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of the musicians that he sent to the labels, before arranging for more formal recording sessions. Word spread among blues musicians that Speir could help them make records, and many came to audition at the store. This audition process — along with the ensuing recording sessions — was dramatized in
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Speir retired from recording in 1936, and left Farish Street after a 1942 fire at his store. In the 1960s, Speir was extensively interviewed by Gayle Dean
Wardlow about the recordings he had made. On April 22, 1972, Speir died at his home in
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27:. He was responsible for launching the recording careers of most of the greatest Mississippi
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businessman who owned and ran a music and mercantile store, the Speir
Phonograph Company, on
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neighborhood. In 1926, through selling blues records in his store, he began working as a
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Among the numerous musicians whom Speir introduced to the record companies were
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19:(October 6, 1895 – April 22, 1972) was an American "talent broker" and
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musicians in the 1920s and 1930s. According to blues researcher
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for the record companies producing the records, such as
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Martin
Scorsese Presents the Blues: A Musical Journey
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Using a metal disc machine in his store, Speir made
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258:"H.C. Speir – the Legend « TheDeltaBlues"
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209:Speir was posthumously inducted into the
190:. He also auditioned, but turned down,
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477:People from Newton County, Mississippi
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321:Edward Komara, ed. (July 2004).
482:People from Pearl, Mississippi
283:"H.C. Speir Historical Marker"
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395:"Past Hall of Fame Inductees"
311:. Retrieved 29 December 2023
397:. Blues.org. Archived from
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239:. The Dead Rock Stars Club
472:Gennett Records artists
308:Mississippi Blues Trail
306:"Newton County Blues",
324:The Blues Encyclopedia
180:Blind Roosevelt Graves
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446:H. C. Speir interview
440:H. C. Speir interview
434:H. C. Speir interview
428:H. C. Speir interview
357:Giles Oakley (1997).
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204:Clinton, Mississippi
25:Jackson, Mississippi
17:Henry Columbus Speir
211:Blues Hall of Fame
200:Pearl, Mississippi
176:Blind Joe Reynolds
172:Mississippi Sheiks
127:", which aired on
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33:Gayle Dean Wardlow
380:978-0-306-80743-5
361:The Devil's Music
125:The Soul of a Man
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423:H. C. Speir bio
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192:Jimmie Rodgers
188:Robert Wilkins
160:Robert Johnson
148:Charlie Patton
136:William Harris
58:, Speir was a
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403:. Retrieved
399:the original
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262:the original
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241:. Retrieved
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168:Willie Brown
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21:record store
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467:1972 deaths
462:1895 births
237:"The 1970s"
115:Wim Wenders
56:Mississippi
23:owner from
456:Categories
405:2013-12-02
369:. p.
340:2017-01-07
292:2023-12-29
268:2011-05-07
243:2017-01-07
235:Doc Rock.
217:References
156:Skip James
110:recordings
213:in 2005.
164:Bo Carter
152:Son House
131:in 2003.
100:Paramount
448:(part 3)
442:(part 2)
436:(part 1)
287:Hmdb.org
92:Vocalion
88:Columbia
52:Prospect
50:Born in
84:Gennett
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186:, and
170:, the
80:Victor
39:Career
371:141/2
96:Decca
72:scout
68:black
60:white
29:blues
375:ISBN
329:ISBN
113:the
107:demo
98:and
76:Okeh
146:,
129:PBS
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.