Celebrate 'Folk'

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 04:56 PM

I hope you don't think that I was the one being rude. In response to Def Shepard's question about hip hop, I replied that there is a folk connection. Def apparently does not care for the style, and there is no requirement that he should need to. We all have opinions and they are to be respected.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Houston_Diamond
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 04:51 PM

If only you guys were in the 'more sessions rudeness' thread yesterday... oh saying that, you probably avoided it like clever people do ;) lol

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Def Shepard
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 04:47 PM

How lost and profound

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Azizi
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 04:47 PM

Or Mudcat folks for that matter.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Azizi
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 04:45 PM

When you go to a buffet, you are not required to sample all the goodies.

The same goes for Mudcat threads.

Thank goodness.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 04:42 PM

When you go to a buffet, you are not required to sample all the goodies.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Houston_Diamond
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 04:28 PM

hehehe... have you ever heard of "flight of the conchords"?

The mighty folk comedy duo New Zealand's 'Flight of the Conchords' performing "Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros"

:) enjoy

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Def Shepard
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 04:17 PM

err...not my cup of tea, I'm afraid...thanks all the same

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 04:11 PM

... and thanks for dropping by and sharing with us

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 04:10 PM

It's not what I say, you can look it up.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Def Shepard
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 04:02 PM

whatever you say.....

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 03:59 PM

Well, hip hop has folk roots

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Def Shepard
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 03:56 PM

And this what to do with celebrating folk, exactly?

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Azizi
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 03:54 PM

Let me rephrase that: The drama goes on among basketball players and hip hop artists, and often on Mudcat too.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Def Shepard
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 03:53 PM

Well alright if you say so

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Azizi
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 03:48 PM

Soldier boy, Guest Lebron [18 Jun 08 - 12:51 PM] has a sense of humor and apparently keeps current with the goings on in some
hip hop circles.

If you wanna know more about this he-said-then-he-said- stuff, click on this link:

http://www.hiphop-elements.com/article/read/4/22981/1/
Jay-Z Joins LeBron/DeShawn Stevenson Feud
Source: xxlmag.com
Posted on: April 28, 2008 07:53 PDT

Here's an excerpt of that article:

"It's getting personal now. First Deshawn Stevenson of the Washington Wizards called LeBron James "overrated." Then 'Bron 'Bron responded by telling media his responding to Stevenson's comment would be like "Jay-Z responding to Soulja Boy." [meaning Jay-Z is too important to talk with a "one hit wonder" like Soulja Boy]
-snip-

And the drama goes on among hip hip artists and often on Mudcat too.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 02:20 PM

Yes, select the spot then kick them in the kiddieberries for all you're worth :-)

No, not really, just feeling devilish today.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Soldier boy
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 01:07 PM

Nice one Peace. Thanks for the advice. I think a bit of 'selective reading/responding' is required.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Peace
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 01:01 PM

Hey, Soldier Boy. Hope things are well.

Please keep in mind that Guests can use whatever 'nom de plume' they want, say what they want and never have to be held accountable for it. Best thing to do is skip those posts. As in don't bother reading them. It's too bad really, because many are erudite and worth the time. But I've found over the years that membership means you get held to a srricter accountability than Guests. Ain't it grand.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Soldier boy
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 12:56 PM

?

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: GUEST,LeBron
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 12:51 PM

That's like Soulja Boy sayin' somethin' 'bout Jay-Z

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Houston_Diamond
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 11:25 AM

I will soon... it's just the other ½ has taken Monday from me to do pilates the insensitive so and so ;)

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Houston_Diamond
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 11:20 AM

Soldier Boy...

The folk scene for me... that is difficult to describe but I think I would have to say that it's my family...

Folk music, song and dance makes all my upset go away and I am just left feeling happy... I love walking away with an added bounce in my step when I hear my friends, family or complete strangers perform with passion and care for what they do.

There is more but I can describe it.

:D

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 11:16 AM

Thanks Ruth, but I borrowed the term from Bryn Pugh's post, cannot claim the kudos. As for the bendy harmonies, I go weak at the knees every time I hear a well-placed discord, and I have sung in a choir that used them quite a bit. As Houston says (the despicable apostate - getyerassdowntheclub! :-)), it is horses for courses of course!

