Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!

Subject: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Dale Rose
Date: 07 Mar 00 - 11:32 AM

OK, this is a project that I have had in mind since October or November, but have been avoiding because it is so vast in scope that I just did not know how to put it all down in such a way as to convince everyone that it was a site of monumental importance, especially for those interested in folklore, specifically that of the Ozark Mountain region of Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas.

I know this is a long post, but bear with me ~~ Like I said, and will say again, IMPORTANT STUFF!

Where to begin? First go to The Shepard Room at The Springfield and Greene County, Missouri Library.

So, what will you find there? The page says Links to History Resources on the Internet, but that is an understatement. I cannot even begin to tell you what all they have here ~~ an absolute treasure trove of Ozark music, history, folk tales, on and on. My advice is to just jump in anywhere and start exploring. The page is short, but the links will take you back to another time, where you can spend days, weeks, months ~~ it's your choice.

The Turnbo Manuscripts       800 tales of life in the early days of the Ozarks

Greene County Records       Abstracts and indexes of a number of court and other records

Greene County History       Histories of Greene County, Missouri, available in full text

Black Families of the Ozarks       Greene County Archives Bulletin Number Forty-Five

Regional Periodicals       Full text of three Ozarks periodicals

Moser's Directory of Towns, Villages and Hamlets Past and Present of Missouri

The Max Hunter Collection       An archive of more than 1600 Ozark Mountain folk songs. This site is a joint project of the Southwest Missouri State University Department of Music and The Library.

I can't tell you everything that I found of interest there, but I will describe two of them in greater detail, the magazine Bittersweet, and the Max Hunter Collection.

I originally found the site last October or so while looking for George P. Knauff's Virginia Reels, which led me to this article from the wonderful magazine, Bittersweet and from there to the whole Bittersweet catalogue, which is listed under periodicals on the Shepard Room page.

Here is the related article on Ozark fiddling with Art Galbraith, Bob Holt, Gordon McCann and others from 1982. (Lamentably, the songs from the vinyl record inserts are not included on the site, perhaps they will be later)

And here's an article on Vance Randolph from 1981.

Outhouses, old schools, Ozark speech, you name it, it's all here. Bittersweet was published by the students at Lebanon, Missouri High School from 1973-1983 to document the people of the Ozarks ~~ I think they succeeded. The following is from the first issue of Bittersweet.

The bittersweet vine represents to the staff the qualities of the Ozark people and their land. The plant is native, persistent, uninhibited in its growth and colorful. When dried its long-lasting berries add red and orange to winter fence rows and homes. The term bittersweet, pleasant with overtones of sadness, is characteristic of the rural, self-sufficient life of the Ozark people, pleasant in retrospect, but full of hardships and heartaches, it is sad that much of the tradition and way of life is passing, but these same qualities are still here, like the vine, tenacious, independent, hardworking, proud and colorfully unique.

The staff has the pleasant task of capturing this uniqueness of Ozark tradition and geographical features for all to enjoy. We hope our BITTERSWEET will brighten your days and be of lasting value.

The Max Hunter Collection at the bottom of the page is just getting off the ground, but is a fabulous resource, even as it stands. Eventually, all 1600 of the recordings in the Max Hunter archives will be on line. I have seen an increase in the number of entries since I started using the resource in November. I understand that the project will take three years to complete. If you are expecting beautiful, polished performances, then you will be disappointed, I suppose. There is beauty there, but it is a natural beauty ~~ I find it infinitely more appealing than the overproduced music of today.

This is from the introduction to the Max Hunter Collection.

The Max Hunter Collection is an archive of almost 1600 Ozark Mountain folk songs, recorded between 1956 and 1976. A traveling salesman from Springfield, Missouri, Hunter took his reel-to-reel tape recorder into the hills and backwoods of the Ozarks, preserving the heritage of the region by recording the songs and stories of many generations of Ozark history. As important as the songs themselves are the voices of the Missouri and Arkansas folks who shared their talents and recollections with Hunter. Designed to give increased public access to this unique and invaluable resource, this site is a joint project of the Southwest Missouri State University Department of Music and the Springfield-Greene County Library in Springfield, Missouri, where the permanent collection is housed.

Now for those who may never have heard of Max Hunter, check out an earlier thread concerning the death of Max Hunter, started by Clifton53 on 16 Nov 99. (Max Hunter died on 6 November 1999)

Note that the links that I gave in that thread to stories about Max no longer work. I was able to find a couple which still work, the best of which is at The Hannibal, Missouri Courier-Post.

