The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #25199 Message #294324
Posted By: Susanne (skw)
09-Sep-00 - 09:20 PM
Thread Name: Info: Joseph Spence (1910-1984)
Subject: RE: Joseph Spence
The following song about Joseph Spence is by Ralph McTell. It doesn't seem to be in the DT, and I couldn't get the SuperSearch to work, so I hope this isn't duplicationg.
THE HANDS OF JOSEPH (Ralph McTell)
Chorus: He would sing about joy, sing about pain That the people wished they had How they heard the voice of Jesus When the rolling sea got mad He's a boat in the harbour, he's safe in that love You know some day you'll be sailing above
When they looked at Joseph's hands They said, They're the hands of a carpenter They're big and they're powerful and they're strong They're the hands that should work in wood And they're the hands that should work a long day Joseph he did all those things But he also learned how to play
When they looked at Joseph's hands They said, They're the hands of a stonemason They're big and they're powerful and they're strong They're the hands that should work with stone And they're the hands that should work a long day Joseph he did all those things But he also learned how to play
When they looked at Joseph's hands They said, They're the hands of a fisherman The musician and the mason-carpenter And he's happy all the time He's still working every day And those old hands of Joseph Oh how they can play
[1991:] Dedicated to Joseph Spence. Apart from being a wonderful guitar player he was also a carpenter, a stonemason, and a fisherman. Remarkably, when he died a couple of years ago he still had all the fingers on both hands. (Ralph McTell, intro Tonder Festival)
[1991:] First 'discovered' around 1958 [and died in 1984,] the music business didn't really catch Joseph Spence, nor did the fame and fortune associated with it, indeed he was a night watchman at a local primary school up until 1980, when he took sick. The choice of fame or an ordinary existence seems to have been one that he obviously made himself, prefering [sic!] his home and family to the wider world. This album [...] is almost exclusively made up of religious material, but is performed with so much joyful spirit it's hard not to be affected by it. Ry Cooder described Spence's guitar style as 'physical and syncopated' which sums it up nicely. He simultaneously appears to play the lead and bass on guitar and then growls a melody. (Sean McGhee, review Joseph Spence, 'Glory', Rock 'n' Reel 11)