[2] He first entered a recording studio with his brother Maylon in 1928, to wax guitar work backing for separate tracks by Pearl Dickson and Walter Rhodes.
According to Robert Palmer, Harney was "... an exceptional technician whose busy, dense finger-picking style was far removed from the more heavily rhythmic playing of the Patton-House school and who was regarded by many musicians as the best guitarist in the Delta.
"[3] The loss of his murdered brother, a speech impediment and naturally shy disposition, were all factors in preventing Harney from achieving fame.
This led Richard by the age of 12 to playing on street corners in Greenville, Mississippi, in the company of Joe, his eldest brother.
After initially sharecropping and street performing, Richard Harney worked as a bassist in a Cincinnati jazz band in the early 1920s.
[4] Following his brother's murder, Harney claimed he attempted to learn to play both parts, which when coupled with his experience in the jazz world, gave his guitar work an intricacy that drew admirers.
[5] Unusually for a Delta based musician, Harney played in a Piedmont fingerstyle blues manner, which he blended with ragtime influences, in a similar way to Blind Blake.
[2][8] He predominately played on street corners and in juke joints, but also had a spell on the King Biscuit Time radio show, which was based in Helena, Arkansas.
[5] Harney was also a gifted pianist, but in the company of strangers his shy demeanour and speech impediment sometimes attracted ridicule.
[15] It is probable, although the label's notes do not specify as such, that Harney played second guitar on Houston Stackhouse's album, Cryin' Won't Help You.
It was recorded in February 1972 at the Adelphi Studios in Silver Spring, Maryland; the same location, and in the same month, as Harney's Sweet Man.
"[11] In 1969, when speaking in Chicago, Big Joe Williams would finish a sentence with the words, "Yeah, _____'s good [fill in the blank with artist's name], but Hacksaw could cut him in a minute!
By that time, Hacksaw had mastered a very sophisticated sound, due in part to his experience with a jazz orchestra during the early 20s and reinforced by his ongoing exposure to a variety of musicians in his travels as a piano tuner and rebuilder".
[11] One year after his final recording, Harney died at the age of 71 on Christmas Day 1973, in Jackson, Mississippi, from stomach cancer.