Since links come and go, but The Mudcat goes on and on, I have included the complete text here (Go to the online article at the Courier-Post for a picture of Max taken in 1998 )

Max Hunter, Ozarks folklorist, dies at 78

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- A folklorist who amassed one of the country's largest collections of hillbilly songs, stories and expressions -- including colorful phrases like ''ugly as a mud fence'' and ''pretty as a speckled pup'' -- has died.

Max Hunter was known to run moonshine through the hills, chase chickens, haul hay or do just about anything else in exchange for collecting a song or a story. In the end, he was credited with documenting a way of life lost to television and stereos.

''He devoted 30 plus years of his life to trying to preserve and save what hillbillies stood for: simplicity and an easier way of living,'' his son, David Hunter, said Tuesday. ''It's a part of history that would have been lost if it wasn't for Dad's tapes.''

Max Hunter died on Saturday, after a long battle with emphysema. He was 78.

Over the years, Hunter became known as one of the nation's premier collectors of traditional Ozarks songs and stories, most of which are on file at the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution.

During the 1950s, Hunter was a traveling salesman who spent time in motel rooms playing his guitar and recording songs. He later expanded his hobby by recording folklore from people he met on southwest Missouri's dirt roads.

But pulling a story out of hillbillies could sometimes be more like pulling teeth. To win their trust, Hunter would offer to help with chores or run errands.

Some of the songs he collected came directly from the Ozarks. Others could be traced hundreds of years. Some, Hunter later discovered, had even been chronicled at Harvard University in the 19th century, in a collection of traditional ballads.

Other tidbits Hunter collected included ways to cure warts (start by stealing your neighbor's dish rag), or suggestions for warding off bad luck after a black cat crosses your path (put your hat on backwards and the cat won't know if you're coming or going).

''It's just a total, different lifestyle that's not out there anymore,'' Max Hunter said in an interview last year. ''It was a way of life that was slowly being lost. Words were being lost, actions, thoughts, just a complete lifestyle of some people.''

Under lock and key at Springfield's Greene County Library, Hunter's collection fills shelves several feet high, with copies also kept at the University of Missouri at Columbia. There are 14 hours of jokes on tape, more than 1,000 native expressions like ''got to get my ears lowered (haircut)'' and more than 2,000 folk songs.

Because Hunter himself was a musician and a native of Springfield, he was able to gain the trust of private people who lived deep in the hills and hollows, said Becky Schroeder of the Missouri Folklore Society.

''He was one of the great American song collectors because he was able to go back to the people time after time and really get to know them,'' she said. ''They were very accepting of him because he was a proud Ozarker himself and he understood the songs.''

For Hunter's work, the state's Arts Council in 1998 presented him a Missouri Arts Award, its highest honor.

After spending most of his life listening to hill people, Hunter himself had become convinced that the simple life was the true path to happiness, his son said.

''The people he talked to often were without heat, indoor plumbing and electricity. I think Dad saw this and respected it,'' David Hunter said. ''He was a very simple man and he was happy in how he lived.''

There you have it ~~ I have barely scratched the surface, so I will leave you to do your own exploring. I hope you all enjoy your travels as much as I have.

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Clifton53
Date: 07 Mar 00 - 11:48 AM

Ah yes, MAX HUNTER! I got his name wrong in an earlier thread, called him Max Foster in a thread about what is or isn't folk. Great site Dale, he did what I think many of us would love to do, go around and collect folk songs, what a life.

Clifton

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Amos
Date: 07 Mar 00 - 11:55 AM

Funny thing --I answered your reference to Max Foster without even thinking about the last name changing!

A

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 07 Mar 00 - 01:08 PM

When Max first began collecting songs, it was for his own pleasure in learning and singing them. He would fill up a tape, learn the songs, and erase the tape so he could use it again. When Mary Celestia Parler found that out, she hit the ceiling. "Don't do that! Save those tapes," she implored, and offered to provide Max with blank tapes to use on further collecting trips. Max was a fine singer, by my lights, and strummed a very rudimentary, but adequate (for me) guitar accompaniment.

I think I told the story of his collecting guns in the thread that was started when he died last fall.

