AMERICAN LEFT HISTORY

This space is dedicated to the proposition that we need to know the history of the struggles on the left and of earlier progressive movements here and world-wide. If we can learn from the mistakes made in the past (as well as what went right) we can move forward in the future to create a more just and equitable society. We will be reviewing books, CDs, and movies we believe everyone needs to read, hear and look at as well as making commentary from time to time. Greg Green, site manager

Friday, December 11, 2009

*In Folklorist Harry Smith’s House-"Georgia Stomp" — Andrew & Jim Baxter (1929)

*In Folklorist Harry Smith’s House-"La Danseuse" — Delma Lachney and Blind Uncle Gaspard (1929)

*In Folklorist Harry Smith’s House-"Wake Up Jacob" — Prince Albert Hunt's Texas Ramblers (1929)

*In Folklorist Harry Smith’s House-"The Wild Wagoner" — Jilson Setters (1928)

*In Folklorist Harry Smith’s House-Volume Two: Social music-"Sail Away Lady" — "Uncle Bunt" Stephens (1926)

*In Folklorist Harry Smith’s House-"Got the Farm Land Blues" — The Carolina Tar Heels (1932)

*In Folklorist Harry Smith’s House-"Mississippi Boweavil Blues" — The Masked Marvel (1929)

*In Folklorist Harry Smith’s House-"Down On Penny's Farm" — The Bently Boys (1929)

*In Folklorist Harry Smith’s House-"Kassie Jones" — Furry Lewis (1928)

*In Folklorist Harry Smith’s House-"Engine 143" — The Carter Family (1927)

*In Folklorist Harry Smith’s House-"When That Great Ship Went Down" — William & Versey Smith (1927)

*In Folklorist Harry Smith’s House-Volume One-Ballads-"Henry Lee" — Dick Justice (1932)

*In Folklorist Harry Smith’s House-"Frankie" — Mississippi John Hurt (1928)

*In Folklorist Harry Smith’s House-"White House Blues" — Charlie Poole w/ North Carolina Ramblers (1926)

*In Folklorist Harry Smith’s House-"Stackalee" — Frank Hutchison (1927)

*In Folklorist Harry Smith’s House-"Gonna Die With My Hammer In My Hand" — Wiliamson Brothers and Curry (1927)

Click on the title to link to a presentation of the song listed in the headline.

The year 2009 has turned into something a year of review of the folk revival of the 1960s. In November I featured a posting of many of the episodes (via “YouTube”) of Pete Seeger’s classic folk television show from the 1960s, “Rainbow Quest”. I propose to do the same here to end out the year with as many of the selections from Harry Smith’s seminal “Anthology Of American Folk Music,” in one place, as I was able to find material for, either lyrics or "YouTube" performances (not necessarily by the original performer). This is down at the roots, for sure.

THE OLD, WEIRD AMERICA

My exploration of Harry Smith’s Anthology18 “Gonna die with my hammer in my hand” by

The Williamson Brothers & Curry

The Williamson Brothers & Curry’s World

Arnold (fiddle) and Irving (guitar) Williamson were from Logan County, West Virginia, like two other Anthology artists Frank Hutchinson and close neighbour Dick Justice. They recorded a few sides in the twenties for Okeh with a banjo player named Curry (I’m pretty sure he didn’t played a five-string on this records but something like a uke-banjo or tenor). Judging by the six sides we know, they were an old-timey dance act and it’s too bad they didn’t record more because they were on of the best ever recorded in this genre. Their version of “John Henry” is, in my opinion, one of the greatest version of the song too. One can feel a strong influence of black music on all this West-Virginian musicians, in a very obvious way with Hutchinson and Justice who sang many Blues songs but also with the wild square-dance music of The Williamson Brothers.

