***Once More Into The Time Capsule, Part Three- The New York Folk Revival Scene in the Early 1960’s-Richie Haven

Click on to title to link to YouTubes' film clip of Richie Havens performing Bob Dylan's "Just Like A Woman"

CD Review

Washington Square Memoirs: The Great Urban Folk Revival Boom, 1950-1970, various artists, 3CD set, Rhino Records, 2001

Except for the reference to the origins of the talent brought to the city the same comments apply for this CD.Rather than repeat information that is readily available in the booklet and on the discs I’ll finish up here with some recommendations of songs that I believe that you should be sure to listen to:


Disc Three: Phil Ochs on “I Ain’t Marching Anymore”, Richard &Mimi Farina on “Pack Up Your Sorrows”, John Hammond on “Drop Down Mama”, Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band on “Rag Mama”, John Denver on “Bells Of Rhymney”, Gordon Lightfoot on "Early Morning Rain”, Eric Andersen on “Thirsty Boots”, Tim Hardin on “Reason To Believe”, Richie Havens on “Just Like A Woman”, Judy Collins on “Suzanne”, Tim Buckley on “Once I Was”, Tom Rush on “The Circle Game”, Taj Mahal on “Candy Man”, Loudon Wainwright III on “School Days”and Arlo Guthrie on “The Motorcycle Song”

Richie Havens on “Just Like A Woman”. I have mentioned earlier that good Pete Seeger covers are hard to find. That is definitely not the case with Brother Dylan. While he has placed his signature on many of his songs there have been so many that other singers had a chance to make their mark covering his work. That is the case here. Haven’s version of this song is the definite one for timing, sense of the song, phrasing, hell, everything. He is also one of the few, Taj Mahal being another, black folk artists who came out of that 1960s folk revival. Strange in a way, because without the ‘discovery’ of old black 1920s country blues singers, like Son House, Skip James and John Hurt, and other black sources of the revival it would have lost quite a lot of it authentic flavor.

Just Like A Woman

Nobody feels any pain
Tonight as I stand inside the rain
Ev'rybody knows
That Baby's got new clothes
But lately I see her ribbons and her bows
Have fallen from her curls.
She takes just like a woman, yes, she does
She makes love just like a woman, yes, she does
And she aches just like a woman
But she breaks just like a little girl.

Queen Mary, she's my friend
Yes, I believe I'll go see her again
Nobody has to guess
That Baby can't be blessed
Till she sees finally that she's like all the rest
With her fog, her amphetamine and her pearls.
She takes just like a woman, yes, she does
She makes love just like a woman, yes, she does
And she aches just like a woman
But she breaks just like a little girl.

It was raining from the first
And I was dying there of thirst
So I came in here
And your long-time curse hurts
But what's worse
Is this pain in here
I can't stay in here
Ain't it clear that--

I just can't fit
Yes, I believe it's time for us to quit
When we meet again
Introduced as friends
Please don't let on that you knew me when
I was hungry and it was your world.
Ah, you fake just like a woman, yes, you do
You make love just like a woman, yes, you do
Then you ache just like a woman
But you break just like a little girl.

Copyright ©1966; renewed 1994 Dwarf Music

Once More Into The Time Capsule, Part Three- The New York Folk Revival Scene in the Early 1960’s-Gordon Lightfoot

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Gordon Lightfoot performing his "Early Morning Rain".

CD Review

Washington Square Memoirs: The Great Urban Folk Revival Boom, 1950-1970, various artists, 3CD set, Rhino Records, 2001

Except for the reference to the origins of the talent brought to the city the same comments apply for this CD. Rather than repeat information that is readily available in the booklet and on the discs I’ll finish up here with some recommendations of songs that I believe that you should be sure to listen to:

Disc Three: Phil Ochs on “I Ain’t Marching Anymore”, Richard &Mimi Farina on “Pack Up Your Sorrows”, John Hammond on “Drop Down Mama”, Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band on “Rag Mama”, John Denver on “Bells Of Rhymney”, Gordon Lightfoot on "Early Morning Rain”, Eric Andersen on “Thirsty Boots”, Tim Hardin on “Reason To Believe”, Richie Havens on “Just Like A Woman”, Judy Collins on “Suzanne”, Tim Buckley on “Once I Was”, Tom Rush on “The Circle Game”, Taj Mahal on “Candy Man”, Loudon Wainwright III on “School Days”and Arlo Guthrie on “The Motorcycle Song”

Gordon Lightfoot on "Early Morning Rain”. This is another classic of the modern American folk songbook. It reflects the shift in technology by the way. Those old time songs didn’t have to contend with airplanes and other modern frills when speaking of love, longing and lost in that most human of endeavors.

"Early Mornin’ Rain"

In the early morning rain
With a dollar in my hand
With an achin in my heart
And my pockets full of sand
Im a long way from home
And I miss my loved ones so
In the early morning rain
With no place to go
Out on runway number nine
Big seven-o-seven set to go
But Im stuck here in the grass
Where the cold wind blows
Now the liquor tasted good
And the women all were fast
Well there she goes my friend
Well shes rollin down at last

Hear the mighty engines roar
See the silver bird on high
Shes away and westward bound
Far above the clouds shell fly
Where the mornin rain dont fall
And the sun always shines
Shell be flyin oer my home
In about three hours time

This old airports got me down
Its no earthly good to me
cause Im stuck here on the ground
As cold and drunk as I can be
You cant jump a jet plane
Like you can a freight train
So Id best be on my way
In the early morning rain
You cant jump a jet plane
Like you can a freight train
So Id best be on my way
In the early morning rain

Once More Into The Time Capsule, Part Three- The New York Folk Revival Scene in the Early 1960’s-John Hammond

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of "Sleepy" John Estes performing "Drop Down Mama".

