William Clauson - where is he now?

Subject: RE: william clauson
From: Don Firth
Date: 22 Sep 02 - 08:47 PM

I heard one of William Clauson's records back in the early Sixties and I thought he was terrific. I was strapped at the time so I didn't buy the record, and when I came back the next day, it was gone. I do know that William Clauson attended Richard Dyer-Bennet's "School of Modern Minstrelsy" in Aspen, Colorado in the late Forties. He sang around the U. S. for awhile, made a couple of recordings, then, as I understand it, he went to Sweden.

Dyer-Bennet's Swedish mentor, Sven Scholander, had either revived or had take part in a revival of the ancient minstrel tradition in the Scandinavian countries, and the word I got was that Clauson (Swedish ancestry) went to do the same thing. I don't know what became of him after that, but a google search turns up a Swedish web site that mentions a William Clauson. It's in Swedish, and although it has a link to what appears to be an English translation, when I click it, the mention of Clauson disappears. I don't speak Swedish, but I was able to transliterate a few words such as "Swedish-American troubadour and folk singer born 2 May 1930." Wish I could read the rest of it, because it looks like a fairly extensive article about him. Anyway, here's a link if you want to give it a look[SUNKIT] (which, I think, is a radio station, but I'm just guessing).

Maybe a Swedish-speaking Mudcatter could provide us with a translation!!??? Somebody? Please?

I also turned up a mention of a singer named William Clauson in Australia. And there is a William Clauson who did a record of mariachi songs (!). Is it possible that these could all be the same person? I dunno. But I'm sure curious.

Don Firth

Subject: william clauson
From: donald
Date: 22 Sep 02 - 06:00 PM

Some time ago, I came across William Clauson's solo recording on RCA, titled simply "Folk Songs" (LPM 1286) and ever since, I've been trying to find out his current whereabouts and activities. Clauson is, on the strength of this one recording, one of the great folk troubadors. His mastery of disparate folk traditions is simply stupendous.

Clauson is really a lieder singer, able to create with each song a vivid dramatic moment. Listening to him, I constantly think of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's rare evocative power. All the same, Clauson is squarely within the folk-song tradition. An amazing artist!

If any of you have heard Clauson's recordings and care to comment, please be in touch. And if you have the answer to my question about his current whereabouts, I'll be doubly grateful.