Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV

Subject: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: Suffet
Date: 19 May 04 - 06:16 AM

Here we go again!

THE FOURTH ANNUAL
WOODY GUTHRIE BIRTHDAY BASH
ROUND ROBIN SONGFEST

Sunday, July 11, 2004
7:00 to 9:00 PM
CB's 313 Gallery
313 Bowery
(at the foot of Bleecker Street)
New York City

Featuring...

Jessica Feinbloom
Joel Landy
Chris Lang
Eric Levine
Anne Price
Steve Suffet
Gina Tlamsa

$5 cover lets you stay all night and hear other acts as well.

For information, please call [phone].

Be there!

--- Steve

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: GUEST,Penguin Egg
Date: 19 May 04 - 05:24 PM

I'm in the wrong country to be attending, but it is good that people are taking the trouble to remember this great American artist.

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: GUEST
Date: 20 May 04 - 05:01 PM

Well, darn it, you're just too far away from northern California!

G.U.

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: Suffet
Date: 21 May 04 - 09:13 AM

Guest G.U.:

We thought about taking the show on the road. You know, hitchhiking and bumming or riding empty rail cars from town to town, playing on street corners for dimes and in roadhouses for a bowl of chili and some biscuits. We could sleep in flop houses, or in jungle camps, or possibly in someone's barn, or even ask the local sheriff to put us up for the night in the calaboose if we promised to get out of town the next morning. Yeah, that's keeping it real. And maybe in six months or a year we would reach California, that's if the Legionaires and the vigilantes and the highway patrol and the guys at the agricultural inspection station didn't turn us back.

On second thought we decided to just sing about it.

--- Steve

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: GUEST
Date: 21 May 04 - 07:07 PM

I'm looking forward to singing Ticky Tock. Woody wrote the words, and the music was added by the German singer Wenzel. The song was published in Sing Out. Nora Guthrie heard Wenzel in Germany (she's married to a German)and said to herself "aha". She got him to come to New York and look through the Guthrie archive. Wenzel wrote some very good music to some of Woody's previously unrecorded lyrics. On one level Ticky Tock is a nice children's song about the ticking of a clock. On another level it's about how no one can escape the passage of time. Since it was written near the end of Woody's life he must have known time was running out on him. Wenzel is a charming performer. He did a concert in New York at German house and he sang Ticky Tock while playing piano and tapping water-filled glasses. Then he sang the song in German and it sounded good to me even though I don't understand German.

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: Suffet
Date: 21 May 04 - 09:42 PM

Greetings:

That anonymous guest must be none other than the lovely and talented Anne Price, a fellow member of MacDougal Street Rent Party. Here is a link to her website:

http://members.aol.com/aeprice/

Now for a completely unsolicited plug. The Happy Landings album that Anne recorded with the late Marilyn Maltzer, previously available only as a cassette tape, has recently been released on CD. Go ahead and treat yourself to one. This webpage will give you the details:

http://members.aol.com/aeprice/landings.html

--- Steve

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: GUEST,Anne Price
Date: 23 May 04 - 11:12 AM

Thanks for the plug, Steve. I just heard a "new" Guthrie song on the CD that comes with the current issue of Sing Out! and I must learn it for the concert! It's called "Peace Call". I continues to amaze me how many wonderful Guthrie songs are still undiscovered.

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: Suffet
Date: 24 May 04 - 06:33 AM

Anne, you are welcome. That Woody Gutrie song, Peace Call, is in the Nearly Complete Collection of Wody Guthrie Folk Songs published by Ludow Music (The Richmond Organization) in 1963. The collection is far from complete, since it has fewer than 200 songs, but it does contain many that have not been published elsewhere. So it is possible to discover Woody Guthrie songs without ploughing throw the archives.

By the way, I don't get the CD with Sing Out! That's because I took the cheapola subscription. Maybe I should opt for the classier one the next time I renew.

