Notes: This Cincinnati banks of the Ohio River will feel crowded this week with riverboats, banjoes, and yodels as the Tall Stacks Music, Arts, and Heritage Fest chugs to town. In Tall Stacks of yesteryear, John Hartford would skip to town, wowing audiences with his ability to tap dance, fiddle, and sing simultaneously. Inevitably, he would pluck out his most famous song, “Gentle on My Mind,” and reignite peoples passion for a river era when Cincinnati was known the Paris of the West.Perhaps even Mark Twain couldn’t have declared as strong of a love for the river as John Hartford did.While John has crossed over to that other shore of no return, his memory remains gentle on our minds.
John Hartford Waltz
9/30/06
By: Jake Speed
Justin Todhunter: Mandolin, Backup Vocals
Kentucky Graham: Tenor Guitar
Chris Werner: Upright Bass, Recording Engineer
Recorded at: Go To Your Room Studios
He skipped off to heaven with his fiddle in tow
His banjo he set by his old riverboat
Like a sunset on the river, it’s there then it’s gone
He left us so gentle with a mind to move on
The John Hartford waltz, it’s an old steamboat tune
Dance along the river in a skiff made for two
The John Hartford waltz, it’s a paddleboat tune
Dancing on the fog of the Mississippi dew
Come down from the mountain with your old derby hat
Hold fast to the fiddle let loose the tap tap
Take a dip once more where the muddy waters wind
Take a trip along the back roads where you?re ever on my mind
Listen in the swish of the paddlewheels splash
Listen in the whistle, the calliopes crash
Listen in the banks where the river waters beat
That’s where they’re dancing, John Hartfords two feet
This article appears in Oct 4-10, 2006.