CD Review

Washington Square Memoirs: The Great Urban Folk Revival Boom, 1950-1970, various artists, 3CD set, Rhino Records, 2001

Except for the reference to the origins of the talent brought to the city the same comments apply for this CD.Rather than repeat information that is readily available in the booklet and on the discs I’ll finish up here with some recommendations of songs that I believe that you should be sure to listen to:


Disc Three: Phil Ochs on “I Ain’t Marching Anymore”, Richard &Mimi Farina on “Pack Up Your Sorrows”, John Hammond on “Drop Down Mama”, Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band on “Rag Mama”, John Denver on “Bells Of Rhymney”, Gordon Lightfoot on "Early Morning Rain”, Eric Andersen on “Thirsty Boots”, Tim Hardin on “Reason To Believe”, Richie Havens on “Just Like A Woman”, Judy Collins on “Suzanne”, Tim Buckley on “Once I Was”, Tom Rush on “The Circle Game”, Taj Mahal on “Candy Man”, Loudon Wainwright III on “School Days”and Arlo Guthrie on “The Motorcycle Song”


John Hammond on “Drop Down Mama”. Be aware we are not talking here about the John Hammond who “discovered” Billie Holiday and a million other great singers but his “folkie” son, John. Also be aware that even with such bloodlines it is not a sure thing that the talent for discovering great singers can be transmitted to the next generation. The real reason that I have included this track for your inspection is that it was written (or a version of it, at least) by Sleepy John Estes, one of those old time country blues artists who were themselves ‘discovered’ by the 1960s folk revivalists. Moreover, I have been somewhat remiss in not having mentioned old Sleepy previously. Needless to say the future holds one in store. As for young Hammond that is about it.

Drop Down Mama
Lyrics: Traditional
Music: Traditional

Drop down mama
Let your daddy see
You got something goin' down
That keeps on worryin' me

Chorus
But my mama don't allow me
To fool around
She's sayin' "Son you're too young now
Some woman might put you down"

Go away from my window
Stop scratchin' round my screen
You're so evil woman
And I know what you mean

[chorus]

I got three women livin'
On the same damn road
One does my cookin', one does my washin'
One pays my room and board

[chorus]

Drop down mama
Let your daddy see
You got something goin' down
That keeps worryin' me

[chorus]

Son you're too young now
Some woman might put you down

*Once More Into The Time Capsule, Part Two- The New York Folk Revival Scene in the Early 1960’s-Judy Roderick

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Bing Crosby, yes Bing Crosby, performing "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?".

CD Review

Washington Square Memoirs: The Great Urban Folk Revival Boom, 1950-1970, various artists, 3CD set, Rhino Records, 2001

Disc Two: Dave Van Ronk on “He Was A Friend Of Mine” and You’se A Viper”, The Chad Mitchell Trio on “Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream”, Hedy West on “500 Miles”, Ian &Sylvia on “Four Strong Winds”, Tom Paxton on “I Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound”, Peter, Paul And Mary on “Blowin’ In The Wind”, Bob Dylan on “Boots Of Spanish Leather”, Jesse Colin Young on “Four In The Morning”, Joan Baez on “There But For Fortune”, Judy Roderick on “Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?”, Bonnie Dobson on “Morning Dew”, Buffy Sainte-Marie on “Cod’ine” and Eric Von Schmidt on “ Joshua Gone Barbados”.


Judy Roderick on “Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?”. The only reason I am commenting on this song is because recently I have become something of a Yip Harburg (writer of the song) devotee. Moreover, during these times doesn’t the sentiment of the song really ring true what with many millions unemployed because a few guys and gals in Wall Street and other world-wide financial and political centers didn’t think that it was odd that giving huge housing mortgages to people who essentially came in off the street and asked for them was inappropriate. In any case, having been cast out in the hard streets of misfortune in my time, and knowing the fickle nature of the fate sisters, I’ll keep that last line that haunts one- “Brother, can you spare a dime?" at the ready.

"Brother Can You Spare A Dime"

They used to tell me I was building a dream
And so I followed the mob
When there was earth to plow or guns to bear
I was always there right on the job

They used to tell me I was building a dream
With peace and glory ahead
Why should I be standing in line
Just waiting for bread?

Once I built a railroad, I made it run
Made it race against time
Once I built a railroad, now it's done
Brother, can you spare a dime?

Once I built a tower up to the sun
Brick and rivet and lime
Once I built a tower, now it's done
Brother, can you spare a dime?

Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell
Full of that Yankee-Doodly-dum
Half a million boots went sloggin' through Hell
And I was the kid with the drum

Say, don't you remember, they called me "Al"
It was "Al" all the time
Why don't you remember, I'm your pal
Say buddy, can you spare a dime?

Once in khaki suits, ah gee we looked swell
Full of that Yankee-Doodly-dum
Half a million boots went sloggin' through Hell
And I was the kid with the drum

Oh, say, don't you remember, they called me "Al"
It was "Al" all the time
Say, don't you remember, I'm your pal
Buddy, can you spare a dime?

*Once More Into The Time Capsule, Part Two- The New York Folk Revival Scene in the Early 1960’s-Jesse Colin Young

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of a 'mature' Jesse Colin Young performing "Four In The Morning". Ah, to be young was very heaven. Old age, the hell with that.

CD Review

Washington Square Memoirs: The Great Urban Folk Revival Boom, 1950-1970, various artists, 3CD set, Rhino Records, 2001

Except for the reference to the origins of the talent brought to the city the same comments apply for this CD. Rather than repeat information that is readily available in the booklet and on the discs I’ll finish up here with some recommendations of songs that I believe that you should be sure to listen to:

Disc Two: Dave Van Ronk on “He Was A Friend Of Mine” and You’se A Viper”, The Chad Mitchell Trio on “Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream”, Hedy West on “500 Miles”, Ian &Sylvia on “Four Strong Winds”, Tom Paxton on “I Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound”, Peter, Paul And Mary on “Blowin’ In The Wind”, Bob Dylan on “Boots Of Spanish Leather”, Jesse Colin Young on “Four In The Morning”, Joan Baez on “There But For Fortune”, Judy Roderick on “Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?”, Bonnie Dobson on “Morning Dew”, Buffy Sainte-Marie on “Cod’ine” and Eric Von Schmidt on “ Joshua Gone Barbados”.

Jesse Colin Young on “Four In The Morning”. There is a certain irony to this song today. We were up then, getting ready, maybe, to go to bed after a hard night of this or than. Now we may get up at four to face the day after a sleepless night (or maybe after a restful one but the alarm clock in our heads has shifted and we are awake). This song is pure young Jesse and evokes the sound of that rain, young sorrow (meaning some tiff with a boyfriend or girlfriend), maybe as here some rage, that rain , some more sorrow, some yearning, some longing, more rain, stale cigarette butts, some kind of dope or booze (Do you think we really stayed up without some help? Please), a leaking roof or some other "landlord it needs fixing" thing. Get a sense of it? It was the sound of that rain that held it all together.

