Me Oh My, How the Time Does Fly
 A John Hartford Anthology


Song Titles
  1. Skippin' In The Mississippi Dew
  2. The Julia Belle Swain
  3. Natchez Whistle
  4. I Would Not Be Here
  5. Miss Ferris
  6. Bear Creek Hop
  7. Cuckoo's Nest
  8. Boogie
  9. Gum Tree Canoe
  10. Slumberin' on the Cumberland
  11. Gentle on My Mind
  12. In Tall Buildings
  13. Nobody Eats at Linebaugh's Anymore
  14. On Christmas Eve
  15. Way Down the River Road
  16. Let Him Go On, Mama
  17. Good Old Electric Washing Machine-circa 1943
  18. I'm Still Here

Anthology produced by J. Seymour Guenther
Original masters processed for CD by Michael Rasfield and master tape assembled by Paul Smith at Acme Audio, Chicago, IL.
Digitally mastered by Roger Seibel at Wakefield Manufacturing, Phoenix, AZ.

Art Direction by Dolores Wilber
Concept by John Hartford
The Golden Eagle photo by Captain Ben Gilbert
Portrait photo by Jim McGuire

Liner Notes

Back in '76, a year filled with mostly forgettable memorabilia, a familiar figure in American music resurfaced on a fledgling independent label. Mark Twang, John Hartford's contribution to the Bicentennial's layer of artifacts, presented the artist in the raw. "We cut it live in two takes, one for each side," he recalls, "I wanted to make it loose and spontaneous, like the radio shows I used to do." This approach attracted enough attention that the album won a Grammy, Flying Fish's first, for the best traditional record of that year.

Many of the songs from this period, written as he studied for his steamboat pilot's license, flow with imagery of life on the river. "The river has become my central metaphor," says the songwriter and author of Steamboat in a Cornfield. As a boy in St. Louis, John's passions were stirred by a certain fifth grade teacher. He looks back fondly in his tribute to "Miss Ferris":

Me oh my, how the time does fly!
The time and the river keep-a-rollin' on by.
Now I'm not a student and she's not a teacher.
But we both still love the Missippi River, uh-huh.

Everybody who has kept up with Hartford over the years now identifies him with the figure of the old-time steamboat pilot, just as folks knew Jimmie Rodgers as "The Singin' Brakeman."

There was a time, though, when his musical pursuits estranged him from his devotion to the river. "When I realized I could play music, and that I was really driven to play music, I definitely decided that the river wouldn't mix with it," he confesses, "so I literally tried to get away from the river. It was desperation. If I drove across a bridge I'd try not to look to the right or left."

Nashville beckoned, where he landed a deal with RCA-Victor; then in 1967, the Smothers Brothers called Dr. Hartford's boy away to work in Hollywood. At the time, Tommy Smothers was putting together a staff of writes and entertainers from outside the television establishment, including a young fellow named Steve Martin, who had been playing banjo and twisting balloons out at Disneyland. The summer replacement series was hosted by Geln Campbell, whose version of Hartford's "Gentle on My Mind" had just hit the charts. His first time on the show, Hartford performed the song in a duet with Campbell. Hartford continued to work for the #1 rated Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, writing himself into the script as much as possible. "I guess I was pretty aggressive or something," he admits, "being on the top TV show in the country can really turn your head around."

When Campbell started his own Goodtime Hour, using "Gentle on My Mind" as the opening theme and Hartford's "Natural to Be Gone" the closer, this countrfied hippie of a pickin', singin' songwriter was very much in demand. Taking advantage of the television exposure, he toured feverishly, flying everywhere, "more than they legally allow pilots and stewardesses to fly."

Acutely sensitive to the downside of success, Hartford's writing reflects that melancholy. "In Tall Buildings" empathizes with office workers, sung by one who longs for a more idyllic existence than the corporate grind affords. Moving back to Nashville, he found that things ain't what they used to be since "Nobody Eats at Linebaugh's Anymore." In his Flying Fish version of "Gentle on My Mind," one of the most recorded and played songs of all time, he handles the hit by turning it over to the otherwise anonymous session players who know this number inside out. This recording exemplifies Hartford's irreverence towards the standard formulas; of course, "Boogie" is another demonstration of the gruntingly good fun that can be perpetrated within the confines of a studio.

These days, though, Hartford's life and work have reached an equilibrium. He remains very involved with the operations of the Julia Belle Swain, which now runs on the Mississippi just below Galena, Illinois. While he no longer flies, he continues to tour steadily with his wife Marie along in the comfort of a fully-equipped tour bus. Very much at home in Music City, he gets along just fine with the country music establishment. "They've been very good to me over the years," he acknowledges. After over twenty years in the business, he's now making some of his most consistently appealing music. He can step above the fray and assert that "I'm Still Here."

-- J. Seymour Guenther


All material from the following Flying Fish albums:

Mark Twang (FF 020) - cuts 1, 2, 16
Produced by Michael Melford, engineered by Claude Hill at the Sound Shop, Nashville, TN.

Nobody Knows What You Do (FF 028) - cut 12
Produced by Michael Melford, engineered by Claude Hill at the Sound Shop

Dillard-Hartford-Dillard: Glittergrass from the Nashwood Hollyville Strings (FF 036) - cut 6
Produced by Michael Melford, engineered by Ernie Winfrey at the Sound Shop

All In The Name of Love (FF 044) - cuts 7, 8, 11
Produced by Michael Melford, engineered by Rich Adler at the Sound Shop

Headin' Down Into The Mystery Below (FF 063) - cuts 3,5, 14
Produced by Michael Melford, engineered by Rich Adler at the Sound Shop

The Festival Tapes (FF 068) - cuts 13
Produced by Sam Bush, engineered by Rich Adler and Claude Hill at the 1977 Telluride Festival of Bluegrass and Country Music, Telluride, CO.
John Hartford: Fiddle, vocals
Sam Bush: Guitar, vocals
John Cowan: Electric bass, vocals
Curtis Burch: Dobro
Courtney Johnson: Banjo

Slumberin' On The Cumberland (FF 095) - cut 10
Produced by Michael Melford, engineered by Rich Adler at the Sound Shop

Catalogue (FF 259) - cuts 4, 17
Produced by Michael Melford, engineered by Paul Moss at the Cinderella Studios, Nashville

Gum Tree Canoe (FF 289) - cuts 9, 15, 18
Produced by Jack Clement, engineered by Jack "Stack-A-Track" Grochmal at the Cowboy Arms Hotel & Recording Spa, Nashville


Thanks to Marie Hartford, Keith Case, Marianne Jasin, Bruce Kaplan, Jim Netter, Jennifer Berman, and everyone who has inspired and supported John's recording efforts for Flying Fish.

All material previously released on Flying Fish Records. All words and music by John Hartford, except "Gum Tree Canoe," by S.S. Steele, arranged by John Hartford; "Bear Creek Hop," a traditional tune arranged by J. Hartford and Doug Dillard; "Cuckoo's Nest," a traditional tune with words by J. Hartford; and "Slumberin' On The Cumberland," by J. Hartford and Benny Martin.

MCA-5861

Released: 1987

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