-TRACK LIST:

1.Warfield

2.Cumberland Gap

3.The Fun’s All Over

4.Lonesome Road Blues

5.The Old Arm Chair

6.Gonna Die With My Hammer in My Hand

The John Henry Variations
”John Henry” is the most famous american folksong of all time , one of the most recorded too by musicians of all kind and it took me a long time to select my favorite versions among the hundreds recorded. After a closer look at my personnal collection of cds and lps in search of “john Henry” tracks, i completed with things found on Emusic and on the folk collections available on the internet (Max Hunter’s collection, Digital Library of Appalachia). I ended up with 100 performances coming from all the important folk and vernacular genres of 20th century America; From work songs to Blues, Old-time string band to Bluegrass, folk to jazz, etc… Black and white traditionnal music are equally represented, as the figure of John Henry and his impact on the american mind knows no boundaries of race. I think the popularity of “John Henry” is not only due to the story it tells but most important how it tells it, which melody carries the tale of this heroic man. This tune is the quintessential american melody, full of pulse and rhythm, going back and forth between the high and low notes, from a scream to a whisper… Among the many different instruments used for singing “John Henry”, the guitar used with a bottleneck to slide on the strings is the most appropriate (and one of the most widespread among blues guitarist) to render the “blue” notes and the whailing quality of the melody. The root of its pentatonic scale and syncopated rhythm is obviously an african one and was carried here by the vocal and instrumental genius of the african-american slaves that built the land. An important part of the “vitality” of american vernacular music is in fact due to known and unknown african-american musicians, who influenced white folk musicians, most strongly in the South, and left their mark on all popular music ever since.

-Lots of things have been written about John Henry and the song about him, so much that it would be too long for me and above my capacities to write down for you all this informations here. Instead i’ll give a few links that will help you explore the John Henry’s myth.

- First, there’s this great website dedicated entirely to the subject that summarize every aspect of the legend and gives a bibliography, a short discography and some different lyrics versions.

-The Wikipedia page about John Henry

-I also recommand a book about the railroad in american folksongs written by Norm Cohen called “The long,steel rail”. The chapter about “John Henry” is really excellent.

-I classified the 100 tracks under a few categories but i recommand that once you’ve downloaded the entire set to mix them as you want, make your personnal favorite list and most important have a fun and enjoyable listening experience

Part 1: Field Recordings & 78rpm records
1.Anonymous prisoners, from “Alan Lomax’s Prison Songs Vol.2: Don’tcha Hear Poor Mother Calling?”

2.Arthur Bell, from “Afro-American Spirituals,worksongs and ballads”

3.Rich Amerson, from “Negro Folk Music of Alabama, Vol. 3″

4.Willie Turner, from “Negro Folk Music of Alabama, Vol. 6″

5.Ed Lewis, from “Southern Journey Vol. 5: Bad Man Ballads – Songs of Outlaws and Desperadoes”

6.Guitar Welch, Hogman Maxey, & Robert Pete Williams, from “Angola Prison Worksongs”

7.Blind John Davis, from “Field Recordings Vol. 2: North & South Carolina, Georgia…”

8.Reese Crenshaw, from “Field Recordings Vol. 2: North & South Carolina, Georgia…”

9.Leadbelly, from “Lead Belly’s Last Sessions”

10.”John Henry Blues”, Fiddlin’ John Carson, from “Vol. 1 (1923-1924) – Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order”

11.”Gonna Die With My Hammer in My Hand Curry”,The Williamson Brothers, from the Anthology

12.”John Henry Blues”, Two Poor Boys, from “American Primitive – Volume 2 – Pre-war Revenants 1897-1939″

13.Riley Puckett, from “Guitare Country : From Old Time To Jazz Times 1926-1950″

14.The Skillet Lickers, from “Volume 1 (1926-1927)”

15.Henry Thomas, from “Texas Worried Blues”

16.”John Henry Blues”, Earl Johnson, from “Mountain Blues”

17.Deford Bailey, from “Best of Blues Vol.1 : Harmonica Genius Deford Bailey “

18.”Death Of John Henry (Steel Driving Man)”, Uncle Dave Macon, from “Classic Sides New York 1924-1926″

*In Folklorist Harry Smith’s House-"The House Carpenter" — Clarence Ashley (1930)

*In Folklorist Harry Smith’s House-"Fatal Flower Garden" — Nelstone's Hawaiians (1930)

Click on the title to link to a presentation by the artist or of the song listed in the headline.

The year 2009 has turned into something a year of review of the folk revival of the 1960s. In November I featured a posting of many of the episodes (via “YouTube”) of Pete Seeger’s classic folk television show from the 1960s, “Rainbow Quest”. I propose to do the same here to end out the year with as many of the selections from Harry Smith’s seminal “Anthology Of American Folk Music,” in one place, as I was able to find material for, either lyrics or "YouTube" performances (not necessarily by the original performer). This is down at the roots, for sure.