--- Steve

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: GUEST,Anne Price
Date: 25 May 04 - 01:29 PM

The CD is definitely worth the extra cost for Sing Out. Nothing like hearing a song to know if it's worth learning, and there are things that you just can't get from the written page, even if you are a good music reader.
    And that's "Guthrie song" not "Gutrie song" and "Woody Guthrie Folk Songs" not "Wody Guthrie Folk Songs." And "plowing through" not "plowing throw." Sorry, but when I'm not a folk singer I'm an editor. Can't help it. :-)

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: Suffet
Date: 25 May 04 - 04:23 PM

Greetings again:

I'm getting terribly sloppy in my old age. After posting that semi-literate message I remembered that I did upgrade from the "magazine only" option to the basic magazine + CD package the last time I renewed my Sing Out! subscription. That means I should have started receiving the CD with this issue. I called the Sing Out! office in Pennsylvania this morning, and the woman I spoke with confirmed that. She said she would mail the CD to me by the end of this week.

--- Steve

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: GUEST,2 in harmony
Date: 02 Jun 04 - 09:39 PM

It would be great to hear songs by some of Woody's colleagues, those who inspired him and those who were so inspired by him. Much interest in concert in NYC metropolitan area. Feel closer to other Mucatters when I read about interest in other parts of country and beyond...

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: Janice in NJ
Date: 03 Jun 04 - 02:54 PM

Sorry but this year I'll be camping somewhere in Ontario. I just hope black fly season is over. Have a great bash anyway.

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: GUEST,2 in harmony
Date: 09 Jun 04 - 12:30 AM

sorry you won't be able to get to the Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash, Janice. Enjoy Ontario!

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: InOBU
Date: 09 Jun 04 - 07:29 AM

Gee... any interest in inviting that anoying fellow, Lorcan Otway?
Cheers
Lor

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: Suffet
Date: 09 Jun 04 - 07:48 AM

Lorcan, you are not that annoying! Yes, we could consider you for a future show, but you cannot bring your own band. You would have to depend for accompaniment upon Eric, Gina, and whoever else is in the show. It's too early to make any promises for 2005.

For those who do not know, Lorcan Otway performed in the first Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash at CB's 313 Gallery back in 2001. We have been rotating the performers a little bit each year. Last year, for example, we had Erica Smith and also Mark Maniak. Chris Lang and A. Bogs are new this year.

--- Steve

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: GUEST,John Hernandez
Date: 09 Jun 04 - 12:22 PM

I'll try to make it this year. You eally should take up Mr. Otway's offer and put him back in the line-up. His song about Amadu Diallo is equal to Woody's best work, today's equivalent of "Vigilante Man."

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: InOBU
Date: 09 Jun 04 - 12:34 PM

John:
Dear fellow...
I am more than touched by your kind words about my song. I am really speachless, a state in which I am almost never found.
Thanks from the bottom of my heart.
Lor

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: GUEST,2 in harmony
Date: 15 Jun 04 - 12:26 PM

Heard there will be some singing and discussion about Guthrie coming up on the radio. Can someone fill in the details.

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: Suffet
Date: 15 Jun 04 - 09:01 PM

Greetings:

That's right. Three or four of the performers appearing at the Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash on July 11th will be guests of Ron Olesko the previous Sunday, July 4th, on his WFDU Traditions radio program. The show is broadcast on WFDU, 89.1 FM, from 3:00 to 6:00 PM, but we don't yet know what time we will be on. So far we have Anne Price, Eric Levine, and myself lined up. We hope to get at least one more.

The WFDU signal can be heard within a 50-mile radius of Teaneck, New Jersey.

Whether or not you hear us on the radio, please come hear us live at CB's 313 Gallery on Sunday, July 11. 2004, from 7:00 to 9:00 PM. That's at 313 Bowery at the foot of Bllecker Street in New York City. $5 cover lets you stay all night and hear the acts that follow us. For information, please call [phone].

