Hi-
You had to be there. I was.

The year I encountered Bascomb Lamarr Lunceford was 1953; the place The Asheville
Folk Music Festival (organized and run by Lunceford).
Lunceford (he was too dignified a man for me to think of him on a first-name basis)
did, as a matter of fact, introduce the two guys I was with (Bob Rachlis and Arnold
Feldman) and myself as "three Jewish boys from up north". Which, needless to say, was not
appreciated at all.
If one wishes to get into motives and excuses for what I consider (and I'm not sure
Lunceford considered) improper behavior, you should remember that this was a man who
had spent much of his life collecting, presenting and playing the traditional music of his
region, only to see a bunch of people like Seeger and other carpetbaggers (I'm presenting
his views, not mine) "take over" and pervert the music to their own Communist ends.
I suspect that he viewed us rather as an MC of a present-day show might introduce an
Eskimo bluegrass group--our Jewishness made us an oddity at this mostly-local festival.

Bypassing the introduction for a moment, he did allow three rather scruffy
individuals to perform at his festival, and did let us in for free (which we greatly
appreciated). He also spent a fair amount of time talking to me about folksongs (including a
bit of fulminating about Cecil Sharp, who mis-heard Swannanoa Tunnel as Swannanoa
Town, and perpetuated the mis-iunderstanding in print).
Keeping this in mind, and remembering that he was a fine singer and banjo picker,
and that he was a tremendous force in keeping Southern Appalachian music alive, and that
he was a fine songwriter (Mountain Dew was his) I still disliked (and still dislike) the man
as a bigoted reactionary. Much the same way that I recognize Woody's importance, and
creative genius, and enjoy listening to his recordings, but disliked (and still dislike) him for
being an irresponsible, pathological egotist. (Yes, I knew him, too)
Who cares, anyway? Lunceford and Guthrie can still be listened to and read and
appreciated as artists; nobody's apt to meet them in person, so it makes no never mind to nobody
whether they were mean, or nice, or whatever.