A Well Spent Life

A deeply moving tribute to the Texas songster, Mance Lipscomb filmed in 1971 and directed by Les Blank and Skip Gerson.

Mance Lipscomb a Black Texas sharecropper, singer, and guitarist was born in 1895 but didn’t record until 1960. About ten years later, a film crew visits to listen to him play and sing and to record his reflections on a life well lived. We meet Elnora, his wife since 1913; she explains why she doesn’t eat at the table with him. She cooks, Mance tells how a neighbor got his leg shot off, we see a baptism by immersion at which Mance assists. He talks about love and sacrifice, adopting and raising children including those of his sister, being with his grandchildren, traveling across the United States to sing, and his thoughts about dying. He presents peace, a tranquil out look, and great music.

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