--- Steve

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: GUEST,Randi Collins
Date: 16 Jun 04 - 11:11 AM

I I do not understand why you do not ask Lorcan Otway to be part of the core concert every year. I notice you always have a small repeat core of the same people. THere should be room in the core group for one more singer who is one of the few people in New York writing about things Woody Guthrie was singing about. I have heard him for years before he had a band, singing at fund raisers for people who really needed what he was saying. In times of increased censorship and unpopularity of protest music, I think it serves the memory of Woody to have Lorcan Otway play music that is about the times, and about the present concerns of the people.

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: InOBU
Date: 16 Jun 04 - 10:42 PM

Randi! Thanks. I'm chuffed. Are you the Randi to whom Sandy introduced me at the fundraiser for the Southern burned churches?
All the best,
Lor

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: GUEST,John Hernandez
Date: 17 Jun 04 - 10:38 AM

Randi Collins is right that Steve Suffet has developed a core of performers who follow him everywhere, whether to a night club like CB's, a coffee house like the People's Voice, or a festival like NOMAD. The irony is that two of those core performers, Eric Levine and Gina Tlamsa, used to be in Lorcan Otway's band Sorcha Dorcha. Did Steve "steal them away"? May that has something to do with Lorcan not being in any of Steve's shows lately? I am only guessing. Is there anyone who knows the answer and would like to share it?

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: InOBU
Date: 17 Jun 04 - 11:02 AM

Good of you to care, John. But, I don't doupt Steve's intentions. I think these things become a matter of unconcious allegence to who you hang out with (those with whom you hang????). I am somewhat of a loner due to the many things I work on at once... and I have a distinct artistic vision which makes folks a bit uneasy when working with me, but, I do try to accomodate the individuality of band members, so I would be surprised if there are lasting bad feelings to do with the band... I would presume it is the who hangs out with who dynamic, who knows. I even joined Pinewoods to be one of the gang... didn't seem to work. But I don't assume bad intent.
Cheers
Larry

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: GUEST,Randi Collins
Date: 17 Jun 04 - 11:15 AM

Lorcan, Yes, I am that person. Very sweet of you to remember. I have of course have seen you perform since. Best wishes. Keep up our spirits with your voice.

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: InOBU
Date: 17 Jun 04 - 09:30 PM

Thanks Randi: Hope to see you at the next Gig, I'll post here or let Sandy know... or you can email me at [e-mail] and I will keep you posted about gigs. Cheers Lor

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: GUEST,John Hernandez
Date: 19 Jun 04 - 04:42 PM

Like Lorcan Otway I used to be a member of Pinewoods. I presume he means the New York Folk Song Society, and not the Pinewoods Camp near Cape Cod, which is actually run by CDSS. I let my membership lapse when I moved away a few years ago, but I'm back in New York about once a month so I know what he is talking about. They are a tough nut to crack. I don't mean to imply that Pinewoods people are intentionally unfriendly -- they are certainly not -- but they are very inbred, and they tend to associate only with one another, musically at least. If you look at Steve Suffet's core group of regular performers, you find that most of them are Pinewoods people. The rest are from Peoples' Music Network. That shouldn't come as a surprise, since Steve is a long time activist in both organizations, and he doesn't hide those affiliations. If anything, Steve trumpets his connections too much.

Of the two groups, PMN is by far the more open and welcoming, and I do remember seeing Lorcan Otway and his band when they appeared in the PMN concert with Peggy Seeger, Si Kahn, and Billy Jonas in North Carolina a few years ago. So if Lorcan wants to get back into Steve's inner circle, maybe he should pursue PMN membership instead of Pinewoods. Just one man's opinion, of course.

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: Suffet
Date: 21 Jun 04 - 10:35 PM

Greetings:

For the record:

• I didn't steal any musicians away from anyone. Eric Lenine and Gina Tlamsa appeared as Lorcan (Larry) Otway's instrumental accompanists in the first Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash in 2001. By that time they had already left Lorcan's band or were about to leave it. I had nothing to do with their decisions. I am, however, very happy that Eric and Gina and I, along with Anne Price and Joel Landy, are all members of MacDougal Street Rent Party. However, MSRP is an entirely different band, and in no way is a competitor to Sorcha Dorcha. If anything, we are complimentary bands, as both MSRP and Sorcha Dorcha use traditional musical themes to present contemporary topical-political songs.

