Ballad Hunting with Max Hunter by Sarah Nelson

Author:Sarah Nelson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: MUSIC / Genres & Styles / Folk & Traditional
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Published: 2022-12-20T00:00:00+00:00

While the Hunters’ response to this bitter communication is undocumented, four years later Randolph was still writing to Hunter, albeit in a broken script: “When your down this way, go see Harry McDaniels, Route 7, Fayetteville, Ark. He knows a lot of rare songs that have never been recorded.” And he added, “Ask him to sing ‘no balls at all’.”66 But alongside the humor was a note of pathos that mirrored Randolph’s decline: “It is very hard for me to write now. But Mary and I wish you a Merry Xmas. Come see us when you can. Our best to Virginia and Jenny. Vance.”67

The utilitarian aspect of the two men’s relationship happened on both sides of the fence. At the same time that the aging and infirm Randolph made requests of his Missouri friend, Hunter sometimes used Randolph’s name as a calling card, as evidenced in a letter he wrote to California folklorist D. K. Wilgus: “Though I have never met you I am familiar with some of your work through my very personal and dear friend, Vance Randolph. Vance is quite feeble but he is still mentally alert…. Should you care to write to him about me or any other reason his address is Sunrise Nursing Home…. I might warn you not to call him on the telephone because he would let it ‘ring off the wall’ and still wouldn’t answer it. I will be waiting to hear from you.”68

Virginia Hunter at the Westfield Road house in Springfield, Christmas 1993. (Courtesy of the Hunter family)

But regardless of any accumulation of resentments between Hunter and Randolph, the Arkansas couple’s affection for Virginia Hunter never wavered: “They just took to her like glue,” observed Hunter years later. “Vance told her to get rid of me and he’d marry her. I don’t know whether she ever give that any serious thought or not.”69 In later years, Virginia Hunter would enjoy reminiscing about her interactions with Randolph, who was often described as “a ladies’ man”:70 “First time I ever met him, he gave me one of his autographed books and brought me lots of candy. And we went down to a little club and we danced around. And I tell you, he was damned dapper.”71

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