AUTHOR

Philip R. Ratcliffe

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Hello, I am Dr. Phil, Aficionado of the sounds of the Deep South, particularly, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, the Piedmont, New Orleans and Chicago, 1850- 1940. I play ragtime, old-timey, skiffle and blues. I study the history and culture of the Deep South. I was born near Liverpool, England and now live in Scotland. Visit my website at www.Dr-Phil.co.uk I present a radio program, Sounds of the South on our local station, Dunoon Community Radio on alternate Tuesdays. Visit http://www.dunooncommunityradio.org/ to listen in. I have recently completed writing a biography of the great ragtime, blues and old-timey musician Mississippi John Hurt: Mississippi John Hurt: His Life, His Times, His Blues, AND HELPED PRODUCE 'Discovery':The Rebirth of Mississippi John Hurt, a CD of the previously unreleased tape recorded at the time of his rediscovery, March 3, 1963 and full of music and conversation with rediscoverer Tom Hoskins. I have just returned from a book signing tour of Tennessee, Mississippi and New Orleans. I had a great time, met some amazing people and heard some great music. My story of Mississippi John Hurt includes many anecdotes from people who knew him. There is a lot of humor and social history of Mississippi during the first half of the last century. Who would have known that the great-great grandfather of Senator John McCain was the owner of slave girl Mary Jane Mc Cain, who became Mississippi John Hurt's mother? John was bronchitic and had been advised to stop smoking buy his doctor who said, "John, you really should quit smoking those Camels." One day as he lit up another cigarette, a friend asked why he had not followed the doctors advice. John replied, "I did, He didn't say nothing about Pall Malls!"
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