• Neither are New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club and People's Music Network competing organizations. They serve different purposes, and I am proud to belong to both. When there is a commonality of interest, they have been known to cosponsor an event. I find it unfortunately that to the best of my knowledge Lorcan is currently a member of neither. Loner or not, both organizations would benefit from his being a member, just as he would bebefit from belonging to both.

• Let's stay on topic, which is the annual Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash. I would certainly consider asking Lorcan to appear again, but he cannot bring his own band as accompanists. By trial and error I have concluded that the featured performers should call upon one another for instrumental and vocal back up, and not go outside for accompaniment.

--- Steve

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 22 Jun 04 - 12:00 AM

I am really looking forward to having Steve and guests on my show on July 4 to talk about this event and share some songs. (I will also have Jed Marum on the show that day as well, not connected with the Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash). If you are not in the NYC area that day, you can also listen in via the internet - www.wfdu.fm.

Steve, I think it is to your credit that people are resorting to public begging to be part of your Birthday Bash! In 4 short years you have created an EVENT. I hope your idea spreads, and perhaps other birthday bashes will sprout up around the globe.   No one should lose sight of the fact that the Birthday Bash is about celebrating Woody Guthrie. What a great idea!

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: InOBU
Date: 22 Jun 04 - 04:42 AM

Dear Ron:
I am more than insulted by the contention that I am begging to be on anyone's program. The quality of my music is public record as is the degree to which I am overlooked by various venues. At times I remind folks I am out here, playing music that reflects my activism on matters of American democracy where I don't see many "progresive" folk faces. I made no alligations about Steve stealing musicians, and I assure you I am not writing under the name John Hernandez. As to joining folk clubs ... there is just so much time in the day and I have no money to join clubs, I don't have mony for health insurenence or food some days. Look, I don't give a damn if there are cliques or not or why they exist or seem to exist. Some good folks like John and Randi notice that the same folks get called to play again and again and others don't.
All the best
L.O.

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: Suffet
Date: 22 Jun 04 - 07:06 AM

Greetings again:

Ron, thanks for the plug. Anne, Eric, and I are looking forward to visiting your studio on July 4. Yes, the annual Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash has become an established event here in New York, and I get more requests than I can possibly honor. Perhaps "begging" is too strong a word, but I know what you mean.

Lorcan Otway is a friend and a comrade, and a wonderful musician. I added him to the first WGBB in 2001 simply because he asked. I invited him back in 2002, but the invitation was for him alone, not for him plus his then-current band. He declined, so I moved on to other people who asked. So many, in fact, have asked to be in the WGBB that in 2003 I added a second show called the Midwinter Hoot. A second annual Midwinter Hoot took place this year, but I will likely drop it, because I found producing two such shows a year is more than I can handle.

I should add that Lorcan and Sorcha Dorcha were really a big hit at the PMN annual concert in North Carolina in 2002. Peggy Seeger loved them, as did Si Kahn and just about everyone else who was there. However, please let me point out that I am the person who recommended that PMN concert producer Jim Wolfe invite Lorcan and his band. Jim did so on the strength of my say-so and Sorcha Dorcha's first CD, even though Lorcan was not a PMN member. Lorcan was also given a PMN workshop to lead at the PMN gathering at UNC-Asheville the following day, and it was also well received.

But did Lorcan follow these successes up by coming to any other PMN gatherings, summer or winter? Or by joining PMN? Or by writing for the PMN newsletter Sassafras? Or by participating in the PMN e-mail list serve? The answser to all of these is no. Which is too bad, because if he had, Lorcan would have made connections with quite a few people who are regularly involved with PMN. These include, among many others, Pete Seeger, Karen Brooks, Pat Humphries, Joe Jencks, Kim and Reggie Harris, John Fromer, Tom Nielson, Dave Martin, Mary Kate Small, and a host of others throughout North America who would have been receptive to his music.