Sandy

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Dale Rose
Date: 07 Mar 00 - 02:17 PM

Yes, you did, Sandy, and other neat stories as well, which is one of the main reasons that I gave the link to the old thread in my first post. I am also taking the liberty of "borrowing" this from your Folk Legacy site.

MAX HUNTER OF SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI - C-11

Singer and collector of the traditional songs and ballads of his native Ozarks, Max was a good friend of the late Vance Randolph and his wife, Mary Celestia Parler, both of whom were important collectors of Ozark folklore and vigorously encouraged his field work. In their introduction to the notes that accompany this cassette they state, without equivocation, that they consider Max to be a significant traditional performer of Ozark material. He accompanies himself with guitar. Splendid songs here!

Didn't figure you'd mind! (side note ~~ a friend asked me the other day if the J. Golden Kimball stories were on CD ~~ any chance of that ever happening, perhaps with remastered sound? Or am I just hoping for too much there?)

Be sure to read the Vance Randolph story from Bittersweet written just after his death and linked above as well. I think you'll enjoy it.

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Dale Rose
Date: 07 Mar 00 - 02:38 PM

Oh, forgot one of the main reasons I was posting my second message in the first place! I was going to ask if you could supply us with the song titles on the cassette, but never mind ~~ found them at the Folk Music Index:

1.Battle of Pea Ridge, 2.Been All Around This World, 3.Dewey Dens of Yarrow, 4.Down By the Greenwood Side(y-o), 5.Down by the Seashore, 6.Drunkard's Wife, 7.Edward, 8.Fair Margaret and Sweet William, 9.John Hardy [Was A Desperate Little Man], 10.Oh Miss, I Have a Very Fine Farm, 11.Open the Door, 12.Our Goodman, not on C11, but on Continuing Tradition. Volume 1: Ballads. A Folk Legacy Sampler, Folk Legacy FSI-075 13.Pretty Suzie, 14.Sweet Lovely Jane, 15.Whiskey in the Jar

That recording is a missing essential in my collection that I need to rectify one of these days.

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 07 Mar 00 - 03:56 PM

A CD of the J. Golden Kimball stories and the Brother Petersen Yarns (Folk Humor of the Mormon Country - C-25) will have to remain on the back burner, I'm afraid. Too many things like The Boarding Party, Frank Proffitt, Hobart Smith, Paul Van Arsdale, Seamus and Manus McGuire, etc., etc., have to have priority. Reality bites again.

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Mar 00 - 12:57 AM

Wow! What a great thread. Now this is what the Mudcat is all about.

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Stewie
Date: 08 Mar 00 - 05:55 PM

Dale, thanks for the marvellous links. What a great site!

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Arkie
Date: 09 Mar 00 - 12:33 AM

Dale, thanks for letting folks know about the Hunter Collection and the other links. There have not been many collectors in the Ozarks and Max Hunter was one of the giants. He produced the shows for the Ozark Folk Festival in Eureka Springs, Arkansas for many years and insisted on emphasizing tradtional music. Bob Holt is still one of the best old-time dance fiddlers in the Ozarks. Anyone who tries to keep from tapping their toes when he plays is likely to break their ankle. Art Galbraith had a really nice touch with the fiddle bow and is primarily responsible for "Seamus O'Brien" entering the repertoires of so many Arkansas Ozark Fiddlers. Gordon McCann deserves far more recognition than he is ever likely to get for the recordings he has done of Ozark Fiddlers. He has purposely focused on the real old-timers that are pretty much ignored in these parts in modern times where the emphasis is mainly in the more modern "contest" style.

Dale, your presentation was excellent. Thanks.

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 09 Mar 00 - 11:19 AM

Thanks so much for the interesting reading. Boy, does this stand out!

Rick

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: JedMarum
Date: 09 Mar 00 - 01:47 PM

Dale - thanks for your effort on this thread. I have begun 'surfing' the sites among your list of 'blue clicky things' and can see that I will be spending many interesting hours digging through the Max Hunter, and other sites.

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Dale Rose
Date: 08 Jul 00 - 11:23 AM

Refreshing this since the subject has come into our current conversations again. I checked the links, and all appear to be still good except for the link to the picture of Max Hunter. Even good things don't last forever.

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Giac
Date: 08 Jul 00 - 12:47 PM

Dale -

Thanks for bringing this thread back. It ran while my computer was down and I missed it. Having spent most of 40 years in northwest Arkansas, these links are like trips home, where "native expressions" are like normal speech to me.

