time For Singing (1965)
- Marching Across the Green Grass & Other American Children's Game Songs (1968)[70]
- Clear Waters Remembered (1974) Geordie 101 [71]
- Jean Ritchie At Home (1974) Pacific Cascade Records LPL 7026 [71]
- None But One (1977)
- High Hills and Mountains (1979)
- Sweet Rivers (1981) June Appal JA 037 (hymns)
- Christmas Revels. Wassail! Wassail! (1982)
- The Most Dulcimer (1984)[72]
- O Love Is Teasin' (1985)
- Kentucky Christmas, Old and New (1987)
- Childhood Songs (1991)
- Mountain Born (1995)
- Legends of Old Time Music (2002, DVD)
- Ballads (2003; vol. 1 and 2 above, issued on a single CD)[73]
Published works
edit- Ritchie, Jean (1955). Singing Family of the Cumberlands. Illustrated by Maurice Sendak. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8131-0186-6. LCCN 55005554.
- Ritchie, Jean (1963). The Dulcimer Book; Being a Book about the Three-stringed Appalachian Dulcimer, Including Some Ways of Tuning and Playing; Some Recollections in its Local History in Perry and Knott Counties, Kentucky. New York: Oak Music. LCCN 63020754.
- Ritchie, Jean (1965). Apple Seeds and Soda Straws. illustrated by Don Bolognese. New York: H.Z. Walck. LCCN 65013223.
- Ritchie, Jean (1965/1997) Folk Songs of the Southern Appalachians ISBN 978-0-8131-0927-5. The original 1965 edition was issued by Oak Publications, the 1997 expanded version by University Press of Kentucky. The task of transcribing Ritchie's sung music into musical notation was carried out (1965) by Melinda Zacuto and Jerry Silverman.
- Jean Ritchie's Swapping Song Book ISBN 978-0-8131-0973-2
- Jean Ritchie's Dulcimer People (1975)
- Ritchie, Jean, ed. (1953). A Garland of Mountain Song; Songs from the Repertoire of the Ritchie family of Viper, Kentucky (New ed.). New York: Broadcast Music. LCCN m53001732.
- Ritchie, Jean (1971). Celebration of Life: Her songs, Her poems. Port Washington: Geordie Music Publishing. ISBN 0-8256-9676-3.
- Ritchie, Jean; Brumfield, Susan (2015). Jean Ritchie's Kentucky Mother Goose: Songs and Stories from My Childhood. Milwaulkee, WI: Hal Leonard Books. ISBN 978-1-4950-0788-0.
Awards and honors
edit- Rolling Stone Critics Award in (1977) for her album None But One
- Folk Alliance’s Lifetime Achievement (1998)[24]
- National Heritage Fellowship (2002) awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest honor for folk and traditional arts in the United States[74]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d Colin Larkin, ed. (2002). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music (Third ed.). Virgin Books. pp. 359/60. ISBN 1-85227-937-0.
- ^ a b Derienzo, Paul (June 18, 2015). "Jean Ritchie, 92, the Village's 'Mother of Folk'". amNewYork. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
- ^ "Jean Ritchie: Ballads from her Appalachian Family Tradition". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Jean Ritchie obituary". The Guardian. June 3, 2015. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
- ^ a b "Jean Ritchie Obituary (1922–2015) – The Columbian". obits.columbian.com. June 3, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Carter-Schwendler, Karen L. "Mountain Born: The Jean Ritchie Story". KET Education. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
- ^ "Jean Ritchie Folk Music of Ireland and Scotland Recordings | Berea College Special Collections and Archives Catalog". berea.libraryhost.com. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
- ^ "Jean Ritchie served as inspiration for Bob Dylan, Shirley Collins and". The Independent. June 4, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
- ^ Alan Lomax, foreword to Jean Ritchie, Folk Songs of the Southern Appalachians as Sung by Jean Ritchie, forewords by Alan Lomax and Ron Pen (University of Kentucky Press, 2nd edition, 1997). p. 1. The book by Combs, who was a specialist in the dulcimer, was translated into English as a monograph by D. K. Wilgus in 1967 as Folk-Songs of the Southern United States (Folk-Songs Du Midi Des Etats-Unis), Publications of the American Folklore Society, Bibliographical and Special Series, Vol. 19 (University of Texas).
