16 May 00 - 03:11 AM (#228599)
Subject: Thread of the day & FAQ Deletions
From: Joe Offer
In the process of keeping the Mudcat FAQ at a reasonable size, I've deleted a number of messages. The most valuable ones, I think, are the thread of the day messages that Dale Rose has been posting. I'll continue to edit and delete in the FAQ thread, but I'm going to move the more interesting extra messages over to this thread. This thread is intended mostly for use for storage of extra messages that don't seem to deserve a permanent seat on the FAQ. As with the FAQ, I reserve the right to edit and delete in this thread as I see fit.
Thanks.
-Joe Offer-
From Dale Rose: - 29 April, 2000
Tie for thread of the day. Hidden agendas within music scholarship Lots of good thoughts here, check it out. Also strong opinions and disagreements without yelling at one another, always a plus. Nice to see Dick talk so favorably about Vance Randolph, just about everyone's favorite Ozark Folklorist. (OK, that's an unsubstantiated opinion) And permit me to list one I put up myself Henry Reed Fiddle Collection/184 tunes! ~~ far more important than the number of responses would indicate. I hope people are reading even if they are not talking about it . Here's a for instance ~~ didja know Kitchen Girl, Over The Waterfall and any number of other tunes would likely not be available to today's Traditional Musicians were it not for Henry Reed? ( And of course Alan Jabbour who introduced his music to the other members of the Hollow Rock String Band, and eventually to the world) Henry Reed was the narrow neck in the hourglass of tradition, through which tunes were guided back out into the wider currents of circulation. Alan Jabbour Also check out Missin' Steve...., I Like Baseball, & Links that support the mudcat. - 30 April, 2000
Today is another day that I have been out all day and just got home. (Arkansas Scottish Festival at Lyon College in Batesville Arkansas, and then the evening concert at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View ~~ but that is another story/part one ~~ great, many wonderful things I had not seen before part two ~~ enjoyable and above average) Today's link Advice re. House Concerts Many things to ponder here. I think the thread has slipped off the main track it started on, but it still has valuable things to consider. My opinion is people (folk musicians in this case) have a right to a living wage. If house concerts help them do that, well fine. - 3 May, 2000
Today's recommendation is not a single thread, but a whole bunch of lyrics posted by Conrad Bladey ****Peasant, check them out. Any number of people have been working diligently lately posting large numbers of lyrics ~~ I won't list them for fear of leaving someone out, but those who have been doing it know who you are. Be assured that your efforts have been noticed by many, though the number of comments may be few. - 5 May, 2000
Today's link is not a Mudcat thread, but an external link. The Mountain Laurel is an online journey into "the Heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains." Here you will meet people like Ella Boyd, a mountain midwife, and Henry Harris, who left home at age 13, to make his fortune in the rough and tumble coal fields of West Virginia.
These people and the times and places where they lived are as tightly woven into the American tapestry as Valley Forge and the Wilderness Road. The stories of their lives are a link to a bygone era and the memories shared here are a national treasure.
Close your eyes for a moment, imagine an old country store at a mountain crossroad with a counter worn smooth by years of hands and commerce. Feel the warmth and smell the wood burning in the pot bellied stove, hear the laughter of neighbors gathered 'round sharing a "tale."
Let's travel together to a time before the chestnut blight swept through the Blue Ridge and killed the vast groves of American chestnut trees; before paved roads, electricity and tourists; all the way back to a simpler way of life. It was a time of grist mills, log cabins and family farms where we'll get to know the people and places in the "Heart of the Blue Ridge." - 5 May, 2000
Today's thread of importance wasn't on today's list, it's just one I missed earlier, and I shouldn't have, and NEITHER SHOULD YOU! Warner field recordings on CD HER BRIGHT SMILE HAUNTS ME STILL: THE WARNER COLLECTION, VOL. 1 never-before-released gems from the field recordings of Frank and Anne Warner, two of America's most important folksong collectors and publishers of "Traditional American Folk Songs." 58 tracks from the `30s and `40s including Lee Presnell, Frank Proffitt and many more CD APPSEED-CD1035. Go to the thread for more.