Four In The Morning
Youngbloods

Fm Db Ab Eb Bb Fm Bb Fm
Fou r in the morning and the water is pouring down
Db Ab Eb Bb Fm Bb Fm
Stove don't work and my baby has just just left town
Db Ab Eb Bb Fm Bb Fm
I'm lying on my back cause there just ain't nothing to drink n o
Db Ab
Empty bottles on the floor
Eb Bb Fm Bb Fm
Dirty dishes in in the sink
Db Ab Eb Bb Fm Bb Fm
Watching a cockroach crawling in an old bean can yes I am
Db Ab Eb Bb Fm
He said when your baby left you I bet it's tough to be a man
Bb Fm Bb Fm
Tough to be a man baby tough to be a man

solo

Db Ab Eb Bb Fm Bb Fm
Saw her again and she took back off she said y es she said
Db Ab Eb Bb Fm Bb Fm
It dont make no difference now Cause I shot her dead she's dead

Db Ab Eb Bb Fm Bb Fm
She met Joe with her legs and knees all bandag ed up yea
Db Ab
Came asking for some money
Eb Bb Fm Bb Fm Bb Fm
And all I had was a buck y ea that's all I h ad

Db Ab Eb Bb Fm Bb Fm
Four in the morning and the water is pouring down
Bb Fm Bb Fm
Four in the morning four in the morning four in the morning

*Once More Into The Time Capsule, Part One-The New York Folk Revival Scene in the Early 1960’s-Hoyt Axton

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Hoyt Axton's "Greenback Dollar".

CD Review

Washington Square Memoirs: The Great Urban Folk Revival Boom, 1950-1970, various artists, 3CD set, Rhino Records, 2001

"Except for the reference to the origins of the talent brought to the city the same comments apply for this CD. Rather than repeat information that is readily available in the booklet and on the discs I’ll finish up here with some recommendations of songs that I believe that you should be sure to listen to:

Disc One; Woody Guthrie on “Hard Travelin’”, Big Bill Broonzy on “Black , Brown And White”, Jean Ritchie on “Nottamun Town”, Josh White on “One Meat Ball” Malvina Reynolds on “Little Boxes”, Cisco Houston on “Midnight Special”, The Weavers on “Wasn’t That A Time”, Glenn Yarborough on “Spanish Is A Loving Tongue”, Odetta on “I’ve Been Driving On Bald Mountain”, The New Lost City Ramblers on “Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down”, Bob Gibson and Bob Camp on “Betty And Dupree”, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott on “San Francisco Bay Blues”, Peggy Seeger on “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, Hoyt Axton on “Greenback Dollar” and Carolyn Hester on “Turn And Swing Jubilee”."

Hoyt Axton on “Greenback Dollar”. The only reason I want to comment on this song here is that it is a classic example of the commercialization of a folk song for wider audience. It was the kind of song that was standard fare on the television show “Hootenanny” that got many of us talking folk music seriously. The push was toward non-controversial songs that had a good beat and that the audience (and at home as well, I presume) could sing along with. That was to the good at some level but today the song seems kind of tinny and kind of irrelevant.


"Greenback Dollar"

(Hoyt Axton/Ken Ramsey)

Some people say I'm a no 'count. Others say I'm no good.
But I'm just a nat'ral-born travelin' man, doin' what I think I should, O, yeah. Doin' what I think I should.

[Chorus:]
And I don't give a damn about a greenback dollar, spend it as fast as I can.
For a wailin' song and a good guitar, the only things that I understand, poor boy, the only things that I understand.

When I was a little baby, my momma said, "Hey, son. Travel where you will and grow to be a man
And sing what must be sung, poor boy. Sing what must be sung."

[Chorus]

Now that I'm a grown man, I've traveled here and there. I've learned that a bottle of brandy and a song,
The only ones who ever care, poor boy, the only ones who ever care.

[Chorus, repeat first verse and repeat Chorus]

*Once More Into The Time Capsule, Part One-The New York Folk Revival Scene in the Early 1960’s-Glenn Yarborough

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of 'Cowboy' Bob Dylan (Brooklyn-born Ramblin' Jack Elliott is not alone) performing "Spanish Is The Loving Tongue. Where is Glenn Yarbrough. No luck on YouTube for him. Hey, I really like this song and in this space, at least here, I control the clicker. Okay? If not I'll meet you on Main Street in Dodge City. Oops, I got carried away. Sorry.

CD Review

Washington Square Memoirs: The Great Urban Folk Revival Boom, 1950-1970, various artists, 3CD set, Rhino Records, 2001

"Except for the reference to the origins of the talent brought to the city the same comments apply for this CD. Rather than repeat information that is readily available in the booklet and on the discs I’ll finish up here with some recommendations of songs that I believe that you should be sure to listen to:

Disc One; Woody Guthrie on “Hard Travelin’”, Big Bill Broonzy on “Black , Brown And White”, Jean Ritchie on “Nottamun Town”, Josh White on “One Meat Ball” Malvina Reynolds on “Little Boxes”, Cisco Houston on “Midnight Special”, The Weavers on “Wasn’t That A Time”, Glenn Yarborough on “Spanish Is A Loving Tongue”, Odetta on “I’ve Been Driving On Bald Mountain”, The New Lost City Ramblers on “Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down”, Bob Gibson and Bob Camp on “Betty And Dupree”, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott on “San Francisco Bay Blues”, Peggy Seeger on “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, Hoyt Axton on “Greenback Dollar” and Carolyn Hester on “Turn And Swing Jubilee”."

Glenn Yarborough on “Spanish Is A Loving Tongue”. Honestly I am not that familiar with Glenn Yarborough although I know his name and some of his work from the 1960s television show “Hootenanny” that was a great source for the expansion (and commercialization) of folk music to a greater audience that the coffeehouses and parks of the big cities. His rendition here, I think, is an expression of that commercialization of this old time cowboy thwarted love song. Here is the antidote-listen to Bob Dylan and The Band doing it on Volume Five of “The Genuine Basement Tapes” done while Dylan was in ‘exile’ in upstate New York after 1966. Then you will know how a folkie should sing this one.

"Spanish Is The Loving Tongue"

ORIGINAL LYRICS BY CHARLES BADGER CLARK, JR.

Originally published in Charles Badger Clark, Sun and Saddle Leather, Boston, 1915; later included in N. Howard Thorp, Songs of the Cowboys, Boston, 1921. Music: unknown composer; most commonly used melody from the singing of Richard Dyer-Bennett (learned from Sam Eskin), transcribed in The People's Songs Bulletin (Vol. 3, No. 11).


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Spanish is the loving tongue,
Soft as music, light as spray:
'Twas a girl I learned it from,
Living down Sonora way.
I don't look much like a lover,
Yet I say her love words over,
Often when I'm all alone --
"Mi amor, mi corazón."
Nights when she knew where I'd ride
She would listen for my spurs,
Fling the big door open wide,
Raise them laughin' eyes of hers;
And my heart would nigh stop beating
When I heard her tender greeting,
Whispered soft for me alone --
"Mi amor, mi corazón."