- ^ Charles Wolfe and Jean Ritchie, foreword to new edition of Jean Ritchie, Jean Ritchie's Swapping Song Book with photographs by George Pickow (University of Kentucky Press, [1952] 2000), p. 1.
- ^ a b c d "Bluegrass Messengers – The Ritchie Family (Jean)- (KY) from 1757 to Balis". www.bluegrassmessengers.com. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
- ^ "Mudcat Café Message 2249126". mudcat.org. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
- ^ "Notamun Town (Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) CJS2/10/4073)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
- ^ "Good Old Man (Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) CJS2/10/4075)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
- ^ "Jack Went A-Sailing (Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) CJS2/10/3944)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
- ^ "Edna Ritchie". Discogs. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
- ^ "Kitty Ritchie". Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
- ^ Peters, Brian (2018): "Myths of ‘Merrie Olde England’? Cecil Sharp’s Collecting Practice in the Southern Appalachians", Folk Music Journal, Vol. 11, No. 3, p. 15.
- ^ Gwynallen, Richard (November 24, 2016). "The Ritchie and Keith Families". The Kitchen Table. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
- ^ "FamilySearch.org". ancestors.familysearch.org. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
- ^ "FamilySearch.org". ancestors.familysearch.org. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
- ^ "Soldier Details – The Civil War (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
- ^ Lomax, foreword to Jean Ritchie, Folk Songs of the Southern Appalachians, p. 1.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Winick, Stephen (June 11, 2015). "Jean Ritchie, 1922–2015". Library of Congress, Folklife Today. Retrieved May 30, 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "Mudcat Café Message 1422423". mudcat.org. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
- ^ Biography of Jean Ritchie, music.yahoo.com; accessed January 9, 2014.
- ^ "Mudcat Café Message 2598185". mudcat.org. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
- ^ Miller, Christopher. "Library Homepage: Mountain Dulcimers in the Appalachian Artifacts Collection: Related Stories and Information". libraryguides.berea.edu. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ "Cherry Tree (Roud Folksong Index S273256)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
- ^ "The Two Sisters (Roud Folksong Index S224465)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
- ^ "Remembering Jean Ritchie on Hobo's Lullaby | WKCR 89.9FM NY". www.cc-seas.columbia.edu. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ "Alan Lomax Archive". Research.culturalequity.org. Archived from the original on October 26, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
- ^ "Jean Ritchie 1949 and 1950 | Lomax Digital Archive". archive.culturalequity.org. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ^ a b c "Field Trip: Festival-Anthology recordings". Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved March 6, 2013.
- ^ "Mudcat Café Message 1619519". mudcat.org. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
- ^ "Broadcast – BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. August 14, 1959. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
- ^ "Mudcat Café Message". mudcat.org. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
- ^ Library of Congress. "Singing family of the Cumberlands. Illustrated by Maurice Sendak". Library of Congress LCCN Permalink for 550005554. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
- ^ Boggs, Beverly (1982). "Religious Songs Remembered: Sweet Rivers, Jean Ritchie". Appalachian Journal. 9 (4): 306–310. JSTOR 40932463 – via JSTOR.
- ^ "Program Explores Universal Appeal of 'Amazing Grace'". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ "The Ritchie Family Of Kentucky With Jean Ritchie – Jean Ritchie Interviews Her Family, With Documentary Recordings". Discogs. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ^ "Jean Ritchie: Ballads from her Appalachian Family Tradition". folkways.si.edu. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
- ^ "Dolly Parton: My Dear Companion – Selections From The Trio Collection". Treasury Collection. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
- ^ "Shady Grove, Version 5- Jean Ritchie". Bluegrass Messengers.
