Joe Thompson (musician): Difference between revisions

Thompson was born in [[Orange County, North Carolina]] on December 9, 1918.<ref name="bare">{{cite book| first1= Bob| last1= Eagle| first2= Eric S.| last2= LeBlanc| year= 2013| title= Blues – A Regional Experience| publisher= Praeger Publishers| location= Santa Barbara| pages=281 | isbn= 978-0313344237}}</ref> His father John, a fiddler, and uncle Walter, a [[banjo]] player, performed at local [[square dance]]s and corn shuckings.<ref name=tradition>{{cite web|url=http://www.mastersoftraditionalarts.org/artists/328|title=Joe Thompson|website=masteroftraditionalarts.org|accessdate=January 19, 2017}}</ref> At seven years-old, when Thompson took up the fiddle himself, he closely observed his father's techniques which were rooted in [[old-time fiddle|old-time]] African tradition.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qL3RkMTRx1YC&pg=PA69&dq=joe+thompson+fiddle&hlpg=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiI4rW23s7RAhVC1oMKHWiaC6YQ6AEIMjAE#v=onepage&q=joe%20thompson%20fiddle&f=falsePA69|title=Historic Alamance County: An Illustrated History|author=Vincent, William|page=69|publisher=HPN Books|year=2009|isbn=9781893619982}}</ref> He joined his father and uncle for performances, and later formed his own [[string band]] with his older brother Nate and cousin Odell, both of whom were banjo players.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/joe-thompson-mn0000174632|title=Joe Thompson – Biography|website=allmusic.com|author=Seida, Linda|accessdate=January 19, 2017}}</ref> Much of the band's repertoire consisted of family songs passed down since before the [[American Civil War]], including "Hook and Line" and "Cindy Gal".<ref name=post>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/entertainment/music/joe-thompson-93-well-respected-fiddler/2012/02/27/gIQAjuW1iR_story.html|title=Joe Thompson, 93, well-respected fiddler|website=washingtonpost.com|author=McArdle, Terence|accessdate=January 19, 2017}}</ref>

After serving in a segregated unit during the [[Second World War]] and as the popularity for traditional string band music waned, Thompson stopped playing the fiddle to work in a furniture factory as a rip saw operator for 28 years.<ref name=times>{{cite webnews|url=https://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/03/02/arts/music/joe-thompson-dies-at-93-fiddler-of-string-band-legacy.html|title=Joe Thompson dies at 93; Helped preserve the black string band|website=nytimes.com[[The New York Times]]|author=Martin, Douglas|date=2 March 2012 |accessdate=January 19, 2017}}</ref> In 1973, musicologist Kip Lornell, then a recent college graduate, heard rumors about Joe and Odell Thompson's mastery of the old-time style, and urged the duo to make a comeback. Thompson and Odell began performing as the New String Band Duo across the United States and abroad, becoming popular fixtures at [[folk music|folk]] festivals. Among the notable gigs the duo played at included [[Carnegie Hall]], the [[National Folk Festival (United States)|National Folk Festival]], the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, and the Tennessee Banjo Institute.<ref name=tradition/><ref name=post/>

In 1989, they recorded the studio [[album]] ''Old-Time Music from the North Carolina Piedmont'' for the Global Village [[record label]]. The duo was awarded the [[North Carolina Folk Heritage Award]] in 1991 for preserving black folk music traditions. When Odell died in a car accident in 1994, Thompson pondered quitting music altogether, but recorded the solo album ''Family Traditions'', released on Rounder Records in 1999.<ref name=times/> A stroke Thompson suffered in 2001 severely impaired the use of his left arm, but after extensive rehabilitation, he returned to playing. Although he lamented at the lack of interest forin old-time music, in 2005 he began mentoring the [[Carolina Chocolate Drops]], a modern-day African American string band.[[File:Rhiannon_Giddens_and_Justin_Robison_at_Joe_Thompson’s_memorial.jpeg|thumb|right|[[The Carolina Chocolate Drops|Carolina Chocolate Drops]] founding members [[Rhiannon Giddens]] and Justin Robinson at Joe and Odell Thomson's Memorial in [[Mebane, North Carolina|Mebane]] during the filming of "Black Fiddlers"]] He was a recipient of a 2007 [[National Heritage Fellowship]] awarded by the [[National Endowment for the Arts]], which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/list?title=&field_year_value=2007 |title=NEA National Heritage Fellowships 2007 |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=www.arts.gov |publisher=National Endowment for the Arts |access-date=January 12, 2021}}</ref> In the same year, he performed at the [[Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts]] in Washington, D.C.<ref name=times/>

[[File:Joe_Thompson's_Grave.jpg|thumb|right|Gravestone of Joe Thompson in White Level Cemetery. [[Mebane, NCNorth Carolina|Mebane]]]]Thompson was married twice and had one son and six step-children. He died in a nursing home in [[Alamance County, North Carolina]] from pneumonia; Thompson was 93 years- old.<ref name=times/> Folklorist Wayne Martin commented that "Probably more than anyone else, Joe was the inspiration for a national revival of stringband music among young generations of African American musicians".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ncartseveryday.org/2012/02/remembering-old-time-fiddler-joe-thompson/|title=Remembering Old-time Fiddler Joe Thompson|website=ncartseveryday.org|accessdate=January 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202004507/http://ncartseveryday.org/2012/02/remembering-old-time-fiddler-joe-thompson/|archive-date=2017-02-02|url-status=dead}}</ref>

*{{AllmusicAllMusic|artist/joe-thompson-mn0000174632}}

[[Category:InfectiousDeaths diseasefrom deathspneumonia in North Carolina]]