Where can I hear Helen Schneyer?

Subject: Where can I hear Helen Schneyer?
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 26 Jul 13 - 03:31 PM

Where can I hear Helen Schneyer? I just came across her old obit thread while browsing, and was reminded of having spoken on the phone to her, when visiting Maryland 42 years ago & being commissioned by my late dear friend Peter Bellamy just to call her while there and pass on his regards. So I have spoken to her, and very affable and charming she was; but I was only around there for a short time and so I never met her face to face.

Her obit thread, and other threads it linked to, are full of enthusiasm about her wonderful singing. But, alas, I have never heard her sing, and would love to do so, even this late in the day; but can find nowhere online (YouTube or wherever) where she can actually be heard.

Can anyone provide, or point me to, a link where I could actually hear her sing? I should greatly appreciate any such help.

~Michael~

Subject: RE: Where can I hear Helen Schneyer?
From: Elmore
Date: 26 Jul 13 - 03:48 PM

The first place to look is Folk Legacy.com under the heading, "Women's Voices." There are two albums there. The earlier one is my favorite.

Subject: RE: Where can I hear Helen Schneyer?
From: Elmore
Date: 26 Jul 13 - 04:02 PM

Two other sites are Timberhead Music, (Gordon Bok's record store), and Camsco Music.

Subject: RE: Where can I hear Helen Schneyer?
From: Jeri
Date: 26 Jul 13 - 05:47 PM

Ballads, Broadsides and Hymns
On the Hallelujah Line - there are MP3 samples for this one.
What a Singing There Will Be

Subject: RE: Where can I hear Helen Schneyer?
From: Thomas Stern
Date: 26 Jul 13 - 06:14 PM

Below are listed the albums I am aware of, and a concert
preserved at the Library of Congress.

Anyone know of any additional recordings ????
Thanks!
Best wishes, Thomas.

------------------------------------------------------------

FOLK LEGACY FSI-50 CD-50       LP 1974
            CD-50
HELEN SCHNEYER
Ballads, Broadsides & Hymns
14p Booklet Of Lyrics & Notes Inside

Fountain Filled With Blood
He Set Me Free
I Know Moonlight
Jerusalem, My Happy Home
Meeting in the Air
My Father, How Long
On the Hallelujah Line
Shine for Jesus
Shout in the Camp
Sweetest Words He Ever Said, The
There Is a Land
Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight




FOLK LEGACY FSI-85          LP 1981
            CD-85
ON THE HALLELUJAH LINE Gospel Songs and Hymns
Helen Bonchek Schneyer
with instrumental and vocal ensemble.

Meeting in the air --
On the hallelujah line --
Where is my wandering boy tonight --
There's a shout in the camp --
My Father, how long --
Shine for Jesus --
He set me free --
The sweetest words He ever said --
Jerusalem, my happy home --
There is a land --
I know moonlight --
Fountain filled with blood.



Folk-Legacy CD-75             CD 2004
THE CONTINUING TRADITION, VOL. 1: BALLADS
A Folk-Legacy Sampler

8. Driving Saw-Logs on the Plover - Helen Schneyer



Library of Congress Music Division concert, 2004-05-14
Concert given under the auspices of the Music Division and the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress.
Produced by the Music Division and the Recording Laboratory of the Library of Congress.
Library of Congress playback copy: RGB 3348-3349.
Contents performed on program not given.

Performer(s): Hazel Dickens, vocals ; Helen Schneyer, vocals; with Dudley Connell, guitar and harmony vocals ; Barry Mitterhoff, mandolin ; Jack Leiderman, fiddle; Richard Underwood, banjo ; Marshall Wilborn, double bass.

Recorded in the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., May 15, 2004.



TIMBERHEAD MUSIC(Camden, ME) xxxxx       CD 2005
WHAT A SINGING THERE WILL BE
Helen Schneyer

Recorded live at Maple Corner Community Center, Calais, Vermont, by Charles Eller, on November 9, 2003.

Featuring Riki Schneyer, Robin Murie, John Wenstrom, dick Swain, and Jeff Davis.

Cross Over to the Other Side of Jordan --
Palace Grand --
Shallo Brown --
Keep on the Firing Line --
Nelly Was a Lady --
That's All Right --
Leave You in the Hands of My Lord --
I Was Right, I Was Wrong All Along --
Driving Saw Logs on the Plover --
Queen Jane --
Coal in the Stone --
Better Home --
Lonesome Robin --
By and By I'm Going to See the King.

Subject: RE: Where can I hear Helen Schneyer?
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 26 Jul 13 - 06:22 PM

Great thanks for all this prompt help. Very much appreciated.

~Michael~

Subject: RE: Where can I hear Helen Schneyer?
From: Thomas Stern
Date: 26 Jul 13 - 07:36 PM

correction

FSI-50
Wayworn traveler
The Shoofly
Avondale mine disaster
Miner's prayer
Dwelling in Beulahland
The "Flying Cloud"
Roll the woodpile down
Bully in the alley
The "Nightingale"
I will guide thee
Sheath and knife.