Moonlight in the patio,
Old Senora nodding near,
Me and Juana talking low
So the Madre couldn't hear;
How those hours would go a-flyin'!
And too soon I'd hear her sighin'
In her little sorry tone --
"Adios, mi corazón!"

But one time I had to fly
For a foolish gamblin' fight,
And we said a swift goodbye
In that black unlucky night.
When I'd loosed her arms from clingin'
With her words the hoofs kept ringin'
As I galloped north alone --
"Adios, mi corazón!"

Never seen her since that night --
I can't cross the Line, you know.
She was "Mex" and I was white;
Like as not it's better so.
Yet I've always sort of missed her
Since that last wild night I kissed her;
Left her heart and lost my own --
"Adios, mi corazón!"

*Once More Into The Time Capsule, Part One-The New York Folk Revival Scene in the Early 1960’s-Josh White

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Josh White perfroming "One Meat Ball"

CD Review

Washington Square Memoirs: The Great Urban Folk Revival Boom, 1950-1970, various artists, 3CD set, Rhino Records, 2001

"Except for the reference to the origins of the talent brought to the city the same comments apply for this CD. Rather than repeat information that is readily available in the booklet and on the discs I’ll finish up here with some recommendations of songs that I believe that you should be sure to listen to:

Disc One; Woody Guthrie on “Hard Travelin’”, Big Bill Broonzy on “Black , Brown And White”, Jean Ritchie on “Nottamun Town”, Josh White on “One Meat Ball” Malvina Reynolds on “Little Boxes”, Cisco Houston on “Midnight Special”, The Weavers on “Wasn’t That A Time”, Glenn Yarborough on “Spanish Is A Loving Tongue”, Odetta on “I’ve Been Driving On Bald Mountain”, The New Lost City Ramblers on “Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down”, Bob Gibson and Bob Camp on “Betty And Dupree”, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott on “San Francisco Bay Blues”, Peggy Seeger on “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, Hoyt Axton on “Greenback Dollar” and Carolyn Hester on “Turn And Swing Jubilee”."

Josh White on “One Meat Ball”. As mentioned above Josh White, along with Big Bill Broonzy, were among the early forerunners of a more urbane bluesy sound to fit the needs of a more urbanized black musical sensibility (to speak nothing of the young white, hip crowds of the Café Society in New York City). And more upfront about the racially divided nature of this country. The genesis of this song, according to Dave Van Ronk on one of his CDs, is connected with Harvard Professor Child and his researches into the old ballads. However when I first heard it in my youth my association was always with the Greta Depression, hoboes and guys down on their luck. Hell, given the economic conditions today this one is due for a ‘discovery’.

One Meat Ball
(Calvin Russell)

Little man walked up and down,
To find an eatin' place in town.
He looked the menu thru and thru,
To see what a dollar bill might do.

CHORUS:
One meat ball,
One meat ball,
One meat ball,
All he could get was one meat ball.

He told that waiter near at hand,
The simple dinner he had planned.
The guests were startled one and all,
To hear that waiter loudly call.

Repeat CHORUS

Little man felt so ill at ease,
He said: "Some bread Sir, if you please."
The waiter hollered down the hall:
You get no bread with your one meat ball.

Little man felt so very bad,
One meat ball is all he had.
And in his dreams he can still hear that call
You get no bread with your one meat ball.

*Once More Into The Time Capsule, Part One-The New York Folk Revival Scene in the Early 1960’s-Jean Ritchie

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Jean Ricthie performing "Blue Diamond MInes". I could not find a clip of her doing "Nottamun Town". Sorry.

CD Review

Washington Square Memoirs: The Great Urban Folk Revival Boom, 1950-1970, various artists, 3CD set, Rhino Records, 2001

"Except for the reference to the origins of the talent brought to the city the same comments apply for this CD. Rather than repeat information that is readily available in the booklet and on the discs I’ll finish up here with some recommendations of songs that I believe that you should be sure to listen to:

Disc One; Woody Guthrie on “Hard Travelin’”, Big Bill Broonzy on “Black , Brown And White”, Jean Ritchie on “Nottamun Town”, Josh White on “One Meat Ball” Malvina Reynolds on “Little Boxes”, Cisco Houston on “Midnight Special”, The Weavers on “Wasn’t That A Time”, Glenn Yarborough on “Spanish Is A Loving Tongue”, Odetta on “I’ve Been Driving On Bald Mountain”, The New Lost City Ramblers on “Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down”, Bob Gibson and Bob Camp on “Betty And Dupree”, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott on “San Francisco Bay Blues”, Peggy Seeger on “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, Hoyt Axton on “Greenback Dollar” and Carolyn Hester on “Turn And Swing Jubilee”."


Jean Ritchie on “Nottamun Town”. My people, on my father’s side, came out of the Kentucky mountains, coal country, Hazard and Harlan County. The class struggle at its rawest in Appalachia- everyone knew “which side were you on” without hesitation. Jean Ritchie and her people also came out of those mountains. Maybe that is why this unabashedly citified reviewer hears some long lost cord when he hears this mountain. It must be in the genes. I now know that is the place where, second-hand and in a very round about manner, I learned about which side I am on.


JEAN RITCHIE LYRICS, Digital Tradition file name: NOTTMUN.

In fair Nottamun town, not a soul would look up,
Not a soul would look up, not a soul would look down,
Not a soul would look up, not a soul would look down,
To show me the way to fair Nottamun town.
I rode a grey horse, a mule roany mare,
Grey mane and grey tail, a green stripe down her back,
Grey mane and grey tail, a green stripe down her back,
There wa'nt a hair on her be-what was coal black.

She stood so still, she threw me to the dirt,
She tore -a my hide and she bruised my shirt.
From saddle to stirrup I mounted again,
And on my ten toes I rode over the plain.

Met the King and the Queen and a company more,
A-riding behind and a-marching before
Came a stark-naked drummer a-beating a drum
With his heels in his bosom come marching along.

They laughed and they smiled, not a soul did look gay,
They talked all the while, not a word they did say,
I bought me a quart to drive gladness away
And to stifle the dust, for it rained the whole day.

Sat down on a hard, hot cold frozen stone,
Ten thousand stood round me, and yet I's alone.
Took my hat in my hand for to keep my head warm,
Ten thousand got drownded that never was born.

