[78-L] Donald Lee Nelson

[Cary Ginell]

I never saw Donald Lee without a three-piece suit on. On really, really scorching days in his un-airconditioned house in Westwood, he would take his jacket off, but the shirt, tie, and vest stayed on. Always.

Cary Ginell


On Jul 1, 2013, at 4:32 PM, maceo <maceo at nugrape.net> wrote:

> Cary,
> 
> Sad news, I remember his kindness to me when visiting many years ago 
> now.  Always dapper in his attire.
> 
> Gary
>> Just wanted to note the passing of Donald Lee Nelson, a member of the vaunted "Saturday Crowd" of the Jazz Man Record Shop, who I profiled in my book on the venerable, but lamented collectors shop (1939-194). Nelson was a collector of hillbilly records and at one time had a phenomenal collection. It had been sold off years before he entered an assisted living facility in Woodland Hills, Calif.
>> Donald Lee (nobody called him Don) wrote a series of thoughtful and well-researched articles on event ballads of the 1920s (published in the JEMF Quarterly) and often took trips to Appalachia and the South to interview members of old-time string bands, including people like Emry Arthur and Lee Allen of the Allen Brothers and pioneering Cajun performer Moise Robin. He did a great job researching the life of Buddy Jones for an early Texas Rose LP I produced and was fascinated by the life and personae of Louisiana scoundrels like Jimmie Davis and Huey Long. In fact, when Nelson put on a straw boater, he looked remarkably like the Kingfish.
>> One time, on one of my own field expeditions to East Texas, Nelson had asked me to see if I could track down the gravesite of Prince Albert Hunt. I finally found it, with the name "Archie A. Hunt" inscribed on the tombstone - I've never seen Nelson happier than when I made him a copy of the picture of the stone that I took. He loved tromping around graveyards looking for musicians. I got infected by that bug when I sought out Leon Chappelear's final resting place near Shreveport, Louisiana (a photo of it is in my CD reissue of Chappelear's music).
>> Nelson taught me the basics of cooking 'country style.' He worked as a sommelier and buyer at the restaurant in the Ambassador Hotel, so I learned about the finer methods of cooking as well as the ones favored by the folk. He was a great friend and vastly improved our knowledge of early country music.
>> A fine Southern gentleman, Donald Lee Nelson was 71.
>> Requiescat in pace
>> 
>> Cary Ginell 		 	   		
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