Little known '60s Folk Singers

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Big Mick
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 11:08 AM

Maybe one of Mudcats best threads ever. It is wonderful that these names are set free from the imprisonment of time. I will be looking up their music for quite a while. Thanks, everybody.

Mick

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Peter T.
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 10:18 AM

Mudcat has a thread (and a remembrance) on Tex, which went up when he died, complete with eulogies and reminiscences.

yours,

Peter T.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Duke
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 10:13 AM

Two more I just thought of. Bruce Farwell and Kit Snow. Both Americans and both introduced me to a: new songs and b: new guitar styles. I often wonder where these people are now.

On another note, I once had a one on one with tex in a chinese eatery and it must have been an off day for tex as I held my own pretty well.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Cool Beans
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 10:33 AM

Len Chandler played the Ann Arbor Folk Festival in 1992. He was living in Los Angeles, teaching and writing and leading songwriting workshops. Don't know about now. He wrote "Beans In Our Ears," which many people think is a real folk song.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: RoyH (Burl)
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 08:13 AM

Hi Wee Little Drummer,
You mention two names familiar to me. Paul Snow, I remember him from the West Country scene but haven't seen him in years. And Ken Penney, sad to say Ken died a few years ago from (I think) motor neurone disease. He was a grand singer,and the Jolly Porter was a great club. I had many fine nights there. Co-incidentally one of the old Jolly Porter singers, Barry Lister, has just brought out a CD on Wildgoose records. Burl.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Leadfingers
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 06:05 AM

There were far too many - Some actually mad a bit of money , but so many just disappeared .

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: GUEST,catherine yronwode
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 02:30 AM

Rolf Cahn
Jo Mapes
Mark Spoelstra
Pete Berg
Toni Brown
T.A. Talbott
Janet Smith

(Can you tell where i grew up?)

cat yronwode

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 03:24 PM

how about Ken penny who as a member of a duo called the Journeymen ran the Jolly Porter folk club in Exeter, near St Davids Station.

Paul snow who run the Exmouth club.

Mike Spoons Seeley who was a strange floor singer.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: GUEST,Historian
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 12:57 PM

back in 1968 I was teaching in Eltham at a school called Crown Woods.
there was this young folk singer there called Dave Kenningham. He was great, he sang a song called "Ride On" which became a hit over 30 years later for C Moore. I always wonder what happened to young David, and if he vere got any royalties.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Betsy
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 10:06 AM

Marie was known as Little in the 1960's, she married Pete Smith but still calls herself Marie Little.
Great singer guitarist an'all Little known as Little 1960's Folk Singer.Still around and doing well.
Puts a different slant on the thread.

Cheers ,

Betsy .

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Scrump
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 05:01 AM

I'm not surprised nobody has yet mentioned Tom Deacon, as he is or was a very little known 1960s singer indeed.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Peace
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 11:22 PM

One night I witnessed Tex and Sean have a go at a Chinese buffet. Tex was just eating and Sean was loading up--expecting maybe a dry spell in the 'eats' department. Astonishing. Absolutely astonishing.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Janice in NJ
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 10:09 PM

Professor Leni Ashmore Sorensen of the College of William and Mary, and formerly of the Womenfolk, now gives lectures on the role of food in 18th and 19th century African-American culture.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: GUEST,Allan S.
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 08:38 PM

I am still trying to find out what happened to Ann Bird/Byrd Was on a record" Folksingers of Washington Square" w/ Logan English etc.
rode a motorcycle sang at the Yale Hoots. Also w/ a girl Margaret Wagner. Does any one know what became of them????

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Steve-o
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 07:52 PM

Hmmmm- how interesting to find this thread alive again, with many wonderful insights. Both of the great folk singers I originally mentioned (Steve Mann and Bill Vanaver) can be found today on their very active and alive websites. I still love and listen to them both (on vinyl) regularly.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: GUEST,Mike Miller
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 06:20 PM

I think of Tex often. I was talking about him with Saul Broudy and Paula Ballin just last night. Tex could eat more than any other person I have ever known. We used to meet at The Charicature after work and head down to the Chinese restuarants off Canal St.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Mark Ross
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 05:29 PM

Me too!

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Peace
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 01:53 PM

Spent more than a few times going to Chinese restaurants with Tex. He knew some menus by heart both in NYC and Montreal. Giant of a man with a guitar that was dwarfed by his frame and hands. Can't recall ever seeing him without sandals, except for a few times when the weather was such that a foot of snow had fallen. I miss the old guy.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: KenBrock
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 01:47 PM

Mark Spoelstra is performing in Central California and has new CD's:
www.markspoelstra.net

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Duke
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 10:36 AM

I remember Tex very much. He was a good friend and a great talent. I loved the way he called people, "sweetums".