*Once More Into The Time Capsule- The New York Folk Revival Scene in the Early 1960’s

Click On Title To Link To YouTube' Film Clip Of Woody Guthrie Performing "Hard Travelin'".

CD Review

A number of the more important or famous performers on these CDs will get a reprieve here by having separate entries under this same headline

Washington Square Memoirs: The Great Urban Folk Revival Boom, 1950-1970, various artists, 3CD set, Rhino Records, 2001

Okay, let’s go through the geography of this seemingly endless review of folk revival of the 1960’s tour that I have been conducting over the past year or so. I have gone down the byways and back alleys of Bleeker Street. I have tipped my hat to McDougall Street and its “mayor” (the late Dave Van Ronk). I have been positively 4th Street more times that I can shake a stick at (Bob Dylan’s old haunts). So now to round out this tour of a few square blocks of lower Manhattan that made some musical history in the early 1960’s that I am reviewing, make that proudly reviewing, I am, hopefully, finishing up with this compilation entitled “Washington Square Memoirs”. And this is an apt place to wind up the tour because, in a sense, this is the place where it all got hashed out before it got to the coffeehouses, other venues and those hard sought after recording contracts. If you couldn’t make it as a musician in the park (an, at times, not very high bar to get over) then you had better take your act elsewhere. Like, maybe, East Orange, New Jersey.

I mentioned in a recent review of “Friends Of Old Time Music”, a CD featuring mountain music, another separate strand of the folk revival that ran through New York City in the early 1960’s, the following:

“This three disc compilation (including an incredibly informative booklet giving a mother lode of material, including photographs, about the how, when and why of bringing the mainly Southern, mainly rural talents to New York City in the early 1960s) will give the new generation and mainly older aficionados, in one place, a primer of great value. If you want to know the details of this part of the folk revival puzzle you certainly have to start here. For the beginner or the aficionado this is a worthwhile addition to the store of our common musical heritage.”

Except for the reference to the origins of the talent brought to the city the same comments apply for this CD. Rather than repeat information that is readily available in the booklet and on the discs I’ll finish up here with some recommendations of songs that I believe that you should be sure to listen to:

Disc One; Woody Guthrie on “Hard Travelin’”, Big Bill Broonzy on “Black , Brown And White”, Jean Ritchie on “Nottamun Town”, Josh White on “One Meat Ball”, Malvina Reynolds on “Little Boxes”, Cisco Houston on “Midnight Special”, The Weavers on “Wasn’t That A Time”, Glenn Yarborough on “Spanish Is A Loving Tongue”, Odetta on “I’ve Been Driving On Bald Mountain”, The New Lost City Ramblers on “Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down”, Bob Gibson and Bob Camp on “Betty And Dupree”, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott on “San Francisco Bay Blues”, Peggy Seeger on “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, Hoyt Axton on “Greenback Dollar” and Carolyn Hester on “Turn And Swing Jubilee”.

Disc Two: Dave Van Ronk on “He Was A Friend Of Mine” and You’se A Viper”, The Chad Mitchell Trio on “Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream”, Hedy West on “500 Miles”, Ian &Sylvia on “Four Strong Winds”, Tom Paxton on “I Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound”, Peter, Paul And Mary on “Blowin’ In The Wind”, Bob Dylan on “Boots Of Spanish Leather”, Jesse Colin Young on “Four In The Morning”, Joan Baez on “There But For Fortune”, Judy Roderick on “Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?”, Bonnie Dobson on “Morning Dew”, Buffy Sainte-Marie on “Cod’ine” and Eric Von Schmidt on “ Joshua Gone Barbados”.

Disc Three: Phil Ochs on “I Ain’t Marching Anymore”, Richard &Mimi Farina on “Pack Up Your Sorrows”, John Hammond on “Drop Down Mama”, Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band on “Rag Mama”, John Denver on “Bells Of Rhymney”, Gordon Lightfoot on "Early Morning Rain”, Eric Andersen on “Thirsty Boots”, Tim Hardin on “Reason To Believe”, Richie Havens on “Just Like A Woman”, Judy Collins on “Suzanne”, Tim Buckley on “Once I Was”, Tom Rush on “The Circle Game”, Taj Mahal on “Candy Man”, Loudon Wainwright III on “School Days” and Arlo Guthrie on “The Motorcycle Song”

"Hard Travelin'" -Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston

I've been havin' some hard travelin', I thought you knowed
I've been havin' some hard travelin', way down the road
I've been havin' some hard travelin', hard ramblin', hard gamblin'
I've been havin' some hard travelin', lord

I've been ridin' them fast rattlers, I thought you knowed
I've been ridin' them flat wheelers, way down the road
I've been ridin' them blind passengers, dead-enders, kickin' up cinders
I've been havin' some hard travelin', lord

I've been hittin' some hard-rock minin', I thought you knowed
I've been leanin' on a pressure drill, way down the road
Hammer flyin', air-hole suckin', six foot of mud and I shore been a muckin'
And I've been hittin' some hard travelin', lord

I've been hittin' some hard harvestin', I thought you knowed
North Dakota to Kansas City, way down the road
Cuttin' that wheat, stackin' that hay, and I'm tryin' make about a dollar a day
And I've been havin' some hard travelin', lord

I've been working that Pittsburgh steel, I thought you knowed
I've been a dumpin' that red-hot slag, way down the road
I've been a blasting, I've been a firin', I've been a pourin' red-hot iron
I've been hittin' some hard travelin', lord

I've been layin' in a hard-rock jail, I thought you knowed
I've been a laying out 90 days, way down the road
Damned old judge, he said to me, "It's 90 days for vagrancy."
And I've been hittin' some hard travelin', lord

I've been walking that Lincoln highway, I thought you knowed,
I've been hittin' that 66, way down the road
Heavy load and a worried mind, lookin' for a woman that's hard to find,
I've been hittin' some hard travelin', lord

*From The Pages Of “Workers Vanguard”-In Defense of Dialectical Materialism

Click on the headline to link to the article from “Workers Vanguard” described in the title.


Markin comment:

As almost always these historical articles and polemics are purposefully helpful to clarify the issues in the struggle against world imperialism, particularly the “monster” here in America.

*”Beat” Writer’s Corner- Jack Kerouac Hears The Whistle Blowing-“Lonesome Traveler”

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of "Blues For Jack Kerouac"

Book Review

Lonesome Traveler, Jack Kerouac, Viking Press, New York, 1995

Some of the general points made below have been used in other reviews of books and materials by and about Jack Kerouac.