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Houston_Diamond
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 10:56 AM

Horses for courses eh ;)

Hey George :D Sorry I haven't been down the club much... Lil River has been taking all my time :s don't worry I'll get him up and singing before too long.

I agree with you, I may only occasionally come on here but I learn so many things on here :D

Tunes, songs, sessions etc. Mudcat brings the folk community together which sometimes is explosive but mostly entertaining and educational :D

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 10:47 AM

' "Larner moment": Hearing the Songwainers one wet and cold October Sunday in a pub in Kettering, Midlands (UK), 1974 it was, I believe. '

That's a great term for it, George. I'm not sure if I was ever really lucky enough to have a live "Larner Moment", but it's really interesting to hear that yours was the Songwainers. I still don't really get them, despite several tries! Those bendy harmonies work for some people, but I just can't get on with them.

Having said that, I could listen to Peter Bellamy all day, and he's like nails on a chalkboard for some...

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 10:45 AM

George, I'd like to add that I've discovered your music here on Mudcat! I also recall that this is the first place I heard Harvey Andrews name mentioned. There are some incredible songwriters and singers on both sides that should be "shared".

When I used the word "detriment", my concern is that hard feelings and misconceptions can grow out of the misunderstandings. Some folks only seem to come here for an arguement, but they usually limit their travels on Mudcat to the basement of below the line topics.    For every jerk who comes here just to stir up the muck, there are many more wonderful people who share their experiences and knowledge with those of us who come here to learn.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 10:39 AM

Ron, you said "One of the beautiful aspects, and at the same time one of the detriments, of Mudcat is the fact that we have have a couple of diverse "folk" communities here..".

No detriment at all, I think. The occasional misunderstandings are definitely worth it, because in this way we all get to hear about good performers or (even better) good songs making waves somewhere else, and the knowledge and the enjoyment slowly spreads. Not to mention learning tricks of the trade from each other, like the house concert concept which has been going in the US and Canada for years, and now is gingerly and carefully taking hold over in the UK as well.

And now and then we meet, too. How else would I have heard Alaska Mike and his songs, Big Mick's lusty voice and passion and that little Apallachian magician the LaPrelle lass?

Vive la difference, I say.

"Larner moment": Hearing the Songwainers one wet and cold October Sunday in a pub in Kettering, Midlands (UK), 1974 it was, I believe.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 10:19 AM

"Yes I was frankly annoyed that the thread I had started appeared to have been taken over by a few people who appeared to have totally monopolised the thread , and because of this, felt it had totally lost its way. But I should not have taken my bad mood out on them."

I think it might have been Mark Twain who said something to the effect that - as a human being, I reserve the right to change my mind.

One of the beautiful aspects, and at the same time one of the detriments, of Mudcat is the fact that we have have a couple of diverse "folk" communities here - U.S., Canada, the UK, Australia, and a number of representatives from other countries.

The information I pick up on Mudcat each day would have taken years of research and extensive traveling in earlier years - and I don't think the results would have been as rewarding.   Living in the NYC area, it is wonderful to read comments from people like Mark and Bruce about the folkrevival era in the Village.   To discover similar stories about the scene that was taking place in the UK - then and now - is also thrilling to me.

Yet, I do feel jealous at times. I've noticed posts from the other side of the pond about announcements that so-and-so will be appearing at some local pub in a town that sounds like a fictional name from a Harry Potter book, and then see 239 posts from people who will be attending or heaping praise on the artist that was mentioned.   I see similar announcements about events here in the U.S. and see the post quickly drop off the list without a single response.   I read long threads where our friends in the UK wax poetically about some ancient ballad, and see very few threads that celebrate similar traditions in the U.S.

Sounds like SoldierBoy had a bad day with the now regretted post, but I completely understand the frustration that led to it - and I am so glad that he saw that those feelings were baseless and he came to his senses.

Aziz made a great point - you cannot control all the sidebar topics and conversations.   I've learned that myself. Like any "normal" conversation - the topic will drift where it wants to go. Like a folk song, threads have no "authors" - someone starts with an idea and it evolves as the discussion moves on.

To get back on the original topic, I've been reading a biography of Bascom Lamar Lunsford. The author made some interesting points in the introduction.   Folk music , like politics, has a right and a left - liberal and conservatives.    The conservative side often tries to preserve traditions that represent a slice of society that never truly existed. The liberal side often tries to create change which may not be wanted, or necessary. It is often the middle ground.   Aside from his faults, Lunsford - and others, tried to create a forum where we can all be proud of our traditions and understand that they are part of us. Where it goes from there will be determined by numerous forces of nature, but we have a building block to grow on.   I think Mudcat creates the same.   This is something to celebrate in our contemporary folk community.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Bryn Pugh
Date: 18 Jun 08 - 08:03 AM

What I love is (OK, trite comment, but true) is that there are no strangers in Folkdom, only friends I haven't yet met. There are 'Catters whom probably I will never meet, but whom I count among my dear friends (you know who you are, so I'll not embarass you).

I was playing in a third division rock group (that dates me, don't it ?). We did some P P & M numbers on stage, and some of them went down. I was getting more and more interested. Then, October 9th, 1966, at the Navigation, Stockport, I saw Martin Carthy in concert. This was MY "Sam Larner" moment. I sold my bass guitar, bought a nylon-strung guitar, and have loved and played Folk Music since.

It's probably superfluous for me to say that folkies are the truest, most decent people I have ever met - they will go out of their way to do a favour, and move heaven and hell so as not to do a disfavour.

Love to you all.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Soldier boy
Date: 17 Jun 08 - 07:17 PM

Polite Guest, you are indeed polite and you have a lovely view on life. Thank you so much for your tender comments. The folk world is indeed a world that cares,and as many of you have shown,has a BIG heart and really should be CELEBRATED.

Like you Azizi I took Bobad's posting with the "Formal Apology" form as a well intentioned attempt to lighten some of the stresses and strains that had hit this site (my fault!) and it tickled me pink. I thought it was great.

And to pick up on some of the other comments posted on this thread I am totally "enbiggened" by your more than generous forgiveness and support and truly trust that this thread will keep "rolling along" to Celebrate 'Folk' and what it is that we all love about it.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Azizi
Date: 17 Jun 08 - 07:03 AM

At the risk of being over-analytical, let me add these thoughts to the mix:

1. Because I don't know him, Soldier boy's apology was as unexpected as his statement that was made earlier. Since he apologized to all he upset, and since I was one of the people who was upset, let me say that I also accept his apology. That said, I believe that sometimes the shorter the apology the better. It seems to me that apologies often get muddy when people making them attempt to explain what caused them to say and do whatever necessitated the apology in the first place. 'Nuff said about that.

2. I like to suggest that Bobad's link to a photograph of an apology form may have been a joking attempt to lighten the vibes of this thread, instead of a rejection of Soldier boy's apology. Anyway, that's the way that I interpeted Bobad's post.

3. I'd also like to suggest that the permutations of this thread itself, including its sub-plots and the sidebar conversations, are part of what makes it interesting. In that sense, this thread is like folk songs whose words aren't fixed, but are subject to change because of mishearings, misreadings, misremembering, misinterpretations, or because of purposeful acts of creativity.

And the good thing is that this thread just keeps rollin along.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Polite Guest
Date: 17 Jun 08 - 05:34 AM

"Polite Guest, thankyou also for your comments and hopefully I have gone some way to show that I have the guts (and the balls) to apologise."

Come over here, and have a big hug and a kiss! ((xx))

That has to be the most wonderful apology I have ever seen, and I think you've gained far more friends from it than you have lost. In fact, I'd say you've reclaimed *every* friend, and not lost one. Well done you! xx

There is always a silver lining and I think this has displayed, perhaps more than anything, why the folk world should be celebrated, because it's a world that cares, which contains many people of humility and honour, who have guts and courage.

You have my utmost respect, Soldier Boy.

Take care...xx

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 17 Jun 08 - 05:24 AM

I meant that the CONCERTINA was on acid! (Sort of like "...the piano's been drinkin'...")

As for why I love folk, it started out being - quite simply - the music itself. From as far back as I can remember I was always just drawn to it, to the sound of it and to the meanings in the songs - which awakened me to a world beyond the tightly constrained modern-suburban one I had to live in (and as a child feared I would never escape from). Because this music was not mainstream-commercial, it meant I had to seek it out and look beyond the ubiquitous, inescapable Top 40; and having to find a different path and make the effort to follow it through its twists and turns was in itself enriching, and made me grow in ways I would not otherwise have. Even when I was a teenager, and you had to like rock 'n' roll or die (and wear certain things or ditto, and hang out in certain places or ditto), pop music just didn't speak to me. Folk did, and classical did - and does, to this day. I hate to tell you exactly how popular a popular song has to be before I've even heard it.

Later, when I got out into the world and had some freedom and more choices, the reason also expanded to the people itself - warm, sensitive, interesting, fun: they make the best friends in the world, and stay with you for life. You always have an open channel of communication that doesn't wither with time.

I don't usually do this, but I'm going to quote from a post I wrote some time ago in another thread, because it helps express what I mean. The topic concerned folk artists in the 50s and 60s, and various names had cropped up:

I liked (still like) Richard Dyer-Bennet too, and learned a lot from following his songs and their origins. In high school that sort of thing was definitely infra-dig, but then so was I. It was great to have a whole secret-world alternative to the law of the teen jungle, which is what my music and books were to me. So I'll always be grateful to the old folk "troubadours".

Elsewhere, "Murrbob" (as a Guest) wrote: Now, I can stand before my college biology class and talk about Woody and Huntington Disease. Then, when at best, only two student out of 60 say they have ever heard of him, I can run to my office, bring back my guitar and do a couple of Woody (or Pete, or Bobby Burns) for the group. No one should graduate from college without knowing something about folk music!

[Me again] Amen. That's the sort of thing that brings learning to life, and - to use my favourite new word, bequeathed to the world by The Simpsons - embiggens us.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Peace
Date: 16 Jun 08 - 09:27 PM

There's always one . . . .

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: bobad
Date: 16 Jun 08 - 09:26 PM

Soldier boy, please fill out the FORM

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Soldier boy
Date: 16 Jun 08 - 08:16 PM

Thanks Bonnie Shaljean. I will stay around if others don't object.
So let's see what happens.
We do all get possessed by demons some time.In my case not too often at all but when I do I really do. Does that make sense?
Please help me to bring back the comraderie and feel-good factor to this thread in the desperate hope that I have not killed it.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Soldier boy
Date: 16 Jun 08 - 07:56 PM

Wow. Thanks Peace. We can only go forward now all that shit is behind us. Sorry again. Very bad off moment. The demons have left me and I'm now feeling a warm glow thanks to you. Let's Celebrate Folk. It deserves it.
It's beautiful.
It's really beautiful.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Peace
Date: 16 Jun 08 - 07:52 PM

Second what Bonnie said. And never having taken acid I will just be guessing that <({[ ]})> is a representation of the space craft that took me on a flight back in 1966. How you knew that is beyond me. Gotta go. Thanks again, Soldier Boy. Yer a good man. Night all.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 16 Jun 08 - 07:47 PM

> I am now going to make myself less obvious and distinct

No, don't do that at all - stay around

> and hope that you can help to heal the rift

You already have done that

<({[ ]})>   The hieroglyphic is meant to be a group hug, but unfortunately it looks more like a concertina on acid

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Peace
Date: 16 Jun 08 - 07:36 PM

Guts, elan and verve. Thank you Soldier Boy. I apologize for my remarks to you and really do hope we can move on from here. It ain't often I take back a perfectly good expletive, but I do now. Thank you, both for the post and the message.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Tangledwood
Date: 16 Jun 08 - 07:22 PM

"hopefully I have gone some way to show that I have the guts (and the balls) to apologise"

I believe that you have. Well done!

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Soldier boy
Date: 16 Jun 08 - 07:01 PM

I am tentatively, nervously and ashamedly poking my head over the parapet.