Subject: RE: Where can I hear Helen Schneyer?
From: Thomas Stern
Date: 26 Jul 13 - 07:55 PM

one more:

STRAIGHT ARROW SAR 9104          CD 1992
Somber, Sacred & Silly
Helen Bonchek Schneyer-vocals, piano; Lisa Neustadt-harmony vocals; Dick Swain-harmony vocals; Kathy Westra-harmony vocals, cello.

Mary on the Wild Moor
Soon One Morning
Lonesome Robin
The Long-Lost Gold Mine
Over There
My Flower, My Companion
Queen Jane
Don't Marry a Man If He Drinks
The Nurse Pinched the Baby
Old and Gray and Only in the Way
Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl
He Turned the Water Into Wine
Only Remembered
This Old World
Are All Your Matches Sold Yet, Tom
The Cruel Mother
Seek and You Shall Find
Better Home.

Subject: RE: Where can I hear Helen Schneyer?
From: Bill D
Date: 26 Jul 13 - 08:53 PM

Michael... I hope you enjoy her as much as those of us who were lucky enough to have known her and heard her in person. She was a force of nature.

Subject: RE: Where can I hear Helen Schneyer?
From: Ron Davies
Date: 27 Jul 13 - 12:25 AM

Yea and forsooth.



And the crown jewel of the FSGW (though she would no doubt object to that term) for quite a while.    We were bereft when she moved away.

But we really can't complain--we had her for a fair bit.

And for us her stamp will always be on a whole array of songs--from "Beulah Land" to "Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl " (and lots in between).

I think she is even responsible for at least one neologism: I believe it was called "hideobilia".

Subject: RE: Where can I hear Helen Schneyer?
From: Ron Davies
Date: 27 Jul 13 - 12:27 AM

And of course lots and lots of "Helen stories."   Bill D is probably a good source--right Bill?

Subject: RE: Where can I hear Helen Schneyer?
From: Nancy King
Date: 27 Jul 13 - 09:43 AM

Helen's appearance alone was impressive. A tall, straight-backed, even statuesque, white-haired Jewish lady, dressed in white and loaded with turquoise jewelry, she was clearly a force to be reckoned with.

My favorite Helen story comes from Sandy Paton. Sandy had a visitor who was not very familiar with the Folk-Legacy artists but who claimed to be able to tell a lot about a singer just by listening to them. "Okay," said Sandy, "Tell me about this one." And he played a cut of Helen. "Well," said the visitor, "First of all, I think he's black."

Subject: RE: Where can I hear Helen Schneyer?
From: Ron Davies
Date: 27 Jul 13 - 11:33 AM

That's a great one, for sure.   And I hadn't heard it.

Subject: RE: Where can I hear Helen Schneyer?
From: open mike
Date: 27 Jul 13 - 11:38 AM

has anyone done a compiled collection of her music done by others? It seems I heard of such a recording....

Subject: RE: Where can I hear Helen Schneyer?
From: GUEST,George Stephens
Date: 27 Jul 13 - 07:44 PM

Helen's two Folk-Legacy albums (and many other F-L albums) were recently uploaded to an internet music distribution site. They should be available for download in iTunes, eMusic, etc., etc. "soon" (within a week, I think). The rest is yet to come. - George

Subject: RE: Where can I hear Helen Schneyer?
From: Stewart
Date: 27 Jul 13 - 10:25 PM

I was first introduced to her on some of the early Prairie Home Companion shows. She had a powerful voice. Garrison Keillor - for those who came "looking for something sweet," he said, "Helen was not sweet." Instead, he said her music "was heart-rending and blood-curdling". I recently bought her album "Ballads, Broadsides & Hymns" from Folk Legacy. I'd love to get her album "Silly and Sacred" but it's out of print as far as I know. I recently learned her song "My Flower, My Companion and Me" and would like to hear her sing it.

Cheers, S. in Seattle

Subject: RE: Where can I hear Helen Schneyer?
From: Elmore
Date: 27 Jul 13 - 11:06 PM

Perhaps Helen was not sweet, but when she sang a ballad, like "Sheath and Knife" she was passionate, so passionate that tears fell from the eyes of this sophisticated, erudite sometimes sardonic woman.

Subject: RE: Where can I hear Helen Schneyer?
From: KathWestra
Date: 28 Jul 13 - 11:20 AM

Michael,
"What a Singing There Will Be" was released after Helen's death, and may still be available from Timberhead. If you can't get it from them, I can arrange for you to get a copy (you're in the U.K., right?).

"Somber, Sacred and Silly" was never widely distributed, but copies are still available. Again, PM me for details.

And lastly, Helen's Folk-Legacy releases will soon be much more widely available as digital downloads from your favorite online distributor. There's an ongoing effort, which George Stephens alluded to, to make the entire Folk-Legacy catalog available through online music distribution sites. A labor of love, for sure--and, I hope, a whole new audience for all the wonderful stuff Sandy and Caroline released over the years.

And, in a bit of "thread creep," Helen's daughter Riki Schneyer is a sensational singer in her own right, and will soon be releasing her own solo CD--not to be missed!
Kathy

Subject: RE: Where can I hear Helen Schneyer?
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 28 Jul 13 - 05:19 PM

Many thanks for all helpful info. Have actually now made a private contact.

~M~