Song Origins
Hatfield
A Conversation with David Schools at O.B. and Jack's House (04/01/1995)
Dave Schools: Hatfield is a true story about Charles Hatfield, the rainmaker. There's a monument erected in his memory out in San Diego, because he really did make it rain, and the story of him is... He actually developed a chemical process in his kitchen. He was working with his chemicals on the table and his wife was cooking something and boiling water on the stove, and he hit upon a combination of chemicals, and he said a cloud of vapor just migrated across the room from the pot of boiling water and hung over his vat of chemicals. So uh, the people of San Diego were having a drought. They'd heard that he made it rain for L.A.; he had done his little whammy there. So they hired him, they paid him ten grand. He erected vats on top of these towers.
R&R: When was this?
Dave Schools: This was like back in the eighteen-hundreds. Late eighteen-hundreds. So basically, he made it rain so much that it flooded all the businesses out of business. Horses were drowning, people had too *much* rain... And they sent a lynch mob out, chased him off and he was never heard from again. Nor was his secret.
R&R: So it becomes a parable...
Dave Schools: I guess, yeah. JB got it directly out of the Farmers' Almanac and he found it to be quite an interesting story.
R&R: The origin of many a great rock and roll tune comes from the Farmers' Almanac.
Dave Schools: If you're Southern, perhaps!
Unknown Radio Interview with John Bell
John Bell: Hatfield himself was a rainmaker around the turn of century... later turn of century, around 1819, 20, somewhere in there. There were some huge dry spells out on the west coast, like anything's new...
Interviewer: So they called this shaman?
John Bell: Well they tried a bunch of stuff, yeah. They tried seeding clouds. In those days they did it by blowing cannons and trying to just, blow sulfur into the air, which was the same idea that was cooking, so to speak, with this Hatfield guy... only he had a very specific and concentrated combination of chemicals that he would boil up into the air that would actually truly attract moisture laden atmosphere.
Interviewer: I did not know that.
JB: But he did it in L.A., and they'd heard about it over here in San Diego, so they hired the guy and he scratched him out a deal. And basically you know, coincidentally or as a real affect of his actions.
Interviewer: The rains came.
John Bell: The rains came and it was like, and it blew everything away. Flooded the whole town and it didn't stop raining for like 30 days. So, instead of deciding to say, "ya know, say hey, we made a mistake" but still make good on their deal... You know the townspeople, or the board
Interviewer: The people that setup the deal
John Bell: They knew they'd be lynched just as easily as he would so they reneged all knowledge of his presence and Hatfield knew what was cookin' so he split.
# of times played: 558
First time played: 02/08/92
Frequency: every 3.49 shows
Longest drought: 19 shows (05/07/03 to 07/11/03)
Most common lead in: Walkin' (For Your Love) (38 times)
Most common lead out: Walkin' (For Your Love) (25 times)
Most common set position: Set 1, song 5 (36 times)
Notes: Appears on 'Everyday' (1993); 'Live In The Classic City' (2002) Unknown Radio Interview (etc.) with John Bell: Link: Hatfield manuscripts (8 page story):
Link: http://folklore.library.ualberta.ca/dspImage.cfm?ID=69&Current=1 Charles Hatfield entry on Wikipedia:
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Hatfield The Wizard of Sun City book:
Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1560256753/
Burnthday's Picks:
10/23/00 University Of Florida, Gainesville, FL Link:
07/22/09 10,000 Lakes Festival, Detroit Lakes, MN Link: