The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 122

JmVSTfH'r''i i i i i in I 1 I imnn num. I f- ,1 I I'r'vt Mf MK -4 111 TT 1111 nlldi I I JOHN HARTFORD: 'It's always been music for me, and I've always loved the river. Probably the river came mm'Q fSuP InllDtiDInl lot's license," Hartford says. "I think I'm doing pretty good." But the music What about the music, which has varied from the zaniness of his own "Granny, Wontcha Smoke Some Marijuana" to the traditional sound of "Saro What about the songwriting that produced "Gentle on My Mind," the often-recorded song that was such a hit for Glen Campbell in 1967? "Actually," he says, "I am in the music business full-time and the river is something I do on the side, but it gets pretty heavy during the summer. Tve been recording an album his '17th or he says) and whenever I get the stuff sounding right "I've been doing some studio work, but not really enough that I'd mention it I've been doing quite a bit of songwriting these days.

Hard to say just what they are, but they'll be on the new album." His concentration however, and "Yup" and "Nope" are about all an interviewer can expect from Hartford at this time of year unless the line of questioning returns to the river. "It's always been music for me, and I've always loved the river," Hartford says. "Probably the river came first You know, I started reading about Jimmie Rogers and found out he was the same way about railroads The love affair began when Hartford, born in New York and raised in St. Louis, met Ruth Ferris, a river historian, writer and teacher in the late 1940s. "I'd always loved boats and then I had Miss Ferris for a fifth grade teacher in 1948.

By the sixth grade, I was totally infected subscribed to The Waterways Journal read Capt. Fred Wray's 'Directory of Western River Packets' and collected five-by-seven steamboat photos." As about the same time, Hartford started playing the banjo and fiddle, a direct result of listening to the Grand 01' Opry and hearing the music played by Earl Scruggs, Red Smiley, Roy Acuff and Bill Monroe. When it came time for college, Hartford enrolled at St Louis' Washington University but didn't graduate. "There didn't seem to be any need for it. I was either gonna be a boat pilot or a musician, and college wasn't much use in either case." He drifted (working on boats, trying out as a radio announcer and turning to work as a commercial artist) before settling into Nashville's music scene in the mid-1960s.

The demo tapes Hartford made to sell his songs instead sold him to RCA as a recording artist After adding the to his last name of Harford at the request of Chet Atkins, Hartford released his first album in 1966 and his second in 1967. The second contained "Gentle on My Mind," which literally made Hartford's career and won two Grammies in 1967 (he won a third in 1977 for his 'Mark Twang' album. "Gentle on My Mind" was a hit for pianist Floyd Cramer and Campbell, who also figured in Hartford's career in 1968 when Tommy Smothers heard some of Hartford's music and hired him to write for "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" on CBS television. "When I got there, he said, I've got this guy and I'm gonna have him host my summer show and I want you to meet and it was Glen Campbell." Told to write some shows, Hartford obliged himself, as well as Campbell. "I was the script writer and I just wrote myself into the script" though, the royalties from "Gentle on My Mind," the money from his own recordings and his income from televison enabled Hartford to choose his lifestyle instead of having it dictated by the entertainment business.

"I made enough money to indulge myself with the things I really enjoy." Music, awards and some gentle roasting will be featured Sunday night when the Atlanta Society of Entertainers (A.S.E.) stages its 11th annual meeting at Mama Wynette's East in Lithonia. The program, which is open to members, will include performances, some tongue-in-cheek assessments of each other by some of Atlanta's top musicians, the installation of the new A.S.E. president and a presentation of awards. Scheduled to perform are A. Jaye Bryant and Bass and her Pure Dynomite Band, Wayne Billy Duzan, Sheri Jarrell, Linda Golver The.

jPel-Phis nd a 10-person all-star band formed by members of local club bands. John Hartford never far from the water he loves BY RUSS DEVAULT STAFF WRITER Briefly Uohn Hartford: Performing with opening act Julie Farbolin, at Banks Shane's, 5975 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs (Hammond Festival Center). Sunday, April 28. Club opens at 6:30 p.m., music begins at 8 p.m. $10.

255-0519 for reser- vations. The A.S.E. Awards Show: Featuring performances by A. Jaye Bryant and Swampcreek, Debt Bass and Pure Dynomite, Wayne Logudice, Billy Duzan, Sheri Jarrell, Linda Glover and The Del-Phis and the A.S.E. "all-star band," at Mama Wynette's East, 6400 Hillandale Drive, Lithonia.

Sunday, April 28. Club opens at 7:30 p.m., program begins at 8 p.m. $5. 482-6666 or 482-9555. John Hartford has won three Grammies, -written a song so popular it has been recorded by more than 250 artists and in national television shows, bat his heart belongs to Julia Belle Swain.

That's the name of the 157-foot riverboat that symbolizes Hartford's love for the river, primarily the Mississippi, although he'll settle for anything big enough for a paddlewheeler. It's a love affair that goes back to his childhood and heavily influences his scheduling of concerts such as the one he'll do Sunday night at Banks Shane's Sandy Springs club. "I've been on the road quite a bit and in the recording studio a bit, but now the steamboat season is coming up," Hartford says during a telephone interview from his Nashville home. "I just got back from New Orleans, where I did a few days on the Delta Queen, and they just got the General Jackson in the water up in Indiana." He will, he says, spend at least two days a week on the Julia Belle Swain and others of her kind from Memorial Day to Labor Day, the period when boats makes a series of two-day river trips out of Peoria, 111. Passengers will hear the 47-year-old Hartford pick up a banjo and sing his bluegrass and country music from time to time during the outings, but he's more interested, in piloting than picking.

"I have a' 100,000 gross tonnage passenger boat pi- "BEST FILE CORK April 27..