“As I have explained in another entry in this space in a DVD review of the film documentary “The Life And Times Of Allen Ginsberg”, recently I have been in a “beat” generation literary frame of mind. I think it helps to set the mood for commenting on this one of Jack Kerouac’s lesser works, “Lonesome Traveler”, essentially a series of ‘real world’ job-related exercises in his well known spontaneous writing method at a time when he was trying to keep body and soul together, that it all started last summer when I happened to be in Lowell, Massachusetts on some personal business. Although I have more than a few old time connections with that now worn out mill town I had not been there for some time. While walking in the downtown area I found myself crossing a small park adjacent to the site of a well-known mill museum and restored textile factory space. Needless to say, at least for any reader with a sense of literary history, at that park I found some very interesting memorial stones inscribed with excerpts from a number of his better known works dedicated to Lowell’s ‘bad boy’, the “king of the 1950s beat writers”.

And, just as naturally, when one thinks of Kerouac then, “On The Road”, his classic modern physical and literary ‘search’ for the meaning of America for his generation which came of age in post-World War II , readily comes to mind. No so well known, however, is the fact that that famous youthful novel was merely part of a much grander project, an essentially autobiographical exposition by Kerouac in many volumes starting from his birth in 1922, to chart and vividly describe his relationship to the events, great and small, of his times. Those volumes bear the general title “The Legend Of Duluoz”. That is why we today, in the year of the forty anniversary of Kerouac’s death, are under the sign of his book of essays “Lonesome Traveler”.

In some senses the stories in “Lonesome Traveler” are, more than “On The Road” and other major works, exemplars of that Kerouac writing method mentioned above. None of the thinly fictionalized (as almost always is the case in a Kerouac work where the material at hand formed the basis of his writing) characters and events in the essays on their faces seem to be more than a catalogue of job, travel, or entertainment happenings. Except Kerouac's descriptive powers turn these every day happenings into a running commentary that the reader, including this reader, stays glued to so as not to miss a detail, even hanging on to see if an egg will turn out to be too “runny” or not. I think that the most powerful expression of that descriptive knack is in the essay “Railroad Earth” (also found in “The Portable Jack Kerouac”) which tracks his "day job" as a young brakeman working the San Francisco-based freights. Just an average, maybe above average, working class job. But his descriptive powers/existential sense of the job -Wow. I would give much gold to be able to write a few sentences like that.

*”Beat” Writer’s Corner- The Zen Of Jack Kerouac- “The Dharma Bums”

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of some of Jack Kerouac's poems.

Book Review

The Dharma Bums, Traveler, Jack Kerouac, Viking Press, New York, 1995

Some of the general points made below have been used in other reviews of books and materials by and about Jack Kerouac.

“As I have explained in another entry in this space in a DVD review of the film documentary “The Life And Times Of Allen Ginsberg”, recently I have been in a “beat” generation literary frame of mind. I think it helps to set the mood for commenting on one of Jack Kerouac’s major works, “The Dharma Bums”, a novel that explores his and his ‘beat” companions fascination, at least part time fascination, with the Buddhist lifestyle and philosophy in his well known spontaneous writing method at a time when he was trying to keep body and soul together, that it all started last summer when I happened to be in Lowell, Massachusetts on some personal business. Although I have had more than a few old time connections with that now worn out mill town I had not been there for some time. While walking in the downtown area I found myself crossing a small park adjacent to the site of a well-known mill museum and restored textile factory space. Needless to say, at least for any reader with a sense of literary history, at that park I found some very interesting memorial stones inscribed with excerpts from a number of Kerouac’s better known works dedicated to Lowell’s ‘bad boy’, the “king of the 1950s beat writers”.

And, just as naturally, when one thinks of Kerouac then, “On The Road”, his classic modern physical and literary ‘search’ for the meaning of America for his generation which came of age in post-World War II , readily comes to mind. No so well known, however, is the fact that that famous youthful novel was merely part of a much grander project, an essentially autobiographical exposition by Kerouac in many volumes starting from his birth in 1922, to chart and vividly describe his relationship to the events, great and small, of his times. Those volumes bear the general title “The Legend Of Duluoz”. That is why we today, in the year of the forty anniversary of Kerouac’s death, are under the sign of his book of essays “The Dharma Bums”.

In a sense, as Kerouac himself often admitted, his fascination with Buddhism was something of an extension of his Gallic-etched Catholicism. That makes sense in that both religious expressions are filled with ritual and intense mystery. Thus, when Jack went west in the mid1950s to San Francisco and hooked up with the likes of poet Gary Snyder who was already a serious student of that religion/philosophical outlook it was natural that the restless Kerouac and the others would be attracted to this form of life, although it probably was, in the end, far too rigorous for Kerouac with his many earthy appetites. Nevertheless, this book presents that lifestyle and the youthful search for fulfillment that this searching represented in a very positive light and proved to be helpful to him in getting through some rough patches. Allen Ginsberg, a very close Kerouac friend at the time, became, for a while, a devotee of more substance and notoriety. However, and here we get back to the political realities, when the deal went down that religious philosophy could not hold up against the harsh political choices of the late 1960s when things got very “hot” in America, and the world.

*The October 17th 2009 Anti-war Rally In Boston- A "Guest Commentary"

Click on title to link to Boston United For Justice with Peace website for their take on the October 17, 2009 anti-war rally held in Copley Square in Boston.

Markin comment:

The only reason to post this UJP blog is to contrast their take and ours on the significance of the event and the road forward. Apparently, we are on the same planet, our hearts are probably in the right place but the strategies for the way forward indicate that we are in two different worlds.

***Buddha Swings- The Jazz Music Of Benny Goodman

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of Benny Goodman And His Band Performing "Sing, Sing, Sing".

CD Review

This Is Benny Goodman: Volume Two, Benny Goodman and various side men, RCA, 1972

Musically, I am a blues man. I am informed, malformed, deformed, reformed by the blues. Then I am a rock man. And a folk man, in all its variants. So where doe that lead me into an exposition of jazz that I have recently started to write more about in this space. Well, let’s just call it an extension of the blues (not hard to do by the way). I mentioned in a recent review of the work of jazz singer Mildred Bailey that the clearest example of that is Lady Day, Billie Holiday. I noted there, that, yes, I know that she was a jazz singer extraordinaire. But, the way she swept my blues away when I was down in the dumps sure makes me think she was the queen of the blues (Bessie Smith being, of course, outlandishly the “Empress” ). I would further note in the category of male bandleaders (that is, after all, what jazz was about back in the days, bands) Duke Ellington’s work has a similar status.

