Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
He spent a lifetime collecting the blues. The Smithsonian listened. By Geoff Edgers October 14, 2023 at 6:00 ET Robert “Mack” McCormick’s life was all about the blues. His Houston home was stuffed with reel-to-reel tapes, research files and vinyl records. But by the time he had died at age 85 in 2015, few really knew what his collection contained. That included his daughter, Susannah Nix. She was 3 when he finished his last significant project, the liner notes for a 1974 album featuring 1920s recordings by Texas musician Henry Thomas. Which is why Nix thinks she knows exactly how her father would feel about the Smithsonian’s public reveal of the unruly collection McCormick coined “The Monster.” “Oh, he would hate it,” says Nix, a 52-year-old writer in Texas and McCormick’s only child. “Which is why he never did anything. He was his own worst enemy. Nothing would ever be perfect enough. Even if he didn’t know he wanted it, it still had to be the ideal version of how it should be.” [Sharp. Witty. Thoughtful. Sign up for the Style Memo newsletter.] McCormick spent decades building his collection — 590 reels of recordings and 160 boxes of other materials. He was a member of what is often described as the “Blues Mafia,” the White collectors who roamed the South during the 1950s and ’60s searching for Black blues musicians they felt had been overlooked. The material on McCormick’s shelves remained largely unheard and unseen — until now. Thanks to Nix’s decision in 2019 to donate it to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, there is a slew of material being released to the public.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Comments
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
By Geoff Edgers
October 14, 2023 at 6:00 ET
Robert “Mack” McCormick’s life was all about the blues. His Houston home was stuffed with reel-to-reel tapes, research files and vinyl records. But by the time he had died at age 85 in 2015, few really knew what his collection contained. That included his daughter, Susannah Nix. She was 3 when he finished his last significant project, the liner notes for a 1974 album featuring 1920s recordings by Texas musician Henry Thomas.
Which is why Nix thinks she knows exactly how her father would feel about the Smithsonian’s public reveal of the unruly collection McCormick coined “The Monster.”
“Oh, he would hate it,” says Nix, a 52-year-old writer in Texas and McCormick’s only child. “Which is why he never did anything. He was his own worst enemy. Nothing would ever be perfect enough. Even if he didn’t know he wanted it, it still had to be the ideal version of how it should be.”
[Sharp. Witty. Thoughtful. Sign up for the Style Memo newsletter.]
McCormick spent decades building his collection — 590 reels of recordings and 160 boxes of other materials. He was a member of what is often described as the “Blues Mafia,” the White collectors who roamed the South during the 1950s and ’60s searching for Black blues musicians they felt had been overlooked. The material on McCormick’s shelves remained largely unheard and unseen — until now. Thanks to Nix’s decision in 2019 to donate it to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, there is a slew of material being released to the public.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14