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User Name Thread Name Subject Posted
ridovem Little known '60s Folk Singers (1004* d) RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers 28 Mar 07


Well, well... what a crowd! I was looking for a viola player that let me sing harmony at the U Miami student union- Ron Kickasola- and his math-grad buddy, Rob Rucker & I played at Myron & Joanie's joint in Coral Gables, in 1962, maybe? Ron put together beautiful a cappella arrangements... & I can still hear some of them. There were lots of players & singers around there, then- some that have been mentioned (Vince Martin, Fred Neil, Beverly St. Marie, Pat Lynch aka Sky, Tom Rush, The Crosby brothers- David & Chip, the Knob Lick guys- Peter Childs & Erick..? and a guy from Vancouver, Wa)- plus some that I didn't see in the various lists- like Vic Smith (whom I ran into giving lessons in Pasadena, maybe, years later). Bob Gibson was around, then- but I didn't see mention of his old partner, Camp. Bob had a grim one-liner to someone who asked him "what's Bob Camp doin'?" "Time," Mr. Gibson intoned.
There was a guy named Chuck that played Russian (& pseudo-Russian) tunes, who spent time in Arizona, as well as Miami. There was also a young guitar wizard who was all of 12 or 13, Johnny Mc..? who went off to play (with parents along, I believe) in Cambridge, someplace, in 1963.
When I got home to the NW in '63 there were lots of players that got my attention- Lynn Hughes, in Seattle (& later Bay area & Nevada), Jerry Murry (who expatriated himself to Victoria, maybe),Rory Condon (could be near San Jose, now), David Coffin (in Portland- & maybe the best unrecorded old folkie I know- introduced me to Skip James' & John Hurt's music in '65), the late "barefoot" John Hendricks, the late Nick Ogilvie- who traveled with Mel Lyman & their wives to the western parts of the Carolinas in the very early '60s to get a taste of "real music country"... & lived to tell about it-- Nick was incredible, indomitable, and often a big load of Trouble... & a beautiful cat. Eejim Manning played some folk & cabaret stuff in Seattle, around '65, then surfaced in NYC, rumor had it. Earl Benson kind of ruled Portland's folk scene for a few years... played with Molly Malarkey, and did some other ensemble work, but alone, with autoharp, was a joy to hear- anytime. Johnny Ward, who's still playing around the NW, moved out of folk & into blues, jugband, old-time jass, & has just kept adding instruments & repertoire. The PH Phactor jugband, which had about 3 different incarnations, included some of these aforementioned. There were some fairly accomplished folkies around Reed College in the late 50s-early 60s, whose names will pop up in my sleep, probably... guys who played the "No Exit" on Water Street (& other dives). I didn't see any mention of Phil & Vivian Williams here, who were instrumental, as collectors & archivists, of transplanted country music in the mill towns around Seattle from the early sixties & on. They were an important part of creating a Seattle Folklore society- and have played for over 45 years (as the Turkey Pluckers, with Barney Munger, who was from Ohio) & as "The Tall Timber Boys", after that. Phil Poth, Andy Aldrich & Don McCallister played some pretty good music together, way back when... Gene Gilleskie was part of the Seattle folkscene mid-60s, and Paul Gillingham was another. Billy Roberts, a very smooth balladeer, was pretty influential (I know I learned some guitar stuff from watching him play). Larry Vanover (aka "Mr. Jug") played then- and fixed a few broken instruments on the side- and plays on, today, albeit infrequently. There's a clip of him playing jug on U-tube... a tune called "Whitewash Station", recorded in 2001... Ok- 'nuf outa me.. Oh- except that there was this Brit around for awhile, back then- Peter Elbling- who was a gas. Had a French-canadian partner sometime, with whom he'd share playing one guitar... real music-hall stuff- another actor who could also sing... ^..^


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