Frank Hutchison
# Frank Hutchison

Frank Hutchison (March 20, 1897 – November 9, 1945) was an American early country blues and Piedmont blues musician and songwriter. Okeh Records promotional materials referred to him as “The Pride of West Virginia,” and he is thought to be the first non-African American musician to record in the country blues idiom. Hutchison was best known as a slide guitar player, where he held the guitar in his lap and used a pen knife as a slide.

## Biography

Born in Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States, and moving to Logan County when he was young, Hutchison cut several tracks for Okeh Records. He worked as a coal miner at various coal mines in Logan County, West Virginia, both before and after his career as a recording artist. His exposure to Appalachian music came at an early age because his grandfather played fiddle and banjo in Logan before he died in 1903 in a mining accident. In 1904, the railroad first came into Logan County and exposed Hutchison to African-American blues and pre-blues. Hutchison is said to have walked with a limp, possibly as a result of a mining accident.

Between 1926 and 1929, Hutchison recorded forty-one sides for Okeh, of which nine were unissued. Three of the issued sides and three of the unissued were recorded with Sherman Lawson, a Logan County fiddler; others featured Hutchison's guitar, harmonica and voice. Hutchison also performed in the "Okeh Medicine Show," released by Okeh in 1929.

Some years after his recording career had ended and after he left the Logan County coal mines, Hutchison and his wife operated a store in Lake, West Virginia, where he also served as postmaster. His family lived above the store. The store burned down, Hutchison lost everything and reportedly developed alcohol problems after that. He worked as a riverboat entertainer on the Ohio River and eventually moved to Columbus, Ohio.

He died in 1945 at a Dayton, Ohio hospital, of liver disease, aged 48. He is buried in a hillside family cemetery in Lake, West Virginia.

Hutchison is considered to be one of the finest performers of the "white country blues" genre of early folk music. One of his more famous recordings is "The Train That Carried My Girl From Town." His recording of "Stackalee" was included in Harry Smith's 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music, and influenced a number of musicians during the 1950s and 1960s folk revival. Hutchison's songs have been covered by or have influenced Doc Watson, John Fahey, Bob Dylan, Mike Seeger, Roscoe Holcomb, Cowboy Copas, Frank Fairfield, Chris Smither, and Charlie Parr. He was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of fame in 2018.

## Original discography

| Matrix | Title | Record # | Recording date | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 80143 | "Worried Blues" | Okeh 45064 | September 28, 1926 | |
| 80144 | "Train That Carried the Girl From Town" | Okeh 45064 | September 28, 1926 | |
| 80350 | "Stackalee" | Okeh 45106 | January 28, 1927 | |
| 80351 | "The Wild Horse" | Okeh 45093 | January 28, 1927 | |
| 80352 | "Long Way To Tipperary" | Okeh 45089 | January 28, 1927 | |
| 80353 | "The Gospel Ship" | Unissued | January 28, 1927 | |
| 80354 | "The West Virginia Rag" | Okeh 45083 | January 28, 1927 | |
| 80355 | "C & O Excursion" | Okeh 45089 | January 28, 1927 | |
| 80356 | "Coney Isle" | Okeh 45083 | January 28, 1927 | |
| 80357 | "Old Rachel" | Okeh 45093 | January 28, 1927 | |
| 80358 | "Lightning Express" | Okeh 45144 | January 28, 1927 | |
| 80359 | "Stackalee" | Okeh 45106 | January 28, 1927 | |
| 80776 | "Old Rachel" | Unissued | April 28, 1927 | |
| 80777 | "Lonesome Valley" | Unissued | April 28, 1927 | |
| 80778 | "Logan County Blues" | Okeh 45121 | April 28, 1927 | |
| 80782 | "Worried Blues" | Okeh 45114 | April 29, 1927 | |
| 80783 | "The Train That Carried the Girl From Town" | Okeh 45114 | April 29, 1927 | |
| 80784 | "The Last Scene of the Titanic" | Okeh 45121 | April 29, 1927 | |
| 80785 | "All Night Long" | Okeh 45144 | April 29, 1927 | |
| 80786 | "Over the Waves" | Unissued | April 29, 1927 | |
| 401102 | "Cluck Old Hen" | Unissued | September 10, 1928 | & Sherman Lawson |
| 401103 | "Old Corn Liquor" | Unissued | September 10, 1928 | & Sherman Lawson |
| 401104 | "Sally Gooden" | Unissued | September 10, 1928 | & Sherman Lawson |
| 401105 | "Alabama Girl, Ain't You Comin' Out Tonight" | Okeh 45313 | September 10, 1928 | & Sherman Lawson |
| 401106 | "Hell Bound Train" | Okeh 45452 | September 10, 1928 | & Sherman Lawson |
| 401108 | "Wild Hogs In the Red Brush" | Okeh 45274 | September 10, 1928 | & Sherman Lawson |
| 401109 | "Boston Burglar" | Unissued | September 10, 1928 | |
| 401110 | "The Burglar Man" | Okeh 45313 | September 11, 1928 | |
| 401111 | "Back In My Home Town" | Okeh 45258 | September 11, 1928 | |
| 401112 | "The Miner's Blues" | Okeh 45258 | September 11, 1928 | |
| 401113 | "Hutchison's Rag" | Okeh 45274 | September 11, 1928 | |
| 402504 | "The Boston Burglar" | Okeh 45425 | July 9, 1929 | |
| 402505 | "Down In the Lone Green Valley" | Unissued | July 9, 1929 | |
| 402506 | "The Chevrolet Six" | Okeh 45378 | July 9, 1929 | |
| 402507 | "Cumberland Gap" | Okeh 45570 | July 9, 1929 | |
| 402508 | "The Deal" | Okeh 45570 | July 9, 1929 | |
| 402509 | "Railroad Bill" | Okeh 45425 | July 9, 1929 | |
| 402510 | "Johnny and Jane, Part 1" | Okeh 45361 | July 9, 1929 | |
| 402511 | "Johnny and Jane, Part 2" | Okeh 45361 | July 9, 1929 | |
| 402512 | "Cannon Ball Blues" | Okeh 45378 | July 9, 1929 | |
| 402513 | "K.C.Blues" | Okeh 45452 | July 9, 1929 | |
