PETE SEEGER, vocal/banjo; LEE HAYS, vocal; MILLARD LAMPELL, vocal; JOSH WHITE, guitar/vocal; SAM GARY, CAROL WHITE, BESS LOMAX HAWES, vocal
My father was a union man, and -- boy! --did he ever talk union at the dinner table! In my childhood home, I swear the order of allegiance was FDR first, then God, then the Pope. Everything else followed logically from that. So I have a natural and abiding affection for -- and commitment to -- the political content of these songs.
That aside, though, they are a delightful bit of American labor history, as well as an early manifestation of what would be the folk revival of the mid twentieth century. Shortly after these recordings were made, Woodie Guthrie joined the group, which eventually became The Weavers. The invincible Pete Seeger is still with us, and still agitating for his beliefs through song.
There is a surfeit of material on May Day in all its many guises, so I will simply leave this small, musical offering of one of them. And, of course, I wish you a Happy May Day -- whether of May baskets (which I delivered to my friends as a small child), of Marian devotions, or, as here, in honor of the laboring, anonymous masses who have given so much, often for so little.
Link to all files
The music files are directly from the 78s, with no filters run. There's more noise, but more presence, too, and somehow a sense of "being there." Or maybe I imagine it.
Thanks from France, I Take this gift with great pleasure, making a sweet infidelity to my classical melomania. Happy Labor day and may we live enough to see a better world ; The fight is not over...
ReplyDeleteLarry - Great post. I've been looking for some Almanac Singers records! By the way, this may interest you:
ReplyDeletehttp://sircharliepalmer.blogspot.com/2010/05/protest-american-protest-songs-1928.html
Carlos: Je vous remercie pour votre commentaire. J'écoute, moi aussi, la musique classique la plupart du temps. Mais avec du jazz, blues, folk, etc. La lutte, bien sûr, se commence seulement.
ReplyDeleteBuster: Thanks. I found this set at a friend's bookstore, not as inventory, but as part of his personal things. I just had to borrow it for the blog. I've always liked this sort of singing, and am struck by how many social movements are organized around a cadre of songs. Thanks for the link, too. The site looks fascinating, and when mediafire will let me do it, I'll be downloading a thing or two.
Larry,
ReplyDeleteListened to the records - really great and influential material. The two Almanac Singers songs on the record I linked to are just as fascinating - The Dodger (later set by Copland) from Lee Hays and Billy Boy from Josh White.
Absolutely fantastic post for this day! I have followed Pete Seeger into later days, with Joan Baez and all that crowd... there was someone else who was constantly quoted in those mid-60's who sang with them... AH! I know Woody Guthrie.. That famous 1963 Carnegie Hall Concert... Of course, your post is prior to all these recollections.... But a GREAT post!
ReplyDeleteBuster, I'm glad you liked the songs. As for Lee Hays: I've always liked that deep, dark, resonating bass. Even in a wheelchair during the Weaver's last reunion, his bass could shake your soul and, probably, a few things on the table as well.
ReplyDeleteMaria: I'm glad you like the post. I was very excited when I ran across the 78 set -- 3 ten inch discs with a song a side.
Fascinating historic capsule Larry!
ReplyDeleteI was directed over here from another site....and I take this opportunity to thank you for posting this wonderful and essential listen......
ReplyDeleteThe struggle never ceases till the trout is landed and the pond shows no ripples.....
I have long loved these records. I, too, grew up in a union home, but my dad was detoured from the working class to the garment district of NYC where he was a salesman. Alas, his internationalism became nationalism and the only cause of importance to him at the end of his life was Zionism. I'm glad I never shared his "Israel, Israel uber alles" feelings, and we argued bitterly and loud about whether or not the treatment of Palestinians is a legitimate measure of the success or failure of the Zionist dream. These songs remind me of the father I knew only briefly when I was taught the world was one brotherhood of man and no them/us was permitted as a framework for ultimate identity. Fascism in all its forms remains the enemy--even when it wears a yarmulke. Again, thank you for the music that meant to unite all mankind in the only fight that matters: universal justice. And thank you also for allowing me to imagine the company of a father with whom I would not have to argue about anything.
ReplyDeleteDavid: Thank you for your kind and touching comments. My father's unionism tended toward the AFL-CIO nationalism of the times, and though we argued bitterly over foreign policy matters, his labor activism did plant an idea of economic justice in me that I have not "outgrown", even if many of my contemporaries later associated themselves with the predatory practices of unregulated capitalism. If anything, age and our times have radicalized me.
ReplyDeleteI have been a long advocate of justice for Palestinians. It unfortunately too often brings down the charge of "antisemitism" with it, or of "self hating Jew." It is very upsetting, so much so that at times I've had to pull back from the issue into a kind of impotent sadness. At present I see no hope for a just solution. But, yes, songs like those contained in this album do help one to reach again for a more hopeful future. One day perhaps we will recover from Europe's incompetent breakup of the Ottoman empire after WWI.
Thanks again.
Cy: I love the fishing metaphor! Thank you for it. (And of course, I'll be looking for an opportunity to use it!)
ReplyDeleteHello to all, greetings from Australia, nice to read the comments from David and Lawrence
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteif you have more of these labor or folk music disc it will be welcome!