Jean Ritchie, born December 8, 1922 in Viper, Perry County Kentucky.
rjblaustein
born to Balis and Abigail Ritchie of Viper, Perry County, Kentucky.
The Ritchies were a singing family, and Jean heard old ballads and
folksongs from her early childhood. In the mid 1930s, folk music
collector Alan Lomax recorded the Ritchie Family's ballad singing.
After completing degrees at Cumberland College and the University of
Kentucky in Lexington,, Jean moved to New York City where she began
working for the Henry Street Settlement House in 1946.. The post-World
War II folk music revival was just getting underway, and Jean Ritchie
soon began her lifelong career as an Appalachian singer and
songwriter. Jean Ritchie appeared onstage with Woody Guthrie and The
Weavers in 1948; the following year she began making regular radio
appearances on Oscar Brand's folk music show on WNYC, the oldest
continuous folk music program on radio in the entire world.
Jean Ritchie and her husband George Pickow married in 1950; they
singlehandedly promoted the the post World war II revival of the
Appalachian dulcimer.In 1952, Jean began recording for Elektra
Records. In 1955, Jean Ritchie received a Fulbright Fellowship and
spent eighteen months in the British Isles
recording and interviewing traditional performers. That same year,
Jean also published her memoirs, Singing Family of The Cumberlands.
When the international folk music revival blossomed in the late
fifties and early 1960s, Jean Ritchie emerged as one of the leading
traditional singers of that exciting period. She recorded numerousl
albums of traditional songs and her own
original compositions, appeared on a memorable Folkways album with Doc
Watson, and played at many coffeehouses and folk festivals. Jean
Ritchie began
writing and recording powerful topic songs dealing with strip mining
and mountain top removal in her native Eastern Kentucky.
At the age of eighty-six, Jean Ritchie is still recording traditional
and original songs and performing at live folk music concerts in
various parts of the United States. She and her husband George Pickow
live in Port Washington on Long Island,
New York.
To see Jean Ritchie's web site, go to:
http://jeanritchiehome.com/jrhome.html
To see a Jean Ritchie picture gallery, go to: http://jeanritchiehome.com/jeanphotogallery.html
You vcan read a 2008 article about Jean Ritchie in The New York Times
by going to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/nyregion/long-island/09colli.html?_r=3&scp=1&sq=jean%20ritchie&st=cse&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
To see a google map showing where Jean Ritchie was born and spent most
of her life as a pioneer in the urban folk music revival movement, go
to:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=108456232374072017347.00047a264a4e4cb2718d2&ll=40.5472,-74.838867&spn=10.163216,19.599609&z=6
To hear Jean Ritchie discuss and perform "Nottamun Town", go to:
http://www.floridamemory.com/Collections/folklife/mp3/Ritchie.mp3
A number of Jean Ritchie's songs can be heard on the Digital Library
of Appalachia's excellent website:
"Come All You Fair And Tender Ladies" (unaccompanied)
http://www.aca-dla.org/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/Berea&CISOPTR=420
"False Sir John (Child #4)"
http://www.aca-dla.org/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/Berea&CISOPTR=418
"Cuckoo"
http://www.aca-dla.org/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/Berea&CISOPTR=424
Jean Ritchie sings "Shady Grove" and plays dulcimer on Pete Seeger's
"Rainbow Quest" television program in the 1960s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8wR4GZGnZE
Ritchie Family reunion on Dave Garroway TV show, 1955:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5auCjcZPYo&feature=related
Jean and Edna Ritchie sing "The Four Marys" on the porch swing of
their family home in Viper, Perry County, Kentucky. Filmed in 1966 by
George Pickow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrPTrkpO6EQ&feature=related
Jean Ritchie sings "Loving Hannah" live in concert in 1997:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8xbb8_1ctk&feature=related
Jean Ritchie has written powerful topical songs about environmental
destruction
in her native Eastern Kentucky:
"Black Waters"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFVdp1KJiqM&feature=related
"Blue Diamond Mine"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oLGXmwMppE&feature=related