- ^ "Remembering Appalachian folksinging legend Jean Ritchie | Facing South". www.facingsouth.org. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ Finn, Robin (November 7, 2008). "At This Hall, They're Singing Her Song". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ^ Sally Rogers, "Sowing Seeds of Love for Traditional Music: An interview with Jean Ritchie" Archived October 1, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Pass It On! The Journal of the Children's Music Network, Winter 2003; retrieved January 10, 2010.
- ^ "Nottamun Town / Nottamun Fair (Roud 1044)". mainlynorfolk.info. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
- ^ Clinton Heylin, Revolution in the Air: The Songs of Bob Dylan, 1957-1973, p. 116
- ^ Harmon, John. "Jean Ritchie, folk, mountain music legend: An appreciation from the AJC archives". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN 1539-7459. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
- ^ S, Joe (January 19, 2017). "Dulcimer Origins – A Look at the Mountain Dulcimer". Best Dulcimers & Dulcimer Accessories Online. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ Institution, Smithsonian. "Appalachian Dulcimer, used by Jean Ritchie". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ Library of Congress (1984). "The most dulcimer [sound recording]". Library of Congress. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
- ^ Jean Ritchie – The Most Dulcimer (1984, Vinyl), 1984, retrieved July 7, 2021
- ^ "Singer and musician Jonathan Pickow dies at age 62". www.wymt.com. December 8, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
- ^ Pangalos, Mary (December 2, 1958). "Life Is a Song to Balladier From Kentucky Mountains". Newsday. p. 37 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Herzig, Doris (March 24, 1966). "A Bit of Kentucky on LI". Newsday. p. 111 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Long Island Music Hall of Fame Second Induction Award Gala Archived November 30, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved November 6, 2010.
- ^ Report of Ritchie's hospitalization, thesunchronicle.com; December 22, 2009; accessed January 9, 2014.
- ^ On June 8, 2010, Ritchie's son Jon reported: "Great news! Mom is coming home tomorrow. She has surpassed all expectations and is talking, laughing and in general being herself."; Jean Ritchie recovers Archived March 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, mudcat.org
- ^ Spiegel, Max. "Jean Ritchie Turns 90". Mudcat.org. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
- ^ Fox, Margalit (June 2, 2015). "Jean Ritchie, Lyrical Voice of Appalachia, Dies at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
- ^ Adeniyi, Luqman (June 2, 2015). "Folk Music Singer, Scholar Jean Ritchie Dies at 92". Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 3, 2015. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
- ^ "Field Trip-England". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ "British Traditional Ballads in the Southern Mountains, Volume 1". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ "British Traditional Ballads in the Southern Mountains, Volume 2". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ "As I Roved Out (Field Trip-Ireland)". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ "Precious Memories". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ "The Appalachian Dulcimer: An Instructional Record". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ "Marching Across The Green Grass and Other American Children's Game Songs". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ a b Lifton, Sarah (1983) The Listener's Guide to Folk Music. Poole: Blandford Press; pp. 96-97
- ^ "Artist: Jean Ritchie | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ "Jean Ritchie: Ballads from her Appalachian Family Tradition". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ "NEA National Heritage Fellowships 2002". Arts.gov. National Endowment for the Arts. Archived from the original on May 21, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
External links
edit- Live 1976 recording of Ritchie performing "Nottamun Town" from the Florida Folklife Collection (made available for public use by the State Archives of Florida)
- Photographs of Jean Ritchie while artist in residence at UC Santa Cruz in 1978, from the UC Santa Cruz Library's Digital Collections
- Videos on Woodsongs Archive
- 159: She sang and played her dulcimer as sole guest in 2000; 84 minutes.
- 450: Was as one of 3 guests in "Celebration of the Mountain Dulcimer" July 7, 2007; 94 minutes.