OBIT: Talking harmonica man Lonnie Glosson

Subject: RE: Talking harmonica man
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Mar 01 - 01:35 AM

Wow! I just looked aorund his site, some more. He's got a couple of video tapes that sound like "must haves." One of him being interviewed amongst old trains in the background with info on them an the other about his life, meeting his wife, getting on the radio, etc. The first tpae includes a story of how he played his way out of jail!

kat

Subject: RE: Talking harmonica man
From: Night Owl
Date: 05 Mar 01 - 01:25 AM

Arkie....THANK YOU for posting the information. I've been searching for this man's name...sorry to find it posthumously. Wondering if you're familiar with an OLD record he did called "Tunes For Tots"?? A sad farewell from here as well to an incredible musician.

Subject: RE: Talking harmonica man
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Mar 01 - 01:20 AM

Here is a LINK to his homepage with a sound file. It has not been updated re' his passing on, yet.

kat

Subject: RE: Talking harmonica man
From: Dale Rose
Date: 05 Mar 01 - 12:31 AM

When I saw the thread title, I figured this is what I'd find. Sorry to hear it all the same. Day before yesterday (that'd be Friday, wouldn't it?) I was listening to some old Delmore Brothers recordings which featured Lonnie and Wayne.

Like Arkie says, an underrated performer who never failed to entertain. I couldn't begin to count the nights I lay in my bed at home as a kid listening to Lonnie and Wayne playing and singing and selling those harmonicas!

It's at the point where you can nearly count the old time musical heroes on your fingers.

Subject: Talking harmonica man
From: Arkie
Date: 04 Mar 01 - 11:48 PM

The "Talking Harmonica Man", Lonnie Glosson died Friday at 93 years of age. Lonnie, who had been performing up until this final bout with congestive heart failure started his career in 1924 at KMOX in St. Louis. He had hopped a freight train in his native Arkansas and headed to St. Louis to learn the brick laying trade from an older brother. His first radio performance at age 16, earned him a paying job for a railroad convention in Pine Bluff, Ark. and Lonnie never looked back. During the 1950s Lonnie and his partner Wayne Raney were one of the most popular acts in the history of radio. They popularized the tune "I Want My Mama", "The Fox Chase", and did train imitations on the harmonica. Farewell to one of America's real country music pioneers. Lonnie has never received the recognition he was due, but some of us will miss him.