Joseph Spence was a Bahamian guitarist and singer. He is well known for his vocalizations and humming while performing on guitar. Several modern folk, blues and jazz musicians, including Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder, Woody Mann, Olu Dara, and John Renbourn were influenced by and have recorded variations of his arrangements of gospel and Bahamian songs. The earliest recordings of Joseph Spence were made on Spence's porch by folk musicologist Samuel Charters. These were released by Folkways Records.

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  • Joseph Spence was a Bahamian guitarist and singer. He is well known for his vocalizations and humming while performing on guitar. Several modern folk, blues and jazz musicians, including Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder, Woody Mann, Olu Dara, and John Renbourn were influenced by and have recorded variations of his arrangements of gospel and Bahamian songs. The earliest recordings of Joseph Spence were made on Spence's porch by folk musicologist Samuel Charters. These were released by Folkways Records. Spence played a steel-string acoustic guitar, and nearly all of his recorded songs employ guitar accompaniment in a Drop D tuning, where the sixth string is tuned to a D below the normal E, so that the guitar sounds, from sixth to first D A D G B E. The power of his playing derives from moving bass lines and interior voices and a driving beat that he emphasizes with foot tapping. To this mix he adds blues coloration and calypso rhythms to achieve a unique and easily identifiable sound. He has been called the folk guitarist's Thelonious Monk . The Richard Thompson fan club produced a benefit tribute album to Joseph Spence and the Pinder Family, Out on the Rolling Sea. It featured a variety of artists covering songs from Spence's repertoire. His recording of "That Glad Reunion Day" was used in the 2004 film Open Water and also appears on its soundtrack CD.
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  • Joseph Spence
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  • Joseph Spence was a Bahamian guitarist and singer. He is well known for his vocalizations and humming while performing on guitar. Several modern folk, blues and jazz musicians, including Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder, Woody Mann, Olu Dara, and John Renbourn were influenced by and have recorded variations of his arrangements of gospel and Bahamian songs. The earliest recordings of Joseph Spence were made on Spence's porch by folk musicologist Samuel Charters. These were released by Folkways Records.
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  • Joseph Spence (musician)
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