Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Caroline Herring performing from her "Lantana" CD.
CD Review
Golden Apples Of The Sun, Caroline Herring, Signature Sounds, 2009
Okay, today I am under the influence of the children of the moon. Or is it that this weekend I went to a folk music concert (featuring the jug music of Maria Muldaur of the old time 1960s Jim Kweskin Jug Band and sidekick John Sebastian of The Lovin’ Spoonful) and noticed that the ages of the majority of the patrons could have permitted the session to double up as an AARP meeting. This brings me to the subject at hand. Who will, if anyone, carry on the old folk traditions that we helped revive in the 1960s?
Every musical genre needs its revivalists, or it will merely past out of history. Folk (or, more properly, traditional music) has always had boosts: sometimes from surprising sources like Francis Child and his incessant ballad collecting in the 19th century, the father and son Lomaxes, John and Alan, the father, sons and daughter Seeger, Charles, Pete, Mike and Peggy. They, and others, carried the tradition through to the 1960s (and beyond) but I do not now see, and that concert audience's composition kind of confirmed a long held suspicion of mine, the younger blood that will preserve the tradition.
We know, however, that it will continue as long as people want to make ad hoc music for themselves and their circle. Moreover, that future folk music will, maybe, sound unlikely to our ears. That has always been the case though. Who would have thought that, let’s say, Harry Smith’s “Anthology Of American Folk Music” with its eclectic mishmash of styles and forms like mountain music, gospel, country blues and the like would have the seminal influence that it had on an urban, educated, for the most part upscale and upwardly mobile population that came of age in the 1960s.
That said, I have no answer about whom, or what whirlwind, will ultimately set the new agenda for folk music but I would take time here to point out one candidate whose CD I am reviewing as part of this commentary, Caroline Herring. Her latest CD "Golden Apples Of The Sun” seems to be me to set the right tone for what the future of folk might look like. Obviously it will continue to depend on guitars, fiddles, mandolins and whatever low or high tech instrumental developments come along. But it will, like the revival of the 1960s, depend as well on the mix of old time music with some new, fresh material that will response to the needs of a new audience.
In that sense this CD fits a right balance. Three excellent compositions on this CD “Tale of The Islander”, “The Dozens”, and “Abuelita” (as well as a couple of others) are Ms. Herring’s own work, and influenced by ideas that stem from her experiences and worldview. “See See Rider”, a classic old time tune that I first heard Mississippi John Hurt do back in the days, the much covered mournful ballad “Long Black Veil”, and the poem by William Butler Yeats set to music “Song Of The Wandering Aengus” reflect that tip of the hat to tradition. Of course in this space anyone who has the forethought to set a Yeats poem to music will have me eating out of their hand, no question. But that is a story for another day. What is for today is that this is what the future of folk looks like.
See See Rider Lyrics
Oh see, See See Rider
Girl see, what you've done
Oh, oh, oh See See Rider
See what you've done now
You've gone away and left me,
Lord, now and now the blues have come, oh yes, they do
Oh, well I'm goin', goin' away baby
And I won't be back till fall
Oh yes I am, going away baby
And I won't be back till fall
If I get me a good lookin' woman
No, no, no, I won't be back at all, all right
And I see, See See Rider, I love you, yes I do
And there isn't one thing darlin'
I would not do for you
You know I want you See See
I need you by my side
See See Rider, ough, keep me satisfied
Oh See See Rider, See See Rider, See See Rider
See See Rider, See See Rider, See See Rider
You keep on ridin', keep on riding
Here I come baby, look out, beat it, all right
Don't lose it now, come one, come on, yeah
Here she comes, she's all right,
She's so fine, she's all mine
See See, come on, can we take a ride now, hey
Well, I'm goin, goin' away baby
And I won't be back till fall
Oh yes I'm goin', going away baby
And I won't be back till fall
If I find me a good lookin' woman
No, no, no, I won't be back at all
And that's the truth baby
Listen, I'm going, all right
Somebody told me, somebody told me
I'm Joe Jackson, I'm leavin'
All right, all right, ough!