As for New York Pinewoods, yes Lorcan joined at a Peggy Seeger concert. But did he ever come to the NY Pinewoods weekends in the country? To the parties and picnics, including the annual picnic at Jean Ritchie's house on Long Island or the annual singing and swimming party in Queens? To the various open mikes and song circles held throughout the boroughs of New York City? Did he volunteer to lead a workshop at a NY Pinewoods festival, such as Fall Fling or the Eisteddfod-NY? Or offer to do a stand alone teaching workshop on the uileann pipes? Once again the answer to all these questions is no. Maybe NY Pinewoods is a hard nut to crack, but at least Lorcan could have met them part of the way.

By the way, these are all things I have previously told him in private.

--- Steve

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 22 Jun 04 - 09:28 AM

Relax Lorcan, I did not use "begging" as an insult, nor did I ever insinuate that you were logging in under other names. I was trying to point out how successful the Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash has become. That is what this thread was supposed to be about.

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: GUEST,John Hernandez
Date: 22 Jun 04 - 03:33 PM

No, I am not Mr. Otway, although I wish I could play the Irish pipes like him.

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: InOBU
Date: 22 Jun 04 - 06:32 PM

Steve: I know you are a well meaning fellow, but, I guess you don't know or remember what it is to be so poor that if you got away for one weekend a year, it set you back for several months. I don't kid you when I say there are days when Genie and I have a bag of popcorn for dinner. I'd love to have time to network at weekends etc. but I am struggling to busk up the cost of the phone bill. Folks know my work, if they need me to be part of the weekend party, well, I'd love to but just don't have the gelt.
Cheers
Larry

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: GUEST,2 in harmony
Date: 23 Jun 04 - 11:44 AM

I've heard some wonderful, funny and insightful anecdotes about Woody's life. Perhaps Mudcattersmight share such knowledge on this thread. To me, learning more about Guthrie enriches his work although his music stands on its own, of course.

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 23 Jun 04 - 12:52 PM

Larry's Amadou Diallou is a really great song, and so is Engine 33, among others.

I wonder, if a reincarnated Woody Guthrie was to drift along, would he ever get a spot at this bash?

The thing about Woody seems to have been he was focused on what was going on in the wolrd around him, here and now, and he still would be.

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: GUEST,Randi
Date: 23 Jun 04 - 08:10 PM

I don't think that questioning why someone, in this case Lorcan, is not included is off topic. The bash should be about activism and "the people" I saw Bernadette McAlicky say at a speech if you want to know about what the important civil rights questions in America are, ask him, and pointed at Otway. Like Woody Guthrie's songs, Otway's songs ring true because he was there, side by side with the people who society has no time for. He would bring back songs from being on the road with real people like Woody and not from TV or the movies. I get it when he says he does not have time or money for folk clubs. He is what a folk musician is, the voice of the people because he shares their fate and in America today, the people are not doing very well. Instead of Lorcan meeting the folk clubs half way, they could meet him so that he songs can be heard. I should add that, in addition to Lorcan, musicians should not be excluded or not heard because they do not have time for all of a club's activities and socializing.

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: Suffet
Date: 24 Jun 04 - 10:24 AM

Greetings again:

OK, let me make this clear. CB's management gives me a two-hour time slot for the Annual Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash. That's all. I now get an average of more than 15 requests from people who want to be in the show. I can only accommodate about half of them. I have told some very fine musicians that they had to wait a year or two.

For example, Erica Smith, was supposed to be in the first WGBB in 2001, but she had to drop out that year for personal reasons. She wanted back in, but I couldn't fit her in until 2003. Mind you, I am talking about the Erica Smith, the shining star of New York's downtown anti-folk scene.