Remembering the Old Songs:

The Fatal Flower Garden

by Lyle Lofgren

(Originally published: Inside Bluegrass, December 1997)

Now that we're having our yearly lesson about Peace On Earth And Good Will To Men, here's a little test: do you believe that the events described in this song ever happened? If you do, you have lots of company. After all, stories like these are why we warn our children not to get into cars with strangers or to accept invitations to visit fatal flower gardens. British versions of this ballad give lots of specifics, allowing scholars (see Child #155) to find the event in written records. The Annals Of Waverly for the year 1255 give the whole story: Hugh, of Lincoln, age nine, is enticed into a Jew's garden, after which he's tortured and crucified to mock Christians (a particularly stupid act in a Christian country like England). They try to hide the body (which makes no sense if it's a mocking act), but it can't be discarded. When buried or thrown in the river, it miraculously reappears. It's thrown in a well, but it floats, and, when brought up, a blind woman touches it and regains her sight. After some torture, the Jews confess, resulting in their execution, along with that of dozens of other (mostly wealthy) Jews throughout England.

Not satisfied with such specifics, Child follows the story back to at least 419 C.E. in Syria, and he cites examples from all the European countries. The stories are usually specific as to the boy's name and age, giving location and date. A similar story set in Spain was the inspiration for Ferdinand and Isabella's creation of the Spanish Inquisition. Given the history of this past sad century, you would not be surprised to find that the story has wide currency in Germany, Poland, and Russia.

The best way to learn this song is to buy a copy of Smithsonian-Folkways reissue of the monumental Folkways Anthology Of American Folk Music. Besides eighty-three other fabulous pieces, you'll get this version performed by a southern Alabama duet called Nelstone's Hawaiians. The tune seems to ask for modern (for the 1920s) techniques, like the smooth singing harmony and slide Hawaiian (Dobro) guitar (tuned DGBGBD) used on the recording. I like to add the lush chords of an autoharp, but ordinary guitars work fine, also.

When our children were pre-teens, we'd sing them songs on long drives to alleviate boredom. They repeatedly requested this one. I'm not sure why - maybe it was the ritual nature of the boy's instructions at the end, or maybe it was the finger rings. We were careful to point out that it was fiction, and they have not grown up to be Gypsyphobics. Still, this is a difficult song, because we find it so easy to believe that, as Sartre put it, "Evil is the other." Instilling fear of evil therefore involves fear of the outsider. But fear is as corrosive as hate, and although we warn our children about strangers, family members commit almost all child murders. How do you warn about that?

Complete Lyrics:
It rained, it poured, it rained so hard,
It rained so hard all day,
That all the boys in our school
Came out to toss and play.

They tossed a ball again so high,
Then again, so low;
They tossed it into a flower garden
Where no-one was allowed to go.

Up stepped a gypsy lady,
All dressed in yellow and green;
"Come in, come in, my pretty little boy,
And get your ball again."

"I can't come in, I shan't come in
Without my playmates all;
I'll go to my father and tell him about it,
That'll cause tears to fall."

She first showed him an apple seed,
Then again gold rings,
Then she showed him a diamond,
That enticed him in.

She took him by his lily-white hand,
She led him through the hall;
She put him in an upper room,
Where no-one could hear him call.

"Oh, take these finger rings off my finger,
Smoke them with your breath;
If any of my friends should call for me,
Tell them that I'm at rest."

"Bury the bible at my head,
A testament at my feet;
If my dear mother should call for me,
Tell her that I'm asleep."

"Bury the bible at my feet,
A testament at my head;
If my dear father should call for me,
Tell him that I am dead."

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

Bibliography
This is one of the most popular of the old ballads. There are fully 21 texts in the Child collection, where it is piece #155. Bronson reports the amazing total of 66 tunes. It has been reported throughout England, in parts of Scotland, in Ireland, in the Canadian Maritimes, and in all parts of the U.S. east of the Mississippi (though rarely if ever west of it). American versions are reported by, among others, Randolph (#25), Eddy (#20), Flanders/Olney, (pp. 30-32, Little Harry Huston), McNeil (pp. 147-149, Sonny Hugh), and Sharp (assorted versions).