I am so sorry for my extremely negative and caustic last input on this thread.

I apologise unreservedly to all I have upset and especially to Peace(Bruce). All I can say as a very poor defence is that I was in a very pissed off mood for other reasons and very unfortunately vented my spleen here against Peace and his buddies who did not deserve it.

Yes I was frankly annoyed that the thread I had started appeared to have been taken over by a few people who appeared to have totally monopolised the thread , and because of this, felt it had totally lost its way. But I should not have taken my bad mood out on them.

I did a very stupid thing and infected my own thread with the sort of poisonous and hurtful comments that I usually detest from others.
I think it's called shooting oneself in ones foot!

I realise that I have deeply insulted and suprised our 'folk' bretheren across the pond and for this I am especially ashamed. I am not anti American/Canadien. I really am not,but realise that I will find it very hard to convince you of that now.

Thank you George Papavgeris and The Snail for coming to my defence. I don't dererve it but I really appreciate your comments.

Polite Guest, thankyou also for your comments and hopefully I have gone some way to show that I have the guts (and the balls) to apologise.

Thank you also to Bonnie Shaljean for your brilliant ditty and interpretation of the 'I'm drunk' song. This went a long way to diffuse the situation and show me the error of my ways.

When I started this thread the last thing I wanted to do was to ruin it. But sometimes a dark demon doth consume fair reason and lead the innocent tongue to spit its bile and venom when so unwarrented and so marr and spoil its best intent. Alak and woe such malcontent and if it pleaseth you forgive such erring of my ways.

I am now going to make myself less obvious and distinct and hope that you can help to heal the rift that I have caused and that you will find a way to continue to post to this thread to Celebrate 'Folk'.

Thank you.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Stringsinger
Date: 16 Jun 08 - 05:57 PM

Azizi,

Don't envy me please. Remember, we are all important in this field because folk
music isn't just about the "star system". These ladies are brilliant but we can't
deify them to the exclusion of our own participation in this process.

You are just as important.

Frank

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Azizi
Date: 16 Jun 08 - 05:47 PM

Frank, I envy you!

And I agree 100% with your comments!

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Stringsinger
Date: 16 Jun 08 - 05:39 PM

Azisi,

It is my good fortune to have known Odetta and Ella as good friends for many years.
I had the pleasure of chatting with Miriam MaKeba when she played in Chicago prior to
her marriage to Stokeley Carmicheal.

Odetta and Ella embody the tradition of folk music as does Pete Seeger. They have always been concerned with communication, not just for ego or money but to reach people in
a meaningful and heartfelt way. MaKeba when I met her was a highly socially aware
person, intelligent and insightful about social conditions in America and her own country.

These women are the real folksingers in that they represent the positive social values
of our country on many levels. I am a firm advocate that a folk singer must have a
sense of societal awareness in order to reach audiences in a unique way. Folk singers
are journalists that tell the story of history's aspirations. I am of the opinion that
folk music may not ignore the plight of the working-class, dispossessed and underprivileged in our country. When it becomes an image-selling performance, it lies
to the audience. Ultimately, the audience will reject this specious approach.

It has been my proud privilege to have been inspired by knowing these women,
Odetta and Ella as good friends, and Miriam in a meeting at the Gate of Horn in Chicago.

Frank Hamilton

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Azizi
Date: 16 Jun 08 - 04:58 PM

I also want to recognize and praise another beautiful woman-Miriam Makeba

I was introduced to African music as a result of listening to Miriam Makeba's records. I almost saw Miriam Makeba perform live waay back in 1967 or 1968. I attended college near New York City, and was lucky to be adopted into the family of another female student in that school who was from Brooklyn. I went with that student and her mother to a nightclub to hear Miriam Makeba sing. This was the very first time I had ever been in a nightclub {I remember ordering a mixed drink and I recall worrying that it might be against my religion to drink it}. Unfortunately, Miriam Makeba didn't perform that evening because she was ill. Makeba's "stand in" was her then husband Hugh Masekela
perform. And what a wonderful experience that was!

**

Here's some information about Miriam Makeba:
Makeba, Miriam (1932- ), South African jazz and folk singer, born Zensile Makeba, the first black South African musician to gain international fame.

"Born into a Xhosa family in Prospect township, Johannesburg, Makeba sang in her school choir at the Methodist-sponsored Kilmerton Training School in Pretoria. She toured with the Black Manhattan Brothers (1954-1957), and appeared in Lionel Rogosin's anti-apartheid film documentary Come Back Africa (1958). The jazz musical King Kong (1959), which traced the career of a black boxing champion who is not allowed to fight white opponents, took Makeba to London and New York (where she lived in exile after 1960). With the help of Harry Belafonte, Makeba began to sing solo concerts, blending traditional folk songs (the best known being "Qogothwane", or "The Click Song", which draws heavily on the percussive sounds of the Xhosa language) and jazzy pop. She sang at President Kennedy's Madison Square Garden birthday celebrations and testified against apartheid at the United Nations General Assembly of 1964. Makeba married and separated from the trumpeter Hugh Masekela in the 1960s; she was forced out of the United States and Europe when she married the radical black leader Stokeley Carmichael, moving to Guinea with him in 1969. In 1982, Makeba and Masekela appeared in a reunion concert in Botswana, and five years later she rejoined Masekela for Paul Simon's Graceland tour. Finally, after more than 30 years in exile, Makeba returned to South Africa in the 1990s. Her last worldwide tour before her retirement was announced in 2005"...

-snip-

Is this folk music? You better believe it is!

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Azizi
Date: 16 Jun 08 - 04:34 PM

When it comes to celebrating folk music, I want to give props to two great ladies:

Odetta


and

Ella Jenkins

**

Here's an excerpt from Odetta's Wikipedia page:
"Odetta (born December 31, 1930) is an African-American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement." Her musical repertoire consists largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals. An important figure in the American folk music revival of the 1950s and '60s, she was a formative influence on dozens of artists, inlcuding Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Janis Joplin."

-snip-

Here are some excerpts from Ella Jenkin's Wikipedia pageL
"Ella Jenkins (born August 6, 1924) is an American folk singer. Dubbed "The First Lady of the Children's Folk Song" by the Wisconsin State Journal, Jenkins has been a leading performer of children's music for fifty years"...

As a recording artist, Jenkins has gained extensive recognition. Her recordings have received Parents' Choice awards and GRAMMY nominations in the category of Best Musical Album for Children. In 2004, she was recognized with a GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award...

Through her songs, she hopes to develop greater intercultural understanding and rhythmic-consciousness, and to help people discover the joy of singing and communicating through active participation in songs.

Her repertoire includes nursery rhymes, holiday songs, bilingual songs, African-American folk songs, international songs, rhythmic chants, and original songs. Drawing from cultures all over the world, Jenkins sings in many languages, exposing her audiences to diverse cultures and promoting greater cultural awareness".

-snip-

I've not had the good fortune and pleasure of ever meeting or seeing either of these artists perform. But these two women "introduced me" to folk music, I'm fortunate to know them through their music, and I'm thankful that they have done so much to keep these genres of folk music alive.

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: bankley
Date: 16 Jun 08 - 02:17 PM

well, Woodstock turned into Altamount fairly fast...

I came to the 'Cafe' less than a year ago, looking for someone I hadn't heard about in many years... was glad that we reconnected and were able to expand on it. Also 'met' some other interesting people who I probably wouldn't have heard of otherwise. There's a lot of talent floating around. There's also a minefield full of opinions. As Dirty Harry Callahan once said "Opinions are like assholes....everybody has one"..... it all comes down to the music.. the back stories are a bonus.. and when we get to hear them, well, I count my blessings...
so, anybody wanna jam ?????    let's see what you got !

Subject: RE: Celebrate 'Folk'
From: Polite Guest
Date: 16 Jun 08 - 07:19 AM

This thread was the perfect illustration of what to celebrate in folk; happiness, warmth, support and friendship. People who have been in the folk world for decades, talking to one another, openly, honestly and warmly.

It can still be about that, unless you are determined to make it otherwise, Snail?