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Naemanson
Date: 08 Jul 00 - 02:48 PM

Wow! Between Mudcat and this site I'll have to either quit my job or quit chasing women!

Thanks a lot Dale. I guess I have my work cut out for me now.

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: katlaughing
Date: 10 Aug 00 - 12:09 AM

refresh again, well worth spending some time on

this is New at the Max Hunter site:

NEW: The title index and the catalogue number index have recently been completed and placed online. All of the songs in the Collection are included, with completed song pages linked to the index pages. If a song is not linked, it has not yet been digitized. However, it is now possible to browse and/or search through the entire list of song titles from the "Song Title" and "Catalogue Number" links below.

Thanks, Dale.

kat

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: okthen
Date: 10 Aug 00 - 01:53 PM

the original site looks fascinating but the links i tried all refused connection, have they changed? or is it the time of day that's slowing the net down.

thanks kat for refreshing this i didn't see the original thread

cheers

bill

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: KathWestra
Date: 10 Aug 00 - 02:15 PM

Missed this one the first time around. Wow! Thanks, Dale. Now it's bookmarked, and my chances of getting any work done for the rest of the day are much diminished.

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: katlaughing
Date: 10 Aug 00 - 02:23 PM

okthen, I didn't try all of them, but the Max Hunter one came up fine. The Mosley one didn't. I will see if I can find new ones later on today for the ones which don't seem to work anymore. Thanks, kat

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: okthen
Date: 10 Aug 00 - 05:40 PM

kat

igot in through a different link, now duly bookmarked,now hoping i can afford the time to do this place justice

cheers

bill

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Aug 00 - 07:09 PM

Dale let me know about the problem, so I fixed all the links in his post. The library had changed its URL. All the links should work now.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: harpgirl
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 01:15 PM

Wow...I can't believe I missed this thread the first time around. I will enjoy all those links, Dale. Thanks, again.

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Thyme2dream
Date: 01 Dec 00 - 12:43 AM

Amazing Dale, and looks like well worth the time and effort you put into it...still reaping benefits 9 months or so later. Thanks harpgirl for refreshing this thread!
Thyme

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: GUEST,Dale Rose
Date: 12 Aug 01 - 07:26 PM

Refreshing because of expanding information at the site. This weekend I had occasion to mention the Springfield - Greene County Library site to someone at the Ozark Folk Center. When I went back to the site to check out links, I found that they have added many, many items to the original list. Here is a list of the current contents of The Shepard Room mentioned in the first message. THIS SITE IS WELL WORTH THE TIME YOU SPEND THERE. (No doubt my html is a little off, but I reckon it is good enough.)

Arts
The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection
An archive of more than 1600 Ozark Mountain folk songs. This site is a joint project of the Southwest Missouri State University Department of Music and The Library.

Associations & Agencies

Directory of Local Historical, Museum, and Genealogical Agencies in Missouri
Greene County Historical Society
The History Museum for Springfield-Greene County
Missouri Ozarks
Missouri State Archives
Missouri State Genealogical Association
NARA's Central Plains Region (Kansas City)
Ozarks Studies Institute
State Historical Society of Missouri

Genealogy

Abstracts of Circuit Court Records Books (Greene County, MO)
Chronological Listing and Index to Divorce Records (Greene County, MO)
Index to Coroner's Record Books
Index to the Justice of the Peace Docket Books
Indexes to the Registers of the Alms House
Index to Naturalization Records (Greene County, MO)
Index to Greene County Stray Records (Greene County, MO)
Military Order of the Loyal Legion -- Decendants of Union Officers -- Missouri Commandery
MOGenWeb
The Political Graveyard

Geography

1895 Atlas of Missouri
Federal Land Records for Arkansas
Mills of Ozark County (MO)
Moser's Directory of Towns, Villages and Hamlets Past and Present of Missouri

History

Black Families of the Ozarks
Greene County Archives Bulletin Number Forty-Five
Christian County, Missouri, Transcribed Records
Greene County Courthouses
History and Directory of Springfield and North Springfield

History of Greene County, Missouri
Lucile Morris Upton Papers
The personal and professional papers of a Springfield, Missouri, journalist and writer.
Million Hours of Memories
Photo history of Springfield, MO
Past and Present of Greene County, Missouri
Personal Reminiscences and Fragments of the Early History of Springfield, Missouri
Pictorial and Genealogical Record of Greene County, Missouri
Richard Grosenbaugh's Springfield History Page So That All May Learn
History of Springfield, MO public schools
The Turnbo Manuscripts
800 tales of life in the early days of the Ozarks
History of Republic, Missouri
Western Historical Manuscript Collection

Magazines & Newspapers

Ozarks News & Historical Index
Indexes Springfield Newspaper Index (1845 to present), Springfield Business Journal, Ozarks Periodical Index (1988-1992), & regional publications/sources.
Bittersweet
OzarksWatch
White River Valley Historical Quarterly

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Art Thieme
Date: 13 Aug 01 - 06:16 PM

This thread, and ones like it, are unbelievable. What a resource.