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Mark Ross
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 09:04 AM

Karen Dalton was great! Does anyone remember my old friend Tex Koenig?

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 05:58 PM

I've just been "introduced" to a woman I'd not before heard of but wish I'd had! Karen Dalton..apparently born in Oklahoma in 1938 and doing the Greenwich Village scene in the 60's. She didn't like recording much so there's little available out there but WOW what a wonderful and distinctive style.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: GUEST,Mike Miller
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 03:54 PM

I just heard that Billy Vanaver is recovering from a heart attack at his home in New England. I wish him a speedy and full recovery.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 02:05 PM

Bill and Livia were a stunning act - I only saw them twice. He could play terrific guitar and banjo and , she used to put boots on and dance - special boots like east european folk dancers wear.

I am glad to hear they are still gigging. In England many of us remember them as being quite wonderful.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Duke
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 09:39 AM

The sixties in Toronto, Ontario had so many local folksingers that I couldn't mention them all. Jim McCarthy, Dave Wiffen, Al Cromwell, Doug Bush, Klaus Van Graft, Beverlie Salmon, Karen James, and so many others. This is a great thread as it brings back so many memories and when you try to remember some names, more memories. I had Len Chandler for a next door neighbor when he played at our club and besides being the writer of some amazing music, he was also an amazing person.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Severn
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 09:24 AM

Talking about Len Chandler, I stumbled into an odd 1960 vinyl curio of the times-both the album and the copy itself seeming to have a history-in a yard sale, "Beat Generation Jazz Poetry Folk Lyrics Volume 1-John Brent Len Chandler Hugh Romney at the Gaslight". It was on Musitron with no record # designated on the album cover, but side one was designated M-101 and side two was designated M-201. Recorded in Audiotronic Fidelity with "Imagination in Sound" as the company's slogan, it is personally autographed to someone named Harry from John Brent in ink and on the back cover, all mentions of the name Len Chandler were blacked out with a magic marker, for some odd reason. Liner notes were by one Felix Lupus. Produced by Jerry Galuten and Leonard Krohn in associatiion with Larry Wolf.

Chandler is described as "...a far out (in italics) folk singer who came East after creating a minor sensation in Detroit Michigan. Chandler made his mark by setting wry comments about the Beats and Squares to traditional folk melodies. The results were hilarious...."

Also on the back of the record jacket is this little boxed in item:

THE RECORD PARTY PLAN-Find out about MUSITRON's exciting new "Record Party Plan", a novel and (in italics)cost free way to quickly raise money for your club or organisation-providing them with an unusual evening's entertainment to boot. Write: Record Party, MUSITRON INC., 82 Beaver Street New York 5, New York.

Romney, of course, kept a high profile in the Hippie Era.

But my question is did any of you hepCatters survive any of this in person? I'm sure some frequented The Gaslight, but will anyone who either attended a "Record Party" or experienced a "minor sensation" in Detroit please raise your hand and maybe even elucidate on the subject a bit.

Meanwhile, if the name Len Chandler remains unknown, all the people who still enjoy picking or singing or merely listeng to "Green Green Rocky Road" owe the man.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: GUEST,Mike Miller
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 09:10 AM

I was Billy Vanaver's den chief when he was a cub scout. I met him again when I ran the Sunday afternoon sings at the Gilded Cage in Philadelphia in the 50's and 60's. He was one of a host of talented folksinger at those sessions which included Dick Weissman (later to form The Journeymen), John Pilla (before he started working for Eric Anderson and Arlo), Benjie Aaronoff, Jerry Ricks (he's Philadelphia Jerry Ricks, now), Marshal Freedland (he, later, joined the DeCormier Singers), Saul Broudie, Harry Tufts (pride of The Denver Folklore Center) and that's just who I can remember off the top of my head. I am trying to reach as many of the old gang as I can for purposes of reunion and literature. Survivors can reach me at [e-mail]
This is a wonderful thread. We should probably include those pioneers who ushered in the folk boom by keeping the flame in the late 40's, people like Win Strake, Sam Hinton, Richard Dyer Bennet and George Britton.

                     Mike

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: iancarterb
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 01:20 AM

Curmudgeon mentioned two that woke me up. I met both Paul Geremia and Ray Clayton in Rhode Island when I sailed for US branch of the Gray Funnel Line. By happy coincidence, I worked with Ray as a CATV installer a few years later in San Francisco, briefly for both of us. Utterly lost track of him since 1971. Anyone else know of his whereabouts?
Lee Haring I met on staff at Pinewoods, and I didn't see his name in the thread. Fine banjo player and singer.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Peace
Date: 19 Aug 06 - 10:06 PM

His rendition of "Green Green Rocky Road" is the absolute best I ever heard.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Cool Beans
Date: 19 Aug 06 - 10:02 PM

I just Googled "The Well-Rounded Dick Glass" and found several copies for sale, $12-$17. It came out in 1964 on the 20th Centruy Fox label.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Charlie Baum
Date: 19 Aug 06 - 09:35 PM

Follow-ups on people mentioned earlier in this thread:

Allan Block still holds forth at the Old Songs Festival, where every year he takes a booth for his leather crafting, and every evening holds forth there in a jam session with whoever shows up.

