Subject: RE: Sarah Ogan Gunning From: John Moulden Date: 06 May 99 - 05:04 PM I'm puzzled by an aspect of this thread: 1. I have a solo vinyl LP of Sarah Ogan Gunning issued in 1976 by Rounder (0051) Is this a reissue/ripoff of the Folk Legacy one - which is why Sandy fails to mention it - or was it marketed only in Ireland? John Moulden |
Subject: RE: Sarah Ogan Gunning From: karen jonason Date: 06 May 99 - 04:04 AM Thanks for leading me to Folk Legacy. I thought prices were very reasonable even including shipping. I recently had to pay $40 for a CD of Eisler/Brecht songs. I was asked what I will do with the song: I hope to learn it to sing in folk clubs. It's probably not suitable to arrange for the socialist choir I sing with Karen Jonason |
Subject: RE: Sarah Ogan Gunning From: Sandy Paton Date: 06 May 99 - 12:12 AM Yes, Harpgirl, I listened to it just last night, and sang the tune to Caroline this morning, asking for her help in identifying the tune. Now when I think about a Civil War song with the lines "I am dying, brother, dying," a quite different tune comes into my head. And I'm certain Sarah's tune is not "You've Been a Friend to Me." Yet her tune does sound very familiar, doesn't it? If more people had bought that recording (admittedly, not one of our best-sellers), we'd be getting more help from the Mudcat crew. It may be a hymn tune... We'll work on it some more before we give up. In a few days, Karen will have the cassette, and perhaps she will identify the tune for us! Sandy |
Subject: RE: Sarah Ogan Gunning From: harpgirl Date: 05 May 99 - 11:45 PM Sandy, Have you listened to the recording? What do you think the tune is? I don't have any Burl Ives recordings I don't think. I should check my office closet though. People give me things I just squirrel away even though I'm not supposed to accept barter...harpgirl |
Subject: RE: Sarah Ogan Gunning From: Sandy Paton Date: 05 May 99 - 05:25 PM Thinking about it some more, I think Caroline is probably mistaken. Please ignore previous message (but don't tell her I said so!). Sandy (still married after 42 years) |
Subject: RE: Sarah Ogan Gunning From: Sandy Paton Date: 05 May 99 - 01:31 PM Karen and all: Caroline says the tune Sarah used is an old Civil War song, but she hasn't been able to come up with more than "I am dying, brother, dying..." Perhaps some of the rest of you can identify it for us. Karen: got your order. Thanks. Sandy |
Subject: RE: Sarah Ogan Gunning From: Sandy Paton Date: 05 May 99 - 02:36 AM Well, Harpgirl, it ain't the tune we know for "You've Been a Friend to Me," but the real tune expert in this family is asleep, getting shed of a nasty flu bug, so I can't ask her until tomorrow what melody Sarah used for that song. I'll get back to you, though. By the way, I remember the "St. John's River" song a bit differently than the way Art gave it in the Riverboat Songs thread. If you haven't found the old Burl Ives recording of it, I'll see what I can do to locate the song. Sandy |
Subject: RE: Sarah Ogan Gunning From: Sandy Paton Date: 05 May 99 - 12:57 AM Harpgirl: I just typed in all the words to "Newspapermen," so I'll let you have a go at "I Hate the Company Bosses." Both of my fingers are tired! Someday I oughta learn to type using a few of the others as well. I'm going to listen to that song before I go to sleep tonight. I'm not sure of the melody Sarah used, though you may well be right. Forgive me for frequently leaving the "h" off of Sarah's first name. I've recorded two other fine singers named "Sara" and can never remember which of the three gets the "h" at the end. Sandy |
Subject: RE: Sarah Ogan Gunning From: harpgirl Date: 04 May 99 - 11:40 PM I'll try again...Hi Karen, I have this wonderful old Folk Legacy record (1965) with "I hate the Company Bosses". Do you need the words? Sara sings is acapella with an old familiar melody which I can't quite identify. It sounds something like "you've been a friend to me" Here is some of what Archie Green says on the liner notes: In the half-decade, 1929-32 a band of northrn labor organizers radical and intellectual-met a number of rural conservative folksingers from the Southern Highlands. From this setting came a group of topical songs using old melodies to set off intensely stark and militant text. Few of the mill hands or coal miners were able to synthesize tradional and modern values into lasting literature, but some managed to compose folk-like songs which fused timeworn melodies with strange, revolutionary lyrics. I'll bet if Pete Peterson does this song or hears it he would recognize the melody. What are you using it for? hope this is somewhat helpful...harpgirl |
Subject: RE: Sarah Ogan Gunning From: Rick Fielding Date: 04 May 99 - 10:44 PM Some years ago on the David Letterman show, they were doing a bit called "Dave's Records" where they highlighted albums (and their titles) that were supposed to be so awful that they were funny. I was chuckling along at "William Shatner sings Dylan", "Teach Your Parakeet to talk",and something called "Vinyl Psychiatrist" when lo and behold on came "I Hate the Capitalist System" by Barbara Dane. The audience roared. Poor old Aunt Molly I thought. Being ridiculed on national television was the closest she ever got to prime time. |
Subject: RE: Sarah Ogan Gunning From: Sandy Paton Date: 04 May 99 - 10:06 PM Karen: I've just finished reading Shelly Romalis' Pistol Packin' Mama, a study of Aunt Molly Jackson (Sara's half-sister). There is quite a lot of information therein about Sara and about how much more reliable an informant she was than Aunt Molly proved to be. Molly was a real zinger, but she could cheerfully reconstruct facts to place herself in center-stage. You might want to read the book. Sandy |
Subject: RE: Sarah Ogan Gunning From: MAG (inactive) Date: 04 May 99 - 09:12 PM Barbara Dane recorded this, too -- and SOME of her stuf has been re-released, but probably not the album of that title. Interesting; last time I heard reference to that song, somebody was making fun of it at a Festival somewhere. Gunning is somebody to respect; some folkies can get overearnest with this material however. (I've got the Dane album and can post the words if you can't find them anywhere else.) -- MA |
Subject: RE: Sarah Ogan Gunning From: Sandy Paton Date: 04 May 99 - 04:35 AM Folk-Legacy produced Sara's only solo recording, and it is now out-of-print as a vinyl LP, but is still available as one of our "custom cassettes" (the ones we make specially, one at a time, for those who are interested in this kind of "far from commercial" music). You may see it listed on our web site. Once you reach our site, click on "custom" in the frame on the left, and scroll down when you reach the page listing all of our custom cassettes. Click here for Folk-Legacy Sandy (Folk-Legacy's resident folk fogey) |
Subject: Sarah Ogan Gunning From: karen jonason Date: 04 May 99 - 03:41 AM Could anyone send me the music to "I hate the company bosses" or "I hate the capitalist system"? Or else organise it so I can download the music (I haven't got MIDI). Also, are there any recordings of her songs or books? Thanks, Karen |
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