CD Review
Golden Apples Of The Sun, Caroline Herring, Signature Sounds, 2009
Okay, today I am under the influence of the children of the moon. Or is it that this weekend I went to a folk music concert (featuring the jug music of Maria Muldaur of the old time 1960s Jim Kweskin Jug Band and sidekick John Sebastian of The Lovin’ Spoonful) and noticed that the ages of the majority of the patrons could have permitted the session to double up as an AARP meeting. This brings me to the subject at hand. Who will, if anyone, carry on the old folk traditions that we helped revive in the 1960s?
Every musical genre needs its revivalists, or it will merely past out of history. Folk (or, more properly, traditional music) has always had boosts: sometimes from surprising sources like Francis Child and his incessant ballad collecting in the 19th century, the father and son Lomaxes, John and Alan, the father, sons and daughter Seeger, Charles, Pete, Mike and Peggy. They, and others, carried the tradition through to the 1960s (and beyond) but I do not now see, and that concert audience's composition kind of confirmed a long held suspicion of mine, the younger blood that will preserve the tradition.
We know, however, that it will continue as long as people want to make ad hoc music for themselves and their circle. Moreover, that future folk music will, maybe, sound unlikely to our ears. That has always been the case though. Who would have thought that, let’s say, Harry Smith’s “Anthology Of American Folk Music” with its eclectic mishmash of styles and forms like mountain music, gospel, country blues and the like would have the seminal influence that it had on an urban, educated, for the most part upscale and upwardly mobile population that came of age in the 1960s.
That said, I have no answer about whom, or what whirlwind, will ultimately set the new agenda for folk music but I would take time here to point out one candidate whose CD I am reviewing as part of this commentary, Caroline Herring. Her latest CD "Golden Apples Of The Sun” seems to be me to set the right tone for what the future of folk might look like. Obviously it will continue to depend on guitars, fiddles, mandolins and whatever low or high tech instrumental developments come along. But it will, like the revival of the 1960s, depend as well on the mix of old time music with some new, fresh material that will response to the needs of a new audience.
In that sense this CD fits a right balance. Three excellent compositions on this CD “Tale of The Islander”, “The Dozens”, and “Abuelita” (as well as a couple of others) are Ms. Herring’s own work, and influenced by ideas that stem from her experiences and worldview. “See See Rider”, a classic old time tune that I first heard Mississippi John Hurt do back in the days, the much covered mournful ballad “Long Black Veil”, and the poem by William Butler Yeats set to music “Song Of The Wandering Aengus” reflect that tip of the hat to tradition. Of course in this space anyone who has the forethought to set a Yeats poem to music will have me eating out of their hand, no question. But that is a story for another day. What is for today is that this is what the future of folk looks like.
See See Rider Lyrics
Oh see, See See Rider
Girl see, what you've done
Oh, oh, oh See See Rider
See what you've done now
You've gone away and left me,
Lord, now and now the blues have come, oh yes, they do
Oh, well I'm goin', goin' away baby
And I won't be back till fall
Oh yes I am, going away baby
And I won't be back till fall
If I get me a good lookin' woman
No, no, no, I won't be back at all, all right
And I see, See See Rider, I love you, yes I do
And there isn't one thing darlin'
I would not do for you
You know I want you See See
I need you by my side
See See Rider, ough, keep me satisfied
Oh See See Rider, See See Rider, See See Rider
See See Rider, See See Rider, See See Rider
You keep on ridin', keep on riding
Here I come baby, look out, beat it, all right
Don't lose it now, come one, come on, yeah
Here she comes, she's all right,
She's so fine, she's all mine
See See, come on, can we take a ride now, hey
Well, I'm goin, goin' away baby
And I won't be back till fall
Oh yes I'm goin', going away baby
And I won't be back till fall
If I find me a good lookin' woman
No, no, no, I won't be back at all
And that's the truth baby
Listen, I'm going, all right
Somebody told me, somebody told me
I'm Joe Jackson, I'm leavin'
All right, all right, ough!
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