Were we ever that young?

Subject: RE: Were we ever that young?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 29 Mar 04 - 05:07 AM

Have you noticed that when you read an autobiography, the interesting part is almost always about being a child and growing up? Even when the person has grown up to do all kinds of interesting things later on, the first chapter or so is almost always the one that you remember and read again.

Subject: RE: Were we ever that young?
From: Dave of Mawkin
Date: 29 Mar 04 - 05:22 AM

Im 17 (18 in 25 days) and Im a folkie (god that sounds like a start to a FA meeting (Folkies Anonymous) and to be honest I dont know what all the fuss is about! Ive never been bullied nor been the bully, ive never given a crap about what people think of my clothes,social class and manner, Ive never thought 'perhaps im wasting my life being with old folks' because Ive never thought it as unnatural. Ive been a folkie since i was old enough to walk, I went to sessions,singarounds,folk clubs and festivals and grew up being a morris dancer and performer. However my alternative lifestyle at school, I was in rock bands, I was a rebel, artist, hippy,prat, sporty person and general teenager. Going to rock concerts,festivals and pubs, clubs and parties.
I dont believe in segregation,i love music and life and believe folk music and co exist with everything else I do, I take my college friends (who are into garage,R'N'B and rock) to sessions and folk clubs but I dont get bullied for it, they just laugh and think im a little crazy, but Iam so I dont mind.

I think what Im trying to say is, if I dont do this all now, i wont do it when im 70. So to all those folkie teenagers out there, do what you want, say what you want and worry about the consequences when your older.

(and yes McGrath I noticed that when doing my autobiography and my band mates- www.mawkin.co.uk)

Subject: RE: Were we ever that young?
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 29 Mar 04 - 05:22 AM

Not this man, McGrath - There is one autobiography I sometimes read again: Goodbye To All That, by Robert von Ranke Graves; but I mostly skip the days of his youth and start with the Welsh Fusiliers.

Subject: RE: Were we ever that young?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 29 Mar 04 - 07:25 AM

That's why I said "almost always", not "always", Wilfried. Though there's something in common between war and childhood, and in boitn cases, the later chapters in of people's personal histories tend to get overshadowed.
................

..."As for judging people because they only use 3 chords and a capo to do a song , these were the tools of Woody Guthrie and Hank Williams. I have heard Woody quoted: " Anyone using more than 3 chords is just showing off!"

Actually that exaggerates the number. Here's what Woody actually said about this: "Well, I usually play songs in two chords, C and G, and every once in awhile, I throw in an F, just to impress the girls."

All right, he was oversimplifying, or rather he was overstating his oversimplifying. But not by all that much - he saw keeping it simple as a posituve virtue, not just something to tolerate.

And here is a quote from his granddaughter, Sarah Lee Guthrie: "I think Woody definitely gives me a ticket to be simple," she says. "When you think about Woody, you don't think of anybody's who's selfish; he's never just talking about himself. And that's very attractive, especially today, when so much of the music we hear is really very selfish... It's so great, having that kind of pride in being simple. He gives everybody permission to create and not be scared to be who they are."

That last sentence is a good one. (And the quote also suggest what's the problem, sometimes, with over-introspective songwriters of any age.)

Subject: RE: Were we ever that young?
From: kendall
Date: 29 Mar 04 - 07:38 AM

Hank Williams sang a song titled Alone and forsaken in Am which required a Dm and an Em.

Subject: RE: Were we ever that young?
From: freda underhill
Date: 29 Mar 04 - 08:18 AM

not Bill Arnett...

Subject: RE: Were we ever that young?
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Mar 04 - 08:54 AM

When someone is foolish enough to put me in a guitar workshop at a festival, I often like to do The Farmer's Curst Wife, or John Henry.. both of them I do with one chord. So often, most of the people attending the workshop are just getting the hang of playing guitar, yet the workshops seem to be a variant on Dueling Banjos. Everyone does the showiest, most complicated picking they know, with an "Aw shucks, it tweren't nothing" expression when they finish. That's why I like to show how you can do an interesting accompaniment with simple picking patterns. I love the version of John Henry done by Wade Mainer and His Mountaineers... I think it's very interesting, and yet the whole song is done with just a C chord.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Were we ever that young?
From: Amos
Date: 29 Mar 04 - 09:05 AM

I really admire the sensitivity and discrimination of those teenagers on this list who prefer hanging out with folkies -- who are usually much older -- than with their age group, on th e grounds thta their peers are insensitive, callow and yammering. Needless to say, I do agree.

I think ther sex was better back then, though!

Subject: RE: Were we ever that young?
From: kendall
Date: 29 Mar 04 - 09:34 AM

Jerry, some of the old time banjo players used to do a whole song in one chord, sort of like the drone on a bagpipe without the chanter.

Subject: RE: Were we ever that young?
From: Peter T.
Date: 29 Mar 04 - 10:08 AM

I have found this thread interesting, particularly as I just suffered through a song session with 9 singers, all of whom were truly terrible, and 8 of whom were under 21. What struck me was that of them all, only one had some vague idea that there was an outside world made up of the audience. I have the same problem with my writing students -- they think they are writing for themselves, and not to be read by someone. Having spent many years in the theatre, the first rule I learned was that it had to go over the footlights. The other related problem was that the singers had no interest in the song, you never felt that they really loved singing or having a lovely song come out of their mouths(these were Cole Porter songs, Rogers and Hammerstein songs, you name it). Thinking about it afterwards, it occurred to me that one of things they had not learned was how to slightly separate themselves from their material so as to "sell it", but not so much separation that they were not affected by it. This is a complicated manoeuvre, and one either has it naturally, or one has to learn it after a lot of performing -- this slight separation move, I mean. I suspect that many young people are so wrapped up in themselves (or their nervousness), or being sincere or authentic that they cannot pull away from what they are doing even slightly enough so as to monitor how effectively they are doing. I certainly couldn't when I was a young actor, and I remember that now when I am trying to play or sing musically, since I am a shy novice (it all comes back to me, alas).


yours,

Peter T.

Subject: RE: Were we ever that young?
From: Amos
Date: 29 Mar 04 - 10:49 AM

Peter:

As usual, insightful and delightfully articulated! SOmekind adult told me when I started singing that it was most effective if I was being there -- meaning in the song itself. Kicking it over the footlights is certainly the biggest hurdle of any performer starting out -- it seems such a far distance!!

Thanks, as always.

A