As far as Lorcan Otway goes, he appeared in 2001 and I invited him back in 2002. But he didn't like the terms – he couldn't bring along his own band members – so he declined. I moved on and got others. One of them was Anne Price, who has now become a regular. So have Eric Levine and Gina Tlamsa, who first came as Lorcan's accompanists in 2001.

Out of the Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash came the folk ensemble, MacDougal Street Rent Party, comprising Anne, Eric, Gina, Joel Landy, and myself. Yes, these are the first people I now invite. I also always invite Jessica Feinbloom, who has been a singing partner for the past five years. So, unless one is unable to accept the gig, six slots are accounted for. That leaves room to invite one or two others, at most. I am happy to say that this year we will have Chris Lang as a featured performer and A. Bogs as a special guest artist.

I would also like to point out that I produce the Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash on my own. I deal with CB's management, I schedule the rehearsals, I design and distribute the flyers, I place the ads, I send out the press releases, and I find volunteers who are willing to act as our roadies. This year I am the one who secured an invitation to appear on Ron Olesko's WFDU Traditions radio program on July 4 (89.1 FM, 3:00 PM, in the NY-NJ metro area). And I am the one who invariably takes the monetary loss, since my expenses have always been greater than my share of the gate.

If Lorcan Otway, or anyone else for that matter, wishes to appear at CB's 313 Gallery, then that person is free to arrange a gig. Just call [phone] on a Wednesday afternoon and ask to speak with Micheline. She usually books performers 6 to 8 weeks ahead of time.

Meanwhile, let me renew my invitation. Come to CB's 313 Gallery in New York City on Sunday, July 11, 2004, and find out what all the fuss is about. Our two-hour round-robin songfest begins at 7:00 PM, and we try to start the music on time. So get there a few minutes early and you won't miss anything.

CB's 313 Gallery is located at 313 Bowery at the foot of Bleecker Street in the East Village section of Lower Manhattan. Admission is just $5, and for that price you can stay all evening and hear the acts that follow us.

Enough said.

--- Steve Suffet

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 24 Jun 04 - 11:19 AM

Well put Steve!   

If I could add my $.02 - I love going to festivals, but there are always dozens of performers I would like to see on the bill. Every festival I go to has "favorites" - some are musicians who the audience wants to see year after year, and others are friends of the festival organizer.

As an outsider, I commend Steve for putting his Woody Guthrie bash together these past 4 years. I hope it continues for many more. I would also love to see other "birthday bashes" crop up around the globe. I hope Steve won't mind that.   Woody's music touches on universal themes and it should not be limited to ONE event.

Hopefully Lorcan and others might be invited in future years. I would love to see John Flynn, Joe Jencks, Catherine Moon, David Lippman, The Solidarity Singers, Rod MacDonald and the dozens of progressive artists who are creating music in the spirit of Woody Guthrie.

By the way, I am happy to say that Lorcan and I are working out a date, hopefully in early September, where he can perform on my show. There is a lot of great music and important music that needs to be heard.   We need to build more stages, not tear down the ones that exist.

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: Suffet
Date: 24 Jun 04 - 02:24 PM

Greetings:

Ron Olesko is right. Go ahead and organize your own Woody Guthrie celebrations. Tribes Hill just held a Woody Guthrie song session at the Clearwater Hudson River Revival, and the Folk Song Society of Greater Boston did the same at NEFFA a little earlier this year. I don't mind. In fact let's have events celebrating the music of Leadbelly, Cisco Houston, Malvina Reynolds, Dave Van Ronk, Phil Ochs, and the many other folk musicians who are so much a part of our musical heritage. Two, three, fifty birthday bashes!

Now let me admit the truth. I didn't come up with the idea of a Woody Guthrie tribute. Two big ones were held soon after Woody's death. But years earlier there had been the very first such concert. It took place in New York City on March 17, 1956, and Woody himself, ailing much still very much alive, was the guest of honor. I wasn't there, but my friend Isabel Goldstein was in the audience, while three of my other friends, Ellen Kossoy, Irene Kossoy, and Pete Seeger, were performers.

