John Bassette

John Bassette (December 28, 1941 – November 9, 2006) was a folk singer, songwriter, poet, and cable television personality born in Hampton, Virginia, who built his career primarily in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio area. His Broadway credits include The Freaking Out of Stephanie Blake.

Bassette first drew national attention in 1967, when his performance at the Newport Folk Festival earned praise from critic Bradford F. Swan, who described his original composition "Brown Boy" as an immensely moving song, beautifully sung, and called it the high point of the evening. That same year, Bassette performed at Carnegie Hall as part of a hootenanny organized by Sing Out magazine, and appeared at the Bitter End on Bleecker Street in New York City in August. New York Times music critic Dan Sullivan noted that Bassette clearly knew his craft and enjoyed performing it. He also appeared alongside Sammy Davis Jr. in the London company of Golden Boy, and performed at the 1969 Philadelphia Folk Festival.

Back in Cleveland, Bassette became a prolific independent recording artist, releasing material on his own Tinkertoo Music and Records label at a time when few Cleveland-area musicians had pursued self-production. His discography includes the 1971 album The Loving Kind on United Artists, the 1972 mini-album Weed and Wine — whose cover was designed by underground comic artist Dave Sheridan — and the full-length 1972 LP This Time Around. The Weed and Wine title track and the song "Hello, Cleveland" both achieved local success. Subsequent releases included Another Alternative in 1976, The Sleeping Poet EP in 1977, John Who? in 1978, The Concert Album in 1979, and The Country Album — The Saga of the Emerald City Cowboy in 1980, among others.

Bassette was a regular presence at Northeast Ohio street fairs and benefit events, including those supporting the Cleveland Free Clinic. He appeared as a recurring guest on Coffeebreak Concerts, a folk music segment on Cleveland rock radio station WMMS. In the mid-1980s, he hosted a cable television program through Viacom under the name Jon Bon, and produced two music videos along with a documentary on low-budget video production.

As a writer, Bassette published an article titled "How to Copyright Your Songs" in Mother Earth News in 1970. In 1978, he published Losing Face in America through Laughing Willow Productions, a self-illustrated collection of stories, songs, essays, and poetry. The poem "Golden Doves & Dolphins," drawn from that collection, was reprinted in Changeling Times in 1983.

Bassette suffered a series of strokes during the 1990s and subsequently resided at St. Herman's House of Hospitality and later St. Augustine Manor. On May 19, 2005, singer-songwriter Alex Bevan organized a benefit concert for Bassette at the Beachland Ballroom and Tavern in Cleveland, featuring performers including Jim Ballard, Charlie Wiener, Michael Stanley, and Jim Schafer. Bevan compiled and released an accompanying album, Rainbow Colored Clouds, which included previously unreleased material. Bassette died in November 2006 at the age of 64. The following year, producer Jim Ballard released a tribute album, Been Through So Much Together, on Skylyne Productions, featuring contributions from Tom Paxton, Michael Stanley, Alex Bevan, Pat Dailey, Don Dixon, Marti Jones, and numerous other musicians.