James Richard Hendricks (born February 10, 1940) is an American guitarist and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

ian.

Biography

Born in

Atkinson, Nebraska Atkinson is a city in Holt County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 1,306 at the 2020 census. History The first settlement at Atkinson was made ''circa'' 1875. Atkinson was platted in 1880, when the railroad was extended to that poin ...

, Hendricks began playing the guitar and

lap steel guitar The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar or lap slide guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of pla ...

in his youth, and began performing publicly while working as a teacher in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, in the early 1960s. One of his shows was attended by

Cass Elliot Ellen Naomi Cohen (September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), known professionally as Cass Elliot, was an American singer. She was also known as "Mama Cass", a name she reportedly disliked. Elliot was a member of the singing group the Mamas & the P ...

, who invited Hendricks to join her and Tim Rose in the New York folk group The Big 3. The group was successful playing

The Bitter End The Bitter End is a 230-person capacity nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually s ...

, touring with comedian

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...

and appearing on ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...

''. Hendricks was married to Elliot in 1963, but the marriage was annulled in 1968. In 1964, Elliot and Hendricks started the folk group The Mugwumps, which included

Denny Doherty Dennis Gerrard Stephen Doherty (November 29, 1940 – January 19, 2007) was a Canadian singer, songwriter and musician. A tenor, he was a founding member of the 1960s musical group the Mamas & the Papas for which he was inducted into the Rock ...

, and Zal Yanovsky. The group lasted for eight months before Yanovsky formed

The Lovin' Spoonful The Lovin' Spoonful is a Canadian-American folk-rock band formed in Greenwich Village, New York City, in 1964. The band were among the most popular groups in the United States for a short period in the mid-1960s and their music and image influ ...

and Doherty and Elliot would become one-half of The Mamas & the Papas. Hendricks moved to Los Angeles and formed The Lamp of Childhood, which released three singles on Dunhill Records in 1966–67 without success. He improved his songwriting while with the band, and after leaving it wrote "Summer Rain", a hit for Johnny Rivers, and "Long Lonesome Highway", theme song of the television series '' Then Came Bronson''. In the 1970s, Hendricks 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 ...

, and began touring with family and writing

contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music (CCM), also known as Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music, is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christianity, Chri ...

. Hendricks plays guitar,

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

dobro Dobro () is an American brand of resonator guitars owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally a gui ...

, and

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 has recorded more than 50 albums spanning a variety of styles, mainly Americana,

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 contemporary Christian, including several

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

albums for Benson Records and later Maple Street Music, a label he co-founded in 1996.

References

External links

* 1940 births Living people 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American folk guitarists American male guitarists People from Holt County, Nebraska {{US-musician-stub