Occupation Singer-Songwriter Albums Love Inside, Will McLean Parents Bruce McLean | Role Singer-songwriter Name Will McLean | |
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Born 1919 Chipley, Florida, U.S. Died January 1990, Gainesville, Florida, United States Similar People Gamble Rogers, Tom Shed, Amy Carol Webb, Steve Gillette and Cindy Ma, Rod MacDonald | ||
Rod macdonald sings joe public at 2015 will mclean festival
Will McLean (1919–1990) was a Florida folk singer-songwriter. He was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 1996.
Contents
- Rod macdonald sings joe public at 2015 will mclean festival
- Hank mattson talks about being the 2015 will mclean song contest winner
- Will McLean Music Festivals
- McLean Archives
- References
Will McLean is thought of as the "Father of Florida Folk." During his life, he wrote more than 3,700 songs and stories. He always said, "My soul is a hawk." Three of his most important songs were "Hold Back the Waters", "Wild Hog",' and "Ballad of the Green Turtle". Some of his good friends included Margaret Longhill, Gamble Rogers, Cousin Thelma Boltin, Dale Crider, Donna Green-Townsend, Kate Bostrum, Red Henry, Murphy Henry, David Beede, Bobby Hicks, Bob and Geri Mitchell, Pete Seeger, and Florida banjo player Paul Champion.
McLean also wrote "Osceola's Last Words", a stirring tribute to the Seminole chief. Michael Peter Smith, with his wife Barbara Barrow, recorded the best-known version of this song.
Hank mattson talks about being the 2015 will mclean song contest winner
Will McLean Music Festivals
A weekend music festival is held every March at the Sertoma Youth Camp in Brooksville, Florida. The original festival was held in White Springs. In 2007, Florida film producer Elam Stoltzfus, in conjunction with the Will McLean Foundation, created a short film; "Will McLean: Songs about Florida” for the festival. The College of Central Florida hosted “Hold Back the Waters: A Festival of Will McLean and Florida Folk” in September 2014.
McLean Archives
The McLean Florida Folk Music Collection of the College of Central Florida Library in Ocala includes McLean recordings, photographs, awards, harmonicas, and other memorabilia. A collection of photographs of Will McLean are maintained in an archive kept by the state of Florida, entitled, Florida Folklife Collection.