Richard Gove Scrivenor (b. September 18, 1945

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Scrivenor is an

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of t ...

and guitar player, and includes the instrument in many of his songs. He plays predominantly

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

and

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

music.

History

Gove moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

in the early 1970s after enlisting for four years in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. In Nashville, he signed with noted music publisher

Acuff-Rose Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. was an American music publishing firm formed in 1942 by Roy Acuff and Fred Rose in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Currently, the company's catalog is owned by Sony Music Publishing. Early history Acuff-Rose was fo ...

, and then a recording and writing contract with TRX records. Scrivenor signed a management and booking deal with the Don Light Talent Agency and toured with fellow agency artists

Delbert McClinton Delbert McClinton (born November 4, 1940) is an American blues rock and electric blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and pianist. From his first professional stage appearance in 1957 to his most recent national tour in 2018, h ...

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (December 25, 1946 – September 1, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter, author, and businessman. He was known for his tropical rock sound and persona, which often portrayed a lifestyle described as "island escapis ...

and the Original Coral Reefer Band. Scrivenor had played in a duo previously with Coral Reefer bassist Harry Dailey.Also in the 1970's he played two years in succession on the popular PBS series "

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American Concert, live music Television show, television program recorded and produced by KLRU, Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", an ...

" with

Doc Watson Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. He won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His ...

and The Amazing Rhythm Aces. He played the character of Daniel Boone on the National Geographic Recording, "Cumberland Gap," written by Billy Ed Wheeler. Gove also did jingle work as well, including the early Opryland campaigns for TV and Busch Beer. He has played autoharp for artists

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

Dan Seals Danny Wayland Seals (February 8, 1948 – March 25, 2009), also known as England Dan, was an American musician. The younger brother of Seals and Crofts member Jim Seals, he first gained fame as one half of the soft rock duo England Dan & ...

, Hank Williams, Jr.,

Iris Dement Iris Luella DeMent (born January 5, 1961) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. DeMent's musical style includes elements of folk, country and gospel. She has been nominated for a Grammy Award twice. Early life DeMent was born in Parag ...

and

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

. When TRX Records shut down in the mid 1970s, Gove signed with Flying Fish Records and recorded his albums ''Shady Gove'' and ''Coconut Gove.'' Musicians such as Doc Watson, John Hartford, Marty Stuart, Buddy Emmons, Ben Keith (

), and Dave "Please Come To Boston" Loggins contributed to his recordings. These two albums were re-issued by Rounder Records (Flying Fish) in 1999 as a compilation titled ''Solid Gove''. He was joined by John Prine, Nanci Griffith, Lari White, and Guthrie Trapp for his first Compass Records release ''Shine On'', a collection of five self-penned and selected favorites by fellow artists. His album, ''Made Of Sand'', features guest appearances by

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...

, Guthrie Trapp, and

Nanci Griffith Nanci Caroline Griffith (July 6, 1953 – August 13, 2021) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She often appeared on the PBS music program ''Austin City Limits'', starting in 1985 during season 10. In 1990, Griffith appeared on th ...

. It was recorded at

Jack Clement Jack Henderson Clement (April 5, 1931 – August 8, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, record producer, film producer and music executive. He was producer and engineer for Sam Phillips at Sun Records in its early days, discovering ...

s' " Cowboy Arms Hotel and Recording Spa" and

John Prine John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. Widely cited as one of the most influential songwriters of his generation, Prine was known for his signature blend of humoro ...

s' studio "The Butcher Shoppe" and produced by Pat McInerney and Gove.

Discography

*''Heavy Cowboy'' (1971)TRX Records *''Shady Gove'' (1976)Flying Fish Records *''Coconut Gove'' (1979)Flying Fish Records *''Solid Gove'' (1998) – includes the albums ''Coconut Gove'' and ''Shady Gove''. Flying Fish Records *''Shine On'' (1998)Compass Records *''Made of Sand'' (2007)No Age Records

References

External links

Scrivenor's website
* 'Coconut Gove' at Allmusic* 'Shady Gove' at Allmusic* 'Solid Gove' at Allmusic* 'Shine On' at Allmusic {{DEFAULTSORT:Scrivenor, Gove Living people American autoharp players 1945 births Musicians from New Haven, Connecticut