Smithsonian’s Folkways label and American History Museum are releasing Robert “Mack” McCormick’s tapes, research and writings as part of Folkways’ 75th anniversary.
From left, Robert"Mack" McCormick, Roosevelt Sykes, Sunnyland Slim holding McCormick's daughter, Susannah, and Robert Shaw at the Montreal Expo in 1971. McCormick spent decades building his blues collection - 590 reels of recordings and 160 boxes of other materials - which is now part of a slew of material being released to the public.
McCormick spent decades building his collection - 590 reels of recordings and 160 boxes of other materials. He was a member of what is often described as the “Blues Mafia,” the White collectors who roamed the South during the 1950s and ‘60s searching for Black blues musicians they felt had been overlooked. The material on McCormick’s shelves remained largely unheard and unseen - until now.
The music, recorded in living rooms and juke joints and even on sidewalks, is primarily blues but also includes gospel and tinges of country. The artists range from recognized figures of the ‘60s blues revival to such relative unknowns as James Tisdom and Blues Wallace. "Playing for the Man at the Door" is a three-CD, six-LP set that contains McCormick's field recordings of more than 30 artists. It is being released on the 75th anniversary of Folkways. Washington Post photo by Michael S. Williamson
Folkways senior archivist Jeff Place, right, and audio recording specialist Ronnie Simpkins stand before the massive record collection at the Smithsonian Folkways facilities in Washington. Washington Post photo by Michael S. Williamson The 128-page booklet in the"Playing for the Man" set is packed with essays and reproduced documents, such as this map highlighted in black marker of routes that Robert"Mack" McCormick took through the South in 1968 as he conducted his research. Robert Mack McCormick Collection/National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
McCormick spent several years trying to track down Johnson’s history, roaming the South as he sketched maps and knocked on doors. But he gave up in the mid-1970s after the dispute with the Johnson family. As Troutman would discover, McCormick wrote and rewrote his Johnson book and then packed it away. The time that had elapsed since he did his research made the material less revelatory.
Troutman addresses McCormick’s hoaxes head-on in his notes in the book. They are also included in the American History Museum display and in the box set.“The object of all this,” McCormick typed in one hoax note, “is simply to insure the files will not be used, andSpider Kirkpatrick, left, and Robert"Mack" McCormick circa 1960.
Folkways senior archivist Jeff Place puts his hand on some of the rare analog tapes. Washington Post photo by Michael S. Williamson The Smithsonian also already had a relationship with the material. McCormick emceed at the Folklife Festival from 1968 to 1976 . In the early 1960s, he helped connect Texas bluesmen Hopkins and Lipscomb with Chris Strachwitz, whose label, Arhoolie, would record both. Strachwitz sold Arhoolie to Smithsonian Folkways in 2016.“He told me he was selling the collection and wanted a lot of money, and we just didn’t have it,” Place says.
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