We might add that the account in the Annals of Waverly is almost universally held to be unhistorical. This tale probably does not arise from actual events, but from fear of outsiders. For example, in many versions the child-stealer is a Gypsy -- but there is not one verified instance of child-stealing by Gypsies.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

*In Folklorist Harry Smith’s House-"John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man" — The Carter Family (1930)

*In Folklorist Harry Smith’s House-"Charles Guiteau" — Kelly Harrell (1927)

Click on the title to link to a presentation of the song listed in the headline.

The year 2009 has turned into something a year of review of the folk revival of the 1960s. In November I featured a posting of many of the episodes (via “YouTube”) of Pete Seeger’s classic folk television show from the 1960s, “Rainbow Quest”. I propose to do the same here to end out the year with as many of the selections from Harry Smith’s seminal “Anthology Of American Folk Music,” in one place, as I was able to find material for, either lyrics or "YouTube" performances (not necessarily by the original performer). This is down at the roots, for sure.

Remembering the Old Songs:

Charles Guiteau

by Bob Waltz
(Originally published: Inside Bluegrass, July 1997)

Writing this column reminds me a lot of the story of the mule that starved to death between two bales of hay. Or, in this case, over a thousand bales of hay. Because that's how many traditional Appalachian songs are known to us.

The riches of Appalachian music are so vast that there's no rational way to pick and choose subjects for this column. So I use irrational ways. In this case, combining my song from two months ago with Lyle's from last month, and then fouling up.

Two months ago I did a song inspired by Bascom Lamar Lunsford. Last month, Lyle did a song about the death of a Civil War soldier. So this month, I thought I'd do a song from Lunsford about the death of a Civil War soldier (even if it happened fifteen years after the war). Only problem is, I can't figure out how to play the song ("Mister Garfield") on guitar. It's a banjo song, and on banjo it will stay.

So I turned to the "other" Garfield song, "Charles Guiteau" (which turns out also to have been sung by Lunsford).

James A. Garfield was the third consecutive Union general to become President after the Civil War. Elected in 1880, he had been in office for less than four months when he was shot on July 2, 1881. After nearly three months of agony, he died on September 19, 1881.

The murderer was Charles Guiteau, who believed he had been promised a patronage job in the Garfield administration. When the job failed to materialize, Guiteau shot Garfield. He was executed on June 30, 1882.

It is ironic that Garfield, who was an obscure president, had two smashing songs written about his murder. One, the aforementioned song/recitation "Mister Garfield," was specific to the tragedy. "Charles Guiteau," however, is a "touch-up"; the unknown author simply took the earlier ballad "James A. Rogers" (executed in New York in 1858) and "zipped in" the details of the Garfield case. This is no surprise; the same tune carried at least two other murder/confession ballads, "John T. Williams" and "Ewing Brooks."

The song is item E11 in the Laws ballad collection, and Laws lists sixteen versions with references to more. The song has been found in almost every region east of the Mississippi, and several to the west.

The earliest recording seems to be that of Kelly Harrell, made in 1927. I've transcribed that version here, but use the version in my head for the tablature. I'm not sure if the minor variations in the words are just me folk processing the song, or if I've heard another version somewhere.

As you can probably tell, the verse and the chorus use the same tune. Harrell (who recorded the piece with Alfred Steagall on guitar, R. D. Hundley on banjo, and Posey Rorer on fiddle) does not sing the chorus until after the second verse, but many versions sing it after every verse, or even to open the song. These versions are also, perhaps, a bit more coherent. But this one generally suits me.

Complete Lyrics:

Come all you tender Christians
Wherever you may be
And likewise pay attention
To these few lines from me.
I was down at the depot
To make my getaway
And Providence being against me,
It proved to be too late.

I tried to play off insane
But found it would not do;
The people all against me,
It proved to make no show.
Judge Cox he passed the sentence,
The clerk he wrote it down,
On the thirtieth day of June
To die I was condemned.

Chorus:
My name is Charles Guiteau,
My name I'll never deny,
To leave my aged parents
To sorrow and to die.
But little did I think
While in my youthful bloom
I'd be carried to the scaffold
To meet my fatal doom.

My sister came in prison
To bid her last farewell.
She threw her arms around me;
She wept most bitterly.
She said, "My loving brother,
Today you must die
For the murder of James A. Garfield
Upon the scaffold high."

And now I mount the scaffold
To bid you all adieu,
The hangman now is waiting,
It's a quarter after two.
The black cap is o'er my face,
No longer can I see,
But when I'm dead and buried,
Dear Lord, remember me.