Bill Vanaver and his wife Livia (nee Drapkin) are still active and around: http://www.vanavercaravan.org/index.html

And Luke Faust's daughter Helena (married for a while to Jimmy Triplett) studied the music of West Virginia when she lived there, but has since gone back to New Zealand).

--Charlie Baum

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Deckman
Date: 19 Aug 06 - 06:23 PM

So many friends, so many times, so many songs, and so many years. What memories! When I first joined MC, I started asking about missing friends ... "Terry Wadsworth" for one. As the answers to my questions came in, I decided I'd rather not ask any more. But ... "THOSE WERE THE TIMES MY FRIENDS ...! Bob(deckman)Nelson

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Little Robyn
Date: 19 Aug 06 - 05:47 PM

In 1967 an unknown English singer arrived here on one of the visiting ships - he was a farrier and was in charge of some horses being brought out here. He had been busking in France with his friend and he taught us his friend's song - 'Streets of London'. We thought he was wonderful but he only stayed here for a short time.
His friend became well known but John Hayday remained just another obscure folkie. He later returned to NZ and gave up singing for awhile but I believe he's performing again in the Auckland area.
Robyn

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 19 Aug 06 - 02:50 PM

Len Chandler was very talented!! He could write in a folksy "Tom Paxton" style - beautifully, but also had a sophisicated "jazzy" side , too. His very interesting Columbia album was probably too musically varied for the folk audience back in 1965(?).

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: kytrad (Jean Ritchie)
Date: 19 Aug 06 - 02:49 PM

In our first apartment(7th Ave. South and Bleeker),in the '50s,George and I hung out across the street in a small restaurant which had a singing waiter- beautiful young man who held the plates high over his head and filled the room with the music of his voice. Served you with a grin and a high note...who was he? Harry Belefonte! Not well known then- but he didn't stay that way...

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Peace
Date: 19 Aug 06 - 02:40 PM

Dick Glass was phenomenal. Beautiful voice and he sure handled the nylon he played as well as Feliciano ever did.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 19 Aug 06 - 02:29 PM

Brian Roberts who came over to England doing a support gig for the New Lost City Ramblers 1965.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Scotus
Date: 19 Aug 06 - 01:31 PM

Somebody further back on this thread mentioned an English singer called Matt McGinn! Well, now - if he were still around he'd be amused. You could hardly get more Scottish.

Also mentioned back aways was 'a young Bert Jansch'. Back in the late 50s and early 60s Bert and his mentor Davy Graham were both heavily influenced by a little known (now) Edinburgh guitarist called Len Partridge. I've no idea what happened to Len - can anyone throw any light?

Jack

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: yannis
Date: 19 Aug 06 - 01:16 PM

ted alevizos is still singing. lives in cambridge. has done several records of greek folk songs and two cds of Greek byzantine chants(cds on Grammy entry list of best classical albums of their years).

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Auggie
Date: 05 Nov 04 - 10:04 PM

Oh Man. Freddie Neil, Paul Geremia and Will McLain all in the same thread.It can't get much better.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: GUEST,Arkie
Date: 05 Nov 04 - 09:48 PM

I used to slip across the river to Ramblin' Conrads in Norfolk, VA once in a while and wish I could remember the names of folk I saw there. The only one I do remember is Bob Zentz and he is not exactly unknown but not known as much as he should be. David Williamson, a college student used to perform at a coffee house I ran in Portsmouth, VA and was very good on guitar and banjo. I thought he might have gone on to some fame. I guess the 60's did not last long enough.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Nov 04 - 08:59 PM

Marc Sullivan - American who gigged in Devon
Xavier Coudril - did the cousins gig in the late 60's
colin Scott - 12 string and dazzling stage presence
Colin Wilson - Paul downes old mate
Bill clifton and Pete Roberts

oh too many

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Joybell
Date: 05 Nov 04 - 07:44 PM

from hildebrand:
BILL LYONS married recently. he and his wife Amy are performing as a duo around the boston area.
LOGAN ENGLISH, i was told around 1990, died after being hit by a car.
ELIOT KENIN is living in california. he wrote the fine song "you ain't done nothin if you aint been called a red" . g.h.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Mark Ross
Date: 05 Nov 04 - 01:58 PM

Hell, there were so many, Thom Ghent, Sue Martin(or Robbins), Justin Devereaux, Jerry Merrick, Vince Martin, who played some with Fