Harry McClintock

Harry Kirby McClintock (October 8, 1884 – April 24, 1957), also known as "Haywire Mac", was an American railroad man,[1] radio personality,[2] actor, singer, songwriter, and poet, best known for his song "Big Rock Candy Mountain".[3]

Harry Kirby McClintock
Born
Harry Kirby McClintock

(1884-10-08)October 8, 1884
Uhrichsville, Ohio
DiedApril 24, 1957(1957-04-24) (aged 72)
San Francisco, California
Other namesHaywire Mac, Radio Mac, Strawlegs Martin
Occupationboomer, author, poet, busker, cowboy, union organizer
Known for"Big Rock Candy Mountain", "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum"

Life

McClintock was born on October 8, 1884, in Uhrichsville, Ohio, "the son of a railroad cabinet maker and nephew of four "Boomer Brakemen" who worked on traveling trains for throwing switches and helped transfer cars from train to train. He was the son of Walter Alan McClintock (1852-1901) Harrison County, Ohio, USA, and Joanna M Kirby (1852-1922)Harrison, Ohio, United States and only had a single sibling, Milton D McClintock (1876-1880). His family was native to Tippecanoe, Ohio, and soon after his birth his parents moved their small family to Knoxville, Tennessee, where they raised him. His drifting began when he ran away from home as a boy to join a circus. He railroaded in Africa; worked as a seaman; saw action in the Philippines as a civilian mule-train packer, supplying American troops with food and ammunition; and in 1899 found himself in China as an aide to newsmen covering the Boxer Rebellion. Back in the States, he hired out to the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway in the Pittsburgh area, and from there he took the boomer trail as railroader and a minstrel. "Mac lived an adventurous life and never lost his sense of humor".[4]

Harry K. McClintock married Bessie K. Johnson on September 8, 1917, in Farmington City, Utah. They only ever had one daughter, Joan V. McClintock who attended Balboa High School in San Francisco and Graduated at 16 years old.

Bessie's Father was Ernest Hugo Oscar Johnson born in Stockholm, Sweden & from Park City Utah and her Mother was Olivia L. Johnson from Eslöv, Skåne, Sweden & Salt Lake City Utah. Olivia L. Johnson was employed by operating Mother Johnson's rooming house located in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The writer Jim Thompson, an acquaintance of McClintock, alluded to McClintock in his autobiographical work Big Boy. Thompson stated that he "was put next to a job" dismantling oil derricks "by a character named Strawlegs, a one-time banjo player and an all-time dipsomaniac".[5] Later on, he says, "Strawlegs was a very good banjo player, as, if you have guessed his right name, you know. He was also a very good little guy."[6]

Radio & Music

In 1925 "Mac" participated in a KFRC Radio[7] talent contest. Singing his song "The Big Rock Candy Mountains" won him a spot on two new KFRC Radio shows. One was a children's program that he hosted called "Mac and his Gang",[8] with "Mac's Haywire Orchestry"[9][10] being among his special guests, singing cowboy songs that were very popular among San Francisco’s children.[11] The other one was "Blue Monday Jamboree"[12] where his mates included Meredith Willson, Bea Benaderet,[13] Edna Fisher,[14] [15] and future I Love Lucy producer Jess Oppenheimer. Mac was a member of Al Pearce's "The Happy Go Lucky Hour",[16] a spin off of Blue Monday Jamboree, on KFRC. With Edna Fisher,[17] Tommy Harris, Founder of SF's Tommy's Joynt.[18]

His song, "The Big Rock Candy Mountains",[19] Reached No. 1 on Billboard's "Hillbilly Hits" chart in 1939. Having worked as a cowboy himself, McClintock was one of the few "country" singers who had an authentic background from which to draw. The song was featured in the 2000 Coen brothers movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?.[20]

His song "The Old Chisholm Trail" was featured in the end credits of The Grandest Enterprise Under God episode (Episode 5) of the TV documentary miniseries The West.

He was included in Robert Crumb's series of "Heroes of Blues, Jazz and Country" trading cards.

Membership

H. K. McClintock was initiated into the IWW by W.F. Little, (Walter Frederick Little is Frank H. Little’s brother), Union No. 66, on March 4, 1911, Dep.Transportation

He became a Deputy Sheriff of San Francisco California on February 7, 1930.

He became a member of Screen Actors Guild, INC. on May 5, 1939.

He became a member of The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) on September 30, 1940, His Estate has continued to belong to ASCAP to present.