Oh, and for the sheet music to the title song, go to the Library of Congress, it is on this page. And don't forget the lyrics and midi at the DT. And here's another midi at Jerry's Musicbox ~~ check out the other good stuff while you are there. And FINALLY, you need to get a copy of Cindy Mangsen's Songs of Experience CD which contains this song and another learned from the Warners, available wherever fine music is sold. - 7 May, 2000
LAKES OF PONCHARTRAIN Sounds like the topic is not exhausted yet. Somewhere out there is someone who knows it all . . . - 8 May, 2000
I guess you wouldn't call this a truly important thread, but it's just one small example of what our members can and WILL do for each other. Help: Burl Ives records Acts of kindness never go out of style. Oh, and Stewie reports that Amazon.com says 'Long Steel Rail' is now available and ships in 24 hours. - 9 May, 2000
Another external thread. You can never have too many Steamboat Pictures These are courtesy of John Hartford. Check out the Julia Belle Swain. If you squint just right, you can just about see Ol' John up there at the wheel and Art & his banjo out on the deck entertaining the passengers. Maybe you'll need to shut your eyes to see them. - 10 May,2000
Well, no one has posted to Mike's thread on Sing Out! Magazine's 50th anniversary, but it's important, all the same. Other things of interest are Correct Pronunciation of Ani Difranco ~~ hard to know how we can get along without THAT knowledge. Or Ramblin' Jack Elliott, to find out what on earth he's doing with that gudgeon for his dinghy. Or maybe Don't want to offend, but........ here I go anyway! Actually that one makes a good point. Don't know HOW many times I've posted something, oh, say the lyrics to a Charlie Poole song giving the recording date and all the other pertinent info ~~ like what color shirt Ol' Charlie was wearing that day, blah, blah, and here comes some clown who says, "Yeah, ain't that a Grateful Dead song???????" Then clown #2 comes in and sez, "Yeah, clown #1, yere right, it WAS the Grateful Dead . . . or was it John Denver??" But then, I haven't been counting the times I've said something redundant, repetitive, or just plain really dumb, not to mention reduplicating (I had to look that one up)or simply wrong. (apologies to Rick for my spelling lapses) PS, I have NOT read every word of this thread, but I don't think anyone else has posted THIS ~~ at least not yet,in which case, I was first. Got it? OK, let's send this sucker up to the top. It looks to be a few minutes short of Midnight Central time, but I have run out of important things to say. Come to think of it, I coulda stopped after the first sentence. - 11 May, 2000
Most interesting looking thread that I have NOT read. Wondering: Is Perfect Pitch Common? The only thing I know is that imperfect pitch is quite common. Then there would be the tendency to throw in a banjo joke.
Intellectual discussion in response to a simple request time. Lyr Req: Ring-a-ring-of-roses That's one of the really good things about Mudcat. Sometimes you get far more than you ask for. Oh, and does anyone know if the painting Ring-a-Ring-of-Roses-Oh! by Frederick Morgan has even the smallest connection to the song? (I have one of those cheap Walmart reproductions on my bedroom wall.) I know I could look it up, but I figured I'd just ask first. Don't answer here, go to the thread and do it ~~ just checking to see if anyone except Joe reads these Midnight (or whenever) posts. - 12 May, 2000
Lyr Req: Old versions of Black Velvet Band The thread that never dies! We've been talking about this one since at least October of 97, and we STILL find out new things about it! - 13 May 2000
Food for thought. The Purpose of Repeat Threads - 14 May, 2000
External Link. "The Link Controversy Page is intended to provide an overview of the legal problems of using hyperlinks, inline images and frames in the WWW. Right now, this page covers problems in the area of copyright and trademark law as well as unfair competition law." Important stuff, worth reading. - 15 May, 2000
Sometimes it's the little pleasures that please the most. For instance: Thanks to Sourdough we now know that Acony Bell "The fairest flower the mountain knows" by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings really should be Oconee Bell.
And if you really want to take a look at some, here they are. - 17 May, 2000
Here's a lesson on Etiquette in the Cafe (It really is about how to put chords in your lyrics.) This one is an extra because I love Jennifer & Hazel Wrigley! One small mumble though. It is NOT BS, this is real MUSIC, guys!
Also check out My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean' History? (history for sure) and How can you tell which voice you've got, another of those revivals that we owe to the SUPER SEARCH. - 18 May, 2000
No question today, From Max: Introducing PERMATHREADS Or should it be This thread, wearing its fancy new teal coat?
One last one, a special award. Some things are just too funny for words. Mystery thread of the day No need to say more, a perfect three message thread.
Runnersup: Kathleen (keep looking), Narrowboats (a great thread about to celebrate its first birthday in a few days), and the Amish Roan (just when you thought there were no new classics, there it is)
P.S. I guess this means sending the thread up to the top means just making it longer, since it already has a place of honor up there, right? - 19 May, 2000
The kind of thread that I usually stay out of, mostly because I don't have the answers. I wish I did. A Kinder, Gentler Place - 20 May, 2000
Another trip into the outside world. This time, Scottish Radiance. To describe it would take far too long, so just live dangerously, push the little blue clicky. When you get there, watch the flip book a while, then check out the lighthouses, the book reviews, the notes on Celtic music, gardening, poetry ~~ ahhh, just go there and check out all of it, you'll be glad you did. Guaranteed.
