Roscoe Holcomb (1911 - 1981)

Born 5 Sep 1911 in Daisy, Perry, Kentucky, United States

Ancestors

Died 25 Feb 1981 at age 69 in Perry, Kentucky, United States

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Biography

Roscoe Holcomb is Notable.

Roscoe was a Coal Miner

Roscoe Holcomb, (born Roscoe Halcomb September 5, 1912 – died February 1, 1981) was an American singer, banjo player, and guitarist from Daisy, Kentucky.

A prominent figure in Appalachian folk music, Holcomb was the inspiration for the term "high, lonesome sound.

A coal miner, construction laborer and farmer for much of his life, Holcomb was not recorded until 1958, after which his career as a professional musician was bolstered by the folk revival in the 1960s.

In 1962, John Cohen (1932-2019) spent eight weeks in Kentucky directing a documentary on Roscoe. The first time Cohen heard Roscoe sing, he recalled, "My hair stood up on end. It was the most moving, touching, dynamic, powerful song. Not the song itself, but the way he sang it was just astounding."

Holcomb suffered from asthma and emphysema as a result of working in coal mines, what is now defined as Black Lung Disease. He died in 1981, at the age of 68.

Roscoe was mentioned on a memorial in Arch Halcomb Cemetery, Leatherwood, Perry County, Kentucky, United States with a death date of 26 February 1981.^[1]

Discography

Holcomb's discography includes the following albums released on LP during his lifetime:

• The Music of Roscoe Holcomb and Wade Ward, Folkways Records, 1962
• The High Lonesome Sound, Folkways Records, 1965
• Close to Home, Folkways Records, 1975

The following single-artist compilations have been released since his death:

• The High Lonesome Sound, Smithsonian Folkways, 1998
• An Untamed Sense of Control, Smithsonian Folkways, 2003

Holcomb's work appears on many multiple-artist compilations, including the following released during his lifetime:

• Mountain Music of Kentucky, Folkways Records, 1960 (6 of 29 tracks)
• FOTM – Friends of Old Time Music, Folkways Records, 1964 (2 of 16 tracks)
• Zabriskie Point (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), MGM Records, 1970 (1 of 11 tracks)
• 3rd Annual Brandywine Mountain Music Convention – '76 Music of Kentucky, Heritage Records [Virginia], 1977 (2 of 14 tracks)

Sources

1. ↑ Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
   Find A Grave: Memorial #104852814 (accessed 11 May 2023)
   Memorial page for Roscoe Holcomb Famous memorial (5 Sep 1911-26 Feb 1981), citing Arch Halcomb Cemetery, Leatherwood, Perry County, Kentucky, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.

• "Kentucky, Vital Record Indexes, 1911-1999," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKH2-N4WG : 11 February 2018), Rosie Holcouch, 05 Sep 1911; citing Birth, Perry, Kentucky, United States, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort.
• "Kentucky, Vital Record Indexes, 1911-1999," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKHJ-R5CD : 11 February 2018), Roscoe Halcomb, 05 Sep 1913; citing Birth, Perry, Kentucky, United States, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort.
• "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHPH-F81 : 1 February 2021), Rossie Halcomb in entry for Marion Halcomb, 1920.
• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMFK-N43 : accessed 12 May 2023), Rosie Holcomb in household of Marion Holcomb, Leatherwood, Perry, Kentucky, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 26, sheet 8B, line 64, family 140, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 774; FHL microfilm 2,340,509.
• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K7Y2-4DV : 9 January 2021), Rosie Halcomb in household of Marion Halcomb, Magisterial District 7 Leatherwood, Perry, Kentucky, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 97-30, sheet 19B, line 48, family 273, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 1349.
• "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JLWN-JM2 : 9 January 2021), Roscoe Halcomb, Feb 1981; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
• "Kentucky, Vital Record Indexes, 1911-1999," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKH1-NNYD : 11 February 2018), Roscoe Halcomb, 26 Feb 1981; citing Death, Perry, Kentucky, United States, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort.

See Also:

• Wikipedia:Roscoe_Holcomb