Politics

Mac and Joe Hill were Spellbinders for the IWW and would show up as they did at the Tucker Utah strike on June 14, 1913. (Salt Lake Tribune) He is credited with being the first person to sing "The Preacher and the Slave", a song by Joe Hill, in public. He was a lifelong member of the Industrial Workers of the World. Mac wrote the marching song of the IWW "Hallelujah I'm a Bum". In the early 1920s he worked and organized union men in the oil fields of west Texas, where he met and recruited Jim Thompson, who later incorporated him into several short stories using the name "Strawlegs Martin".[21]

Selected discography

78s

LPs

Compilations
  • Songs to Grow On, Vol. 3: American Work Songs (1951, Folkways Records 07027). Track 4: "Jerry, Go and Oil That Car"
  • Cowboy Songs on Folkways (1991, Smithsonian Folkways 40043). Track 7: "Utah Carl"
  • Folk Song America, Vol. 1 (1991, Smithsonian Collection 461). Track 5: "Big Rock Candy Mountain"
  • When I Was a Cowboy, Vol. 1 (1996, Yazoo Records 2022). Track 9: "Sam Bass"
  • Train 45: Railroad Songs of the Early 1900s (1998, Rounder Select 1143). Track 20: "Jerry, Go Oil That Car"
  • O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000, Lost Highway Records 170069). Track 2: "Big Rock Candy Mountain"
  • Back in the Saddle Again: American Cowboy Songs (2004, New World Records). Track 1: "Old Chisholm Trail"

Bibliography
  • "Haywire Mac and the Big Rock Candy Mountain" (Stillhouse Hollow Publishers Inc.", Copyright 1981) By Henry Young. Santa Fe Railway locomotive engineer Retired Oct. 31, 1974.

Stories
  • "Railroaders are Tough" (Railroad Magazine, April, 1943)
  • "Boomer and Their Women" (Railroad Magazine, December, 1957)

Articles
  • "New Publications - Railroad Songs of Yesteryear" (Railroad Magazine, August 1943) Short biography is part of review.

References
  1. http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/harry-%E2%80%9Chaywire-mac%E2%80%9D-mcclintock--1928-.aspx
  2. https://www.oldradio.com/archives/stations/sf/mac.htm
  3. https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/800020447/BVE-46454-The_big_rock_candy_mountains
  4. "He's Gone to the Big Rock Candy Mountain", Railroad Magazine, Vol. 68 No. 6, Oct. 1957 p. 57
  5. Thompson, Jim (1953). Big Boy. New York, NY: Mysterious Press. p. 152. ISBN 9780445407138.
  6. Thompson, Jim (1953). Big Boy. New York, NY: Mysterious Press. p. 169. ISBN 9780445407138.
  7. http://www.theradiohistorian.org/kfrcstud.htm
  8. http://www.theradiohistorian.org/KFRCsked1925.jpg
  9. http://www.theradiohistorian.org/mac.htm
  10. https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HjxTBzCQW4Y/S9hqUXhITbI/AAAAAAAAAhI/qOI8rFfuk-k/s1600/Mac's+Haywire+Orchestra.jpg
  11. https://bayarearadio.org/sf-radio-history/mac
  12. http://www.theradiohistorian.org/blue_mon_poster.jpg |date=1927|
  13. http://www.theradiohistorian.org/blue_mon_poster.jpg |date=1927|
  14. http://www.theradiohistorian.org/blue_mon_poster.jpg |date=1927|
  15. https://www.oldradio.com/archives/stations/sf/radio11.htm with names
  16. http://www.theradiohistorian.org/pearce2.htm
  17. https://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/fischer.html
  18. https://bayarearadio.org/schneider/kfrc1.shtml
  19. https://archive.org/details/78_the-big-rock-candy-mountains_mac-harry-mcclintock-h-mcclintock_gbia0347406b
  20. https://archive.org/details/cd_o-brother-where-art-thou-music-from-the-mo_various-artists-alison-krauss-chris-thomas/disc1/02.+Harry+McClintock+-+Big+Rock+Candy+Mountain.flac
  21. Burnett, Jay. "Things Are Not As They Seem". The Penniless Press On-Line. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  22. Victor Discography: Matrix BVE-46452. Ain't we crazy? / Radio Mac [i.e., Harry K. McClintock
  23. Victor Discography: Matrix BVE-46454. The big rock candy mountains / Mac [i.e., Harry K. McClintock
  24. Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Victor 21343 (Black label (popular) 10-in. double-faced)," accessed October 6, 2021, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/object/detail/18869/Victor_21343.

Articles & Photo's

Sheet music

  • The Bum Song: words and music by Harry McClintock.
  • [Mac's Songs Of The Road And Range] Music Book by Harry McClintock.

Lyrics

Albums

Streaming audio

Videos
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