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American Folk Blues Festival Photograph Collection, 1962-1965

AFC 2003/050

Prepared by Sarah Bradley Leighton

American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Washington, D.C.

November 2005

Encoded by Judy Ng, June 2006 ; Revised by Nora Yeh

Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/eadafc.af006003

Latest revision: August 2009

Table of Contents

Collection Summary

Scope and Content

Biographical History

Selected Search Terms

Personal Names

Subjects

Titles

Form of Material

Administrative Information

Arrangement

Access

Acquisition

Preferred Citation

Related Materials

Collection Concordance by Format

Container List

Appendix I: Graphic Images Inventory

Appendix II: Performers Photographed

Appendix III: Other Persons Photographed

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.

Personal Names

Subjects

Titles

Form of Material

Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection was processed by Sarah Bradley Leighton in February 2005. Each digital print was assigned a unique graphic image (GR) number and a log was created to identify the prints. The prints are arranged chronologically beginning with the images from the 1962 festival through the 1965 festival. The digital prints are not of the highest quality, so each print is housed in a protective Mylar folder to prevent the surface toner from rubbing off when handled.

Access

Duplication of the collection materials may be governed by copyright and other restrictions.

Acquisition

The prints were submitted to the Library of Congress Copyright Office on September 10, 2003, and are part of Stephanie Wiesand’s 500-shot catalog that Reelin’ in the Years Productions, LLC now represents. The Copyright Office offered the collection to the Prints and Photographs Division who then transferred the 68 prints to the Archive of Folk Culture at the American Folklife Center.

Preferred Citation

American Folk Blues Festival Photograph Collection, 1962-1965,, Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Related Materials

Reelin’ in the Years Productions, LLC holds the rights to the Stephanie Wiesand photographs as well as to the sound recordings and footage of the television tapings. They have commercially released some of the material and have used the Wiesand photographs in various formats. The photographs are also available for sale through their web site. For more information visit http://www.reelinintheyears.com/

Scope and Content

The 68 digital prints in this collection document the musicians who participated in the American Folk Blues Festival from 1962 to 1965. The American Folk Blues Festival brought American blues musicians to Europe for live concerts and studio performances between 1962 and 1982. Promoted by German blues enthusiasts, Horst Lippmann and Fritz Rau, the festival influenced the musical landscape of Europe as it exposed young musicians such as Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Jimmy Page to blues music. Stephanie Wiesand usually photographed the musicians during television tapings that took place at Südwestfunk, a German television and radio station in Baden-Baden, Germany.

Biographical History

Stephanie Wiesand, German blues and jazz enthusiast, was born in Germany in 1912. From 1962 to 1965, she photographed the musicians of the American Folk Blues Festival during television tapings that took place at Südwestfunk, a German television and radio station in Baden-Baden, Germany. The prints included in this collection were submitted to the Library of Congress for copyright deposit on September 10, 2003, and are part of Stephanie Wiesand’s 500-shot catalog that Reelin’ in the Years Productions, LLC now represents.

Collection Concordance by Format

Container List

Appendix I: Graphic Images Inventory

Boyd, Eddie, 1914-

Dixon, Willie, 1915-

Estes, Sleepy John, 1899-1977

Guy, Buddy

Hooker, John Lee

Hopkins, Lightnin', 1912-

Horton, Big Walter [Also known as: "Big Walter 'Shakey' Horton" or "Big Walter Horton"]

Jackson, Jump

Lenoir, J. B., d. 1967

Johnson, Lonnie, 1899-1970

McDowell, Fred [Also known as "Mississippi Fred McDowell"]

Memphis Slim

Muddy Waters, 1915-

Murphy, Matt, guitarist

Shakey Jake

Spann, Otis, d. 1970

Spivey, Victoria

Sumlin, Hubert, 1931-

Sunnyland Slim, 1907-

Sykes, Roosevelt

Thornton, Big Mama

Walker, T-Bone, 1910-1975

Williams, Big Joe, 1903-

Williamson, Sonny Boy, d. 1965

Howlin' Wolf, 1910-

Berendt, Joachim Ernst [Author of jazz history, record producer, and co-founder of Südwestfunk.]

Lippmann, Horst, 1927- [Promoter and organizer of jazz concerts, and co-founder, with Fritz Rau, of the American Folk Blues Festival.]