Joseph Spence

Joseph Spence (August 3, 1910 – March 18, 1984) was a Bahamian guitarist and singer. He is well known for his vocalizations and humming while playing the guitar. Several American musicians, including Taj Mahal, the Grateful Dead, Ry Cooder, Woody Mann, and Olu Dara, as well as the British guitarist John Renbourn, were influenced by and have recorded variations of his arrangements of gospel and Bahamian songs.

Biography Born in Andros, Bahamas, in 1910, Spence was the son of a pastor. He got his start in music as a teenager playing in his great-uncle Tony Spence's band. Charters initially thought that Spence's guitar playing was the work of two players duelling.

Legacy Spence's playing inspired the likes of Ry Cooder, Taj Mahal and Jody Stecher.

Several tributes to Spence have been recorded. After his death in 1984 the Richard Thompson fan club produced a benefit tribute album to Spence and the Pinder Family, Out on the Rolling Sea, released on the Green Linnet label and featuring Henry Kaiser, Taj Mahal, and Martin Carthy. It was included in Dr. Demento's festive collection, Holidays in Dementia.

Discography 1959: Music of the Bahamas Volume One: Bahamian Folk Guitar, Folkways Records FS 3844 1964: Happy All the Time, Elektra Records EKL-273, Carthage Records CGLP 4419 (LP reissue, 1985), Hannibal Records HNCD 4419 (CD reissue, 2003) 1972: Joseph Spence: Bahamian Guitarist, "Good Morning Mr. Walker", Arhoolie Records 1061, Arhoolie CD 349 (CD reissue, 1990) 1980: Living on the Hallelujah Side, Rounder CD 2021 1990: Glory, Rounder CD 2096 1992: The Complete Folkways Recordings, 1958, Smithsonian Folkways CD SF 40066 1995: The Spring of Sixty-Five, Rounder CD 2114 2021: Encore: Unheard Recordings of Bahamian Guitar & Singing, Smithsonian Folkways SFW 40242

Compilation appearances 1964: Folk Guitar, Bahaman Ballads and Rhyming Spirituals, Folkways Records FW03847 1966: Explorer Series: The Bahamas – The Real Bahamas, Nonesuch Explorer Series 79725-2 1978: Explorer Series: The Bahamas – The Real Bahamas, Vol. 2, Nonesuch Explorer Series 79733-2 1995: Kneelin' Down Inside the Gate: The Great Rhyming Singers of the Bahamas, Rounder CD 5035 1997: The Bahamas: Islands of Song, Smithsonian Folkways SFW40405 2006: Friends of Old Time Music: The Folk Arrival 1961–1965, Smithsonian Folkways SFW40160