--- Steve

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 24 Jun 04 - 02:57 PM

Sonny Ochs has been presenting Phil Ochs Song Nights for many years. They are amazing.

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: InOBU
Date: 24 Jun 04 - 06:04 PM

My dear old friend Steve:
I don't intend to flog a dead horse over this, and invite who ever who want, it's your show... but I must be getting old, but I looked back over the Woody event threads, and don't see, nor do I recall my saying that I wanted my band to play, and in fact, I have been accompanying myself the past several years... in fact, through this thread you keep speaking as though I said invite me and my band... I didn't ... I said I can be had, and all hell broke loose.
Frankly, I am inclined to agree with Randi, that there is, in this generation a wee wall between the folk club set and the activist on the road. But, well, ... don't think twice...
As to my organizing a Woody Guthery tribute... I am reminded of the old Belfast graphite I saw back in 1977 (It might have been in Enniskillin...) "Elvis is dead, Johnny Rotten LIVES!" Shite, boyo, just like Rotten... we all are going to be on THAT wall one day...
Cheers and have fun
Larry

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 24 Jun 04 - 08:25 PM

Johnny Rotten lives, but not Sid Vicious...

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: Suffet
Date: 24 Jun 04 - 08:31 PM

Have you been RAMBLING AROUND and hitting a lot of HARD TRAVELING lately? Have you been GOING DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD? Has your CURLY HEADED BABY in those OKLAHOMA HILLS told you SO LONG, IT'S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YOU? Yup, we know it's been HARD, AIN'T IT HARD? So you should be TAKING IT EASY, TAKING IT SLOW. Just hitch a ride on that SHIP IN THE SKY or jump into your CAR, CAR and head straight way to NEW YORK TOWN where you will find the...

FOURTH ANNUAL WOODY GUTHRIE BIRTHDAY BASH
ROUND ROBIN SONGFEST

Sunday • July 11, 2004 • 7 to 9 PM

CB's 313 Gallery
313 Bowery
New York City

$5 cover. What a bargain!

Be there!

--- Steve & the gang

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: InOBU
Date: 25 Jun 04 - 08:29 AM

Right you are Kev, I stand corrected. It is Sid who is singing harmony with Woody... ah what a picture!
Cheers
Larry

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: GUEST,John Hernandez
Date: 28 Jun 04 - 12:22 PM

I'll try to be there whether you have Lorcan or not. Anne Price is enough of an attraction.

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: InOBU
Date: 29 Jun 04 - 09:11 AM

Being that he is still alive, me and Johny Rotten will likely attend...

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: Suffet
Date: 30 Jun 04 - 09:02 AM

Greetings again!

We would love to say Howdy! to Messers. Otway, Rotten, Hernandez, Ms. Collins, and anyone else who cares to stop by. $5 cover lets you stay all night and hear the acts that follow us for the next three or four hours. You just might catch the next [fill in the blank] on his/her way up or the last [fill in the blank] on his/her way down. In any case, it's a cheap night out, and just 25 cents more than you would pay for an ice cream bar at Yankee Stadium.

Fourth Annual Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash
Sunday • July 11, 2004 • 7 to 9 PM
CB's 313 Gallery
313 Bowery
New York City

--- Steve

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: Big Mick
Date: 30 Jun 04 - 09:11 AM

Sure wish I was going to be close, Steve. I would love to come to this one.

Good luck,and I hope many Mudcatters come to your event.

All the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: GUEST,2 in harmony
Date: 02 Jul 04 - 08:05 PM

Steve---Enjoyed the way your mentioned of some of the songs most closely associated with Woody. (6/24/04) Do you have a story or two to tell about the man himself?

Subject: RE: Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash IV
From: Suffet
Date: 02 Jul 04 - 10:27 PM

Read Ramblin' Man by Ed Cray, Woody Guthrie: a Life by Joe Klein, and Woody's own Bound for Glory. Then you will have as many stories as I have.

--- Steve