Taking this idea once more as my theme all of this is by a very round about way of bringing the jazz band leader under review, Benny Goodman into the picture. Duke Ellington set the standard in the 1940’s for the phrasing of a jazz piece, for the mix of instruments, for the hush that signaled a new direction to the piece, for the … well, underlying sense of what was going on. As I expressed elsewhere, for that something unsayable but certainly knowable when the music is done right. Benny Goodman, although I believe more into the commercial showmanship of the music than Ellington and others like Chick Correa (who will be highlighted here later) had that in spots. But Benny had that something different, consciously so. He made his work jump to the swing that would get even a tongue-tied, doubled-jointed clod like this review up and dancing. That, my friends, is no mean trick.

I believe that Benny Goodman had two good stretches. One when he had the singer Peggy Lee fronting for his big band. And as highlighted here when he worked (and according to the memories of those who worked under him, worked them hard) small groups that demonstrated that swing could be done in that small combo, if you just had the right personnel. Proof here? “King Porter Stomp". “Avalon" (Christ, even the name gives the swing sense of the piece). “One O’Clock Jump”. "When Buddha Smiles" How’s that. If you need more, believe me there are more here and on other Goodman CD’s. No wonder Hitler, according to some memoirs of Hamburg youth that were made into a movie, wanted his work banned. Swing On...

*The King Of Swing- The Jazz Music Of Benny Goodman- Miss Peggy Lee Is In The House

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of Peggy Lee Singing "Why Don't You Do Right?" Backed By Benny Goodman's Band.

CD Review

Benny Goodman And Peggy Lee, Peggy Lee, Benny Goodman and various side men, Columbia Records, 1989

Musically, I am a blues man. I am informed, malformed, deformed, reformed by the blues. Then I am a rock man. And a folk man, in all its variants. So where doe that lead me into an exposition of jazz that I have recently started to write more about in this space. Well, let’s just call it an extension of the blues (not hard to do by the way). I mentioned in a recent review of the work of jazz singer Mildred Bailey that the clearest example of that is Lady Day, Billie Holiday. I noted there, that, yes, I know that she was a jazz singer extraordinaire. But, the way she swept my blues away when I was down in the dumps sure makes me think she was the queen of the blues (Bessie Smith being, of course, outlandishly the “Empress” ). I would further note in the category of male bandleaders (that is, after all, what jazz was about back in the days, bands) Duke Ellington’s work has a similar status.

Taking this idea once more as my theme all of this is by a very round about way of bringing the jazz band leader under review, Benny Goodman into the picture. Duke Ellington set the standard in the 1940’s for the phrasing of a jazz piece, for the mix of instruments, for the hush that signaled a new direction to the piece, for the … well, underlying sense of what was going on. As I expressed elsewhere, for that something unsayable but certainly knowable when the music is done right. Benny Goodman, although I believe more into the commercial showmanship of the music than Ellington and others like Chick Correa (who will be highlighted here later) had that in spots. But Benny had that something different, consciously so. He made his work jump to the swing that would get even a tongue-tied, doubled-jointed clod like this review up and dancing. That, my friends, is no mean trick.

I believe that Benny Goodman had two good stretches. One was with small combos. The other is when he had the singer Peggy Lee fronting for his big band. No question, I am a sucker for a torch singer. Billy Holiday, Helen Whiting, Ivy Andersen, you name it. And naturally included on that list is Ms. Peggy Lee. No, not the Peggy Lee of the 1950's when I was growing up and she had changed her performing persona into a femme fatale with such hits as "Fever" but back in the days before I was born with Benny Goodman and the Swing era. I can still remember as a kid seeing a film clip of her in, I think, "Stage Door Canteen" doing her classic "Why Don't You Do Right Like Some Other Men Do". Wow. And this album is filled with such material from that 'innocent' era. Plenty of torch songs like "My Old Flame" and including Cole Porter standards like "Let's Do It". Naturally, Goodman is at his perfectionist best with a singer like Ms. Lee in front with just enough clarinet solos to keep things interesting. If you want to go back to the mists of time in the career of one Peggy Lee this one is for you.

*The King Of Swing- The Jazz Music Of Benny Goodman

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip OF Benny Goodman And His Band Performing "Sing, Sing, Sing".

CD Review

Benny Goodman: Gold Collection, Benny Goodman and various side men, Dejavu, 1992

Musically, I am a blues man. I am informed, malformed, deformed, reformed by the blues. Then I am a rock man. And a folk man, in all its variants. So where doe that lead me into an exposition of jazz that I have recently started to write more about in this space. Well, let’s just call it an extension of the blues (not hard to do by the way). I mentioned in a recent review of the work of jazz singer Mildred Bailey that the clearest example of that is Lady Day, Billie Holiday. I noted there, that, yes, I know that she was a jazz singer extraordinaire. But, the way she swept my blues away when I was down in the dumps sure makes me think she was the queen of the blues (Bessie Smith being, of course, outlandishly the “Empress” ). I would further note in the category of male bandleaders (that is, after all, what jazz was about back in the days, bands) Duke Ellington’s work has a similar status.

Taking this idea once more as my theme all of this is by a very round about way of bringing the jazz band leader under review, Benny Goodman into the picture. Duke Ellington set the standard in the 1940’s for the phrasing of a jazz piece, for the mix of instruments, for the hush that signaled a new direction to the piece, for the … well, underlying sense of what was going on. As I expressed elsewhere, for that something unsayable but certainly knowable when the music is done right. Benny Goodman, although I believe more into the commercial showmanship of the music than Ellington and others like Chick Correa (who will be highlighted here later) had that in spots. But Benny had that something different, consciously so. He made his work jump to the swing that would get even a tongue-tied, doubled-jointed clod like this review up and dancing. That, my friends, is no mean trick.

I believe that Benny Goodman had two good stretches. One when he had the singer Peggy Lee fronting for his big band. And as highlighted here when he worked (and according to the memories of those who worked under him, worked them hard) small groups that demonstrated that swing could be done in that small combo, if you just had the right personnel. Proof here? “St. Louis Blues”. “Chloe” (Christ, even the name gives the swing sound sense of it). “One O’Clock Jump”. How’s that. If you need more, believe me there are more here and on other Goodman CD’s. No wonder Hitler, according to some memoirs of Hamburg youth that were made into a movie, wanted his work banned. Swing On...

*The King Of Swing- The Small Group Jazz Music Of Benny Goodman

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of Benny Goodman's Band Performing A Swing Medley.