Thanks, Dale.

Art

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: GUEST,Dale
Date: 18 Jul 02 - 10:29 PM

You are missing a LOT of stuff if you just go to the Max Hunter part of the site. There are many other things of value there.

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Mudlark
Date: 19 Jul 02 - 03:04 AM

Great site and like a trip back home. lived outside of huntsville, ark. for many years...there is a mort of history buried in those hills and hollers...and in this site. Thanks so much for passing this info on.

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Peter T.
Date: 13 Dec 03 - 09:59 AM

Once again, amazing site -- it has been added to in the past year. Now this is what the WEB is for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Amos
Date: 13 Dec 03 - 10:58 AM

Peter:

Thanks so much for refreshing this -- the Hunter collection is just priceless!! I hope they have it well backed up.

A

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: GUEST,Big Jim from Jackson
Date: 14 Dec 03 - 11:04 AM

There is a 2 volume CD set released recently of Max Hunter himself singing some of the songs. By scannin the Missouri Folklore Society web site, you might get an insight into even more Ozark material. Many of the people involved in Ozark music and writing are members of the society---Gordon McCann for one, and Ellen Gray Massey, the founder and editor of the Bittersweet magazine for another. The Missouri Folklore Society publishes some great books with much material about all sorts of interesting things. The web site can guide you to their acquisition.
                                  A proud member

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: GUEST,Big Jim form Jackson
Date: 14 Dec 03 - 11:36 AM

That CD set by Max Hunter can be ordered from his site. It's called "The Balladere"; there are 31 songs; the set can be obtained for $19.99; the order form is on the web site.

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Peter T.
Date: 15 Dec 03 - 09:06 AM

It is hard to believe just how amazing this site is. Spent many hours this weekend just listening to these old singers, multiple versions of old songs -- really, it is a fabulous project, like Cecil Sharp come to life.

yours,

Peter T.

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: GUEST,DWR
Date: 19 Oct 10 - 11:30 AM

Southwest Missouri State University has undergone a name change and is now Missouri State University. It looks like the Minnesota school has appropriated their abandoned address.

So once again, the address for the Max Hunter archives has changed. They can now be found at http://maxhunter.missouristate.edu/

*** see next message

The Guest rule of one link per message kicked in, so I had to add a second message. I know, join and that won't happen, but that's another story.

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: GUEST,DWR
Date: 19 Oct 10 - 11:37 AM

*** Since the thread title mentions Bittersweet as well, here is the current address for that. http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/index.html

As for the rest, I'll look them up when I get time and pass the corrected list on to Joe. (Always looking to send more work to Offer)

Subject: RE: Max Hunter~ Bittersweet~ and much more!
From: Joe Offer
Date: 06 May 24 - 05:03 PM

Interesting quote from Max Hunter about his work:

YOU MAY BY THIS TIME BE CRITICAL OF THE WAY I HAVE PUNCUATED MY TRANSCRIPTIONS OF THE SONGS. IT IS MY BELIEF, THAT MY JOB IS TO GET THE WORDS OFF OF THE TAPE THE BEST WAY THAT I CAN AND KNOW HOW. IT TAKES ABOUT TEN (10) TO TWELVE (12) HOURS TO TAKE THE WORDS OFF OF THE TAPE AND THIS IS DONE BY THE USE OF A PENCIL SO THAT I CAN ERASE WHEN I HAVE TO. THEN, FROM THIS I TYPE THE TRANSCRIPTION. THIS IS ONE "HELL" OF A JOB. SO, SINCE I AM DOING THE WORK, I'LL PUNCTUATE THE WAY I WANT TO.

https://maxhunter.missouristate.edu/punctuation.htm

I'd like to know more about Max Hunter as a person. Sounds like he was a very interesting person.