# "Folksingers" of yore



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Sometime, probably near the end of the LP era, Radio Shack issued a 4LP set of "40 Folksongs performed by 32 Famous Artists"; I inherited it on the death of a friend. The list of artists brings back memories, though I don't remember all of the names. I'm sharing the names here; see if you can come up with a folk song recorded by each (that will be easy for some of them, not so easy for others). If there is any interest, I will eventually reveal the songs that Radio Shack chose. Note that the term 'folk song' is not restricted to traditional here.

The Weavers
Flatt & Scruggs
Odetta
Ian & Sylvia
John Hammond
Joan Baez
Jack Elliot
Ed McCurdy
Jose Feliciano
Patrick Sky
Cisco Houston
Jim Kweskin
Leon Bibb
Bob Gibson
Mike Seeger
Greenbriar Boys
Paul Robeson
Doc Watson
The Arbors
Mississippi John Hurt
Sonny Terry & Brownie Mcghee
Clara Ward
Ronnie Gilbert
Pete Seeger
The Rooftop Singers
Rev. Gary Davis
John Lee Hooker
The Staples Singers
Hedy West
Buffy Sainte-Marie
The Babysitters


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

I don't really have enough energy to go in all for this, but cherry-picking some tunes I like (and not leaning on Google):

Flatt & Scruggs - Foggy Mountain Breakdown
Joan Baez - The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down
Paul Robeson - Ol' Man River
Doc Watson - Little Sadie
Mississippi John Hurt - Richland Woman Blues
Pete Seeger - If I Had a Hammer
Rev. Gary Davis - Cocaine Blues (Ok, I doubt this is the one they chose)
John Lee Hooker - I Cover the Waterfront
Hedy West - Little Sadie


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Some nice picks there, _GM_. I would have drawn a blank for Rev. Gary Davis and Hedy West. Several others too.

The Weavers - _Kisses Sweeter Than Wine, Michael Row the Boat Ashore, Eddystone Light, Amazing Grace_
Flatt & Scruggs - _Before I Met You_
Odetta -_ Midnight Special, Meeting at the Building_
Ian & Sylvia - _Spanish Is A Loving Tongue, Jesus Met the Woman At the Well_
John Hammond - _This Train_
Joan Baez - _Henry Martin, Lily of the West_
Jack Elliot - _Roving Gambler_
Ed McCurdy - _Frankie and Johnny_
Jose Feliciano - _La Bamba_
Patrick Sky - _Cape Cod Girls_
Cisco Houston - _Old Blue, Big Rock Candy Mountain_
Jim Kweskin - _Make Me a Pallet On Your Floor_
Leon Bibb - _Darlin'_
Bob Gibson - _This Little Light of Mine_
Mike Seeger - _When First Unto This Country_
Greenbriar Boys - _We Shall Not Be Moved_
Paul Robeson - _John Brown's Body_
Doc Watson - _Born About Six Thousand Years Ago_
The Arbors - _Jimmy Brown_
Mississippi John Hurt -_ Nearer My God To Thee_
Sonny Terry & Brownie Mcghee - Pick a Bale of Cotton
Clara Ward -_ If I Had My Way_
Ronnie Gilbert - _The House of the Rising Sun_
Pete Seeger - _Careless Love_
The Rooftop Singers - _Walk Right In_
Rev. Gary Davis - _You Got To Move_
John Lee Hooker - _Hobo Blues_
The Staples Singers - _I Wish I Had Answered_
Hedy West - _Bury Me Not On the Lone Prairie_
Buffy Sainte-Marie - _Come Ye Fair and Tender Girls_
The Babysitters - _Skip To My Lou_

Several of these songs are under copyright, so don't meet my notion of folk songs, but I gather that notion is old-fashioned.

A pretty good helping of nostalgia there for me, partly from the songs themselves, partly from remembering the personal good times with the bad times filtered out.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Lovely set of posts. Nice to see so many spirituals. Funny the way these singers interact - I'd hate to distinguish between the Weavers, Woody Guthrie, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Pete Seeger and Cisco Houston because of the way they interact. 

Jose Feliciano is probably best known for Light my Fire and (to some) Odetta and Paul Robeson for "There's a Hole in My Bucket".

Memories!

I was surprised by Jesus Met the Woman At the Well being more used to the Planxty version of the "Well below the Valley" which is a genuine folk song - Child 21 The Maid and the Palmer.

Trouble is, many people "arrange" the music so that they can copyright it.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

RIP Doc Watson


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## JohnD (Jan 27, 2014)

starthrower said:


> RIP Doc Watson


That first Doc Watson album on Vanguard Records is pretty special!


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Atahualpa Yupanqui: Greatest folk artist of all time.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

this version of Sometimes I feel like a motherless child sung by Odetta is a masterpiece


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## JohnD (Jan 27, 2014)

A nice collection. Most of the songs seem to be from the Vanguard Records catalog. To me, a song is a folk song if it fits the musical category. The fact that it might be copyrighted doesn't disqualify it. All of Woody Guthrie's songs are copyrighted, and what about all of Pete's Seeger's songs? Those are all folk songs in my booklet!


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

JohnD said:


> A nice collection. Most of the songs seem to be from the Vanguard Records catalog. To me, a song is a folk song if it fits the musical category. The fact that it might be copyrighted doesn't disqualify it. All of Woody Guthrie's songs are copyrighted, and what about all of Pete's Seeger's songs? Those are all folk songs in my booklet!


I suppose I'm a 'purist' here. Folksongs need to be by either "Anon" or "Unk". Guthrie and Seeger wrote 'folky' songs.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Yup. But the problem is that Guthrie or Seeger or the Almanac Singers or the Weavers or whoever arranged the old stuff and then copyrighted it.

They also intermixed with the Lomaxes and Carl Sandburg (remember Ruth Crawford did some arrangements for Carl as well as being Pete Seeger's stepmom). There are all sorts of complaints about how the Lomaxes appropriated stuff and copyrighted it.

Just came across a lovely thing from the Library of Congress - http://www.loc.gov/folklife/LP/CowboySongs_opt.pdf which shows up some of the links between the Lomax collections and Sandburg - it's only about 12 pages but fascinating.

(By the by all anon or unk means is that they forget the guy (or gal) that wrote it in the first place.)


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Taggart said:


> [...]
> (By the by all anon or unk means is that they forget the guy (or gal) that wrote it in the first place.)


The Real Deal Folk (like the stuff Bartók collected) wasn't written - to start with.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)




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## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

Ewan Maccoll, one of the finest
His protests still hold water now
This is very poignant in the UK at the moment


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Hmphh. If we are going the 'my old man' route, I like this - from the same YT page - better:


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