CD Review

Benny Goodman: Small Groups: 1941-1945, Benny Goodman and various side men, Columbia Records, 1989

Musically, I am a blues man. I am informed, malformed, deformed, reformed by the blues. Then I am a rock man. And a folk man, in all its variants. So where doe that lead me into an exposition of jazz that I have recently started to write more about in this space. Well, let’s just call it an extension of the blues (not hard to do by the way). I mentioned in a recent review of the work of jazz singer Mildred Bailey that the clearest example of that is Lady Day, Billie Holiday. I noted there, that, yes, I know that she was a jazz singer extraordinaire. But, the way she swept my blues away when I was down in the dumps sure makes me think she was the queen of the blues (Bessie Smith being, of course, outlandishly the “Empress” ). I would further note in the category of male bandleaders (that is, after all, what jazz was about back in the days, bands) Duke Ellington’s work has a similar status.

Taking this idea once more as my theme all of this is by a very round about way of bringing the jazz band leader under review, Benny Goodman into the picture. Duke Ellington set the standard in the 1940’s for the phrasing of a jazz piece, for the mix of instruments, for the hush that signaled a new direction to the piece, for the … well, underlying sense of what was going on. As I expressed elsewhere, for that something unsayable but certainly knowable when the music is done right. Benny Goodman, although I believe more into the commercial showmanship of the music than Ellington and others like Chick Correa (who will be highlighted here later) had that in spots. But Benny had that something different, consciously so. He made his work jump to the swing that would get even a tongue-tied, doubled-jointed clod like this review up and dancing. That, my friends, is no mean trick.

I believe that Benny Goodman had two good stretches. One when he had the singer Peggy Lee fronting for his big band. And as highlighted here when he worked (and according to the memories of those who worked under him, worked them hard) small groups that demonstrated that swing could be done in that small combo, if you just had the right personnel. Proof here? "If I Had You", a hot "Blues In The Night", always the "St. Louis Blues" and two versions of "Body And Soul" Case closed, except.. Swing On.

*Jazz Days On My Mind- The Music Of Mildred Bailey

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of Mildred Bailey Performing "Rocking Chair".

CD Review

Thanks For The Memories: Mildred Bailey, Giants Of Jazz, 1996

Musically, I am a blues man. I am informed, malformed, deformed, reformed by the blues. Then I am a rock man. And a folk man, in all its variants. So where doe that lead me into an exposition of jazz that I have recently started to write more about in this space. Well, let’s just call it an extension of the blues (not hard to do by the way). And the clearest example of that is Lady Day, Billie Holiday. Yes, I know that she was a jazz singer extraordinaire. But, the way she swept my blues away when I was down in the dumps sure makes me think she was the queen of the blues (Bessie Smith being, of course, outlandishly the “Empress”).

All of this is by a very round about way of bringing the jazz singer under review, Mildred Bailey into the picture. Billie Holiday set the standard in the 1940’s (and to a lesser extent in the 1950’s when the dope started to get the best of her) for the phrasing of a jazz song, for the hush that signaled a new direction to the song, for the … well, underlying sense of the song. For that something unsayable but certainly knowable when a song is done right. Mildred Bailey and others (who will be highlighted here later) had that in spots and that is why she and this “greatest hits’ compilation of her work are being reviewed here.

So what sticks out here in that regard? How about her rendition of Duke Ellington’s “I Didn’t Know About You”. Or King Oliver’s “’Taint What You Do”. Or, for that matter, Crosby’s “ A Ghost Of A Chance”. And, of course, “Gulf Coast Blues”. Finally, though, let us see why she is a cut below Billie and Bessie- “St Louis Blues”. That is the cut line. But she still is good. Listen up.

*It Ain’t Always About Politics- The Recorded Topical Folk Song in American History- Man Versus Man (And Woman, Too)

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Flm Clip Of William And Versey Smith Performing " When The Great Ship Went Down"

CD Review

People Take Warning!: Murder Ballads& Disaster Songs, 1913-1938, Tompkins Square, 2007

Yes, for the umpth time, I am deep in research of the roots, the many roots of American folk music. As part of this search I have spilled plenty of ink over the folk revival of the 1960’s, and its links to today’s folk scene, that I have the most intimate knowledge about. But that is hardly the end of the story. In fact the 1960’s folk revival is something of the tail end of a vast exploration done by a few musicologists, most famously the father and son team of John and Alan Lomax. While the revival itself explored many kinds of music from the mountains of Appalachia to the plains of Texas and beyond the “rage” for roots then, exploited most effectively by the likes of Bob Dylan, centered on the topical songs of the day done by in the age old manner of the traveling troubadours of yore.

While the subject matter of the 1960’s scene, naturally, tendered toward the overtly political around the issues of conventional war, nuclear disarmament, the fierce civil rights struggle in the American South that dominated all serious talk, social isolation, the rebellion against social conformity and the like historically the “singing” newspaper tradition was far from those “deep” concerns. The tendency was to be more personal either with songs of love. longing for love or of thwarted love or on a more mundane level disaster, manmade or natural, murders and other sensational crimes and whatever other local gossip could be turned into a ballad. But beyond that, as this compilation bears witness to every song seemingly had to provide a cautionary note.

Whether that note was to beware of getting to dependent on the emerging whirlwind of the newest technologies like the airplane or “unsinkable” ships, the mysteries of natural disasters like floods and fire or the hazards of pre-martial sex, being a vexing wife or coveting another man’s the hand of “God” was written all over these things. People take warning was not only, or merely, a convenient metaphor to set the parameters of the song. That is what this three CD set is all about. So if you want to know about train wrecks ship wrecks, grizzly murders, the sorrows of the Great Depression and other obscure tales from the early 20th century then here is your chance to those subjects all in one place. And, incidentally, with a very nice and informative booklet of liner notes included, a grand piece of the puzzle of roots musical history and a small capsule of American everyday history.

Disc Three: Man Versus Man (And Woman, Too). If you think man-made machine disasters or the handiwork of old “Mother Nature” have gotten a serious workout in the topical selections here, and in life, you ain’t seen nothing yet until you get to this third disc about the short tempers, ill-advised motives and general ne’r -do- well happenings when men and women, their loves, hatred, sorrows and misadventures get a musical rendering. Watch out, murder and mayhem are the least of it. Someone is going to jail, or the gallows. No question about it. Tops here are the old saga about poor old Dupree and his life of crime trying to please his lady in “Dupree Blues”. Needless to say the male of the species is not the only one subject to temptation and revenge as “Frankie” a much covered song with many variations is done here by the Dykes Magic City Trio. Of course the better known murder and outlaw tales of the ill-fated “Railroad Bill” and the likewise cursed “Tom Dooley” get a play here. Listen on.