Delta Drone by Uncle Hassell

Uncle Hassell: Farmer, Businessman and Secret Pioneer of Electronic Music*

Ford Hassell Clark, Jr. (1913-1997) was a man of few words. When he did speak, it was in a low-register mumble, and his speech was liberally peppered with "damns" and "hells". Though this was about the extent of his repertoire of expletives, his use of them often caused discomfort among polite folks not accustomed to such casual cursing. "Oh, that's just Hassell. He doesn't mean anything by it," was a refrain commonly proffered to a dinner guest registering shock over Hassell's soft-spoken, even friendly, request to "Pass me some o' them damn peas."

He was born in Mer Rouge, Louisiana, a tiny farming community in the northeast part of the state's Mississippi Delta country. There is no record of his ever having traveled more than a few hundred miles from Mer Rouge. He married his childhood sweetheart, Mary "Bunte" Bell (1913-1987) when they were both 18 years old, and he settled into a life of farming and managing a local cotton gin. His greatest fame during his lifetime came from a stint as mayor of the town during the late 1960s. Mostly, he was known as a quiet, dependable fellow who liked to fish the local bayous, grill barbecue and spend quiet evenings watching TV with Bunte.

He was also my great-uncle and, for part of my boyhood, my nextdoor neighbor. Aunt Bunte and Uncle Hassell never had any children of their own, and our families were very close. And it was initially through the influence of my father, an electronics hobbyist, that Uncle Hassell became intrigued with the possibilities of electronic sound. and eventually created, unbeknownst to almost all his social circle, the pieces included in this collection. He did, however speak at length with me and share details of his work when I was a young man intent on becoming an audio engineer and musician. During a few visits to Uncle Hassell in his final years, I was able to learn much about his ideas and methods. As the inheritor of his tape library, I continue to be fascinated by this highly unlikely secret pioneer of electronic music. It is my hope that this presentation of his music to the public would have brought a shy smile to an old farmer's face.

Hank Tilbury, Chief Archivist
National Repository for the Collective Unconscious
February 30, 2018

Click on individual tracks for further notes and "interviews".

*Don't believe everything you read, folks. I'm just indulging in a little imaginative exercise with this project--HT

"There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness is the true method."--Herman Melville

While it's true Melville was referring specifically to the process of rendering blubber from a floating whale carcass, the same philosophy could be applied to our approach to music: make plans, but make them flexible; improvise and adapt. "Careful Disorderliness" is our motto.

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