Lighthouses??? Oh boyoboy!!
-Joe Offer- - 23 May, 2000
Here is something buried deep within the Mudcat Vaults. I don't know if Max even remembers it is there. Does anyone else still use The handy dandy html experimental doodaddy? I don't use it all the time (my "work" sometimes shows it) but if I have a complex deal to whip out, I do check it in there before posting. It definitely eliminates the errors, and does not take all that long to use, so long as I remember where I put it. - 25 May, 2000
Folk song collecting. Good or bad? Something else worth discussing, even if there is no real answer. What do you think?
If you think you know everything there is to know about "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," you don't - Click here
-Joe Offer- - 26 May, 2000
Actually, this started out as a Thread of the Day for Lyrics request: A Gift to be Simple, but just now as I was cruising the listing looking for possibilities, I ran across favourite hymn books in which Joe has a subtitled entry, Copyrighted Church Music which links you back to the Gift to Be Simple thread. Go that way and check them both out. So, what are the concise dates (if known) for all these songs, Lord of the Dance, Gift to be Simple, Simple Gifts, etc.? I am losing track. - 27 May, 2000
Bill and Allans Excellent Adventure An adventure it is, for all concerned, including those of us who can only read about it.
Today's real thread of the day is one that will be gone by the time I post this. Lyr Req: I'm gonna live forever, posted by GUEST,Annika at 11:54 PM last night. Two reasons why: ONE A song that starts out I'm gonna live forever Forever and a day When I leave this world behind me I'll be singing all the way is surely worth remembering. TWO We need to help out our visitors so that they will want to come back. - 28 May, 2000
I don't know how many have noticed it, but the Library of Congress American Memory Collections now has an all in one search engine which searches EVERYTHING they have on line, including the Brown and Duke sites, and so much more than I can explain here that I will just give you the link. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/mdbquery.html I didn't count the number of collections exactly, but it looks to be about 80. Just punch up the link and feast your eyes on the list of goodies. If you have not seen it before, I think you will be amazed. Count on it. You can also search only those things you want to look through as well. For example, over on the right, you can click on Limit Search To:Sheet Music, for example. This cuts the search to just these six collections:- African-American Sheet Music, 1850-1920: Selected from the Collections of Brown University
- Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier: The Henry Reed Collection
- Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1870-1885
- Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (NOTE, this is the Duke Site)
- "We'll Sing to Abe Our Song": Sheet Music about Lincoln, Emancipation, and the Civil War, from the Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana
- America Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets
While I have been using it for quite a while now, I just tested it with a search for the old song, "Razors In The Air." And do you know what? It was there . . . twice.
I will leave the Superlatives to the Reader. - Lyr Req: Margarie Gray. Ballad. Interesting stuff, straight from the source.
I have been doing this for about two months now. Anyone interested in having a go at it for June, someone else for July, etc? Sometimes a new perspective brings freshness to even the best of ideas. - 30 May, 2000
Minidisc recorders I think I am going to have to print this one out and TRY to absorb all the info before making my usually uninformed decision - 31 May, 2000
Here's somebody to listen to that you may not have heard before, but deserves a wider audience: Adie Grey at mp3s.com. Start with the low fi version of Grandpa's Advice for quick loading. You just may decide that you need to hear more, if so, just go to Adie's page at songs.com You might be glad you did.
As I said on the 29th, I have been doing this for about two months now. The original purpose was as a way to move the FAQ up to the top where it could be found. Now that it is a permathread, this is no longer necessary. A thread of the day may have some value as a continuing effort, however. Anyone who wishes to continue it may have it, starting at Midnight Mudcat time, or any time of the day that you choose. In addition to those still listed here, Joe has posted some of the previous thoughts in this thread. They are subject to revision and removal by Joe when he feels they are no longer of value.
For those who have posted Kind Words about my previous posts, THANK YOU, they are appreciated.
Kind Words Can Never Die
Abby Hutchinson of the Hutchinson Family, published 1855
Kind words can never die, Cherished and blest,
God knows how deep they lie, Stored in the breast;
Like childhood's simple rhymes, Said o'er a thousand times,
Age in all years and climes, Distant and near.
Kind words can never die,
Never die, never die,
Kind words can never die,
No, never die.
Sweet thoughts can never die, Though like the flowers
Their brightest hues may fly, In wintry hours.
But when the gentle dew, Gives them their charms anew,
With many an added hue, They bloom again.
Sweet thoughts can never die,
Never die, never die,
Sweet thoughts can never die,
No, never die.
Thanks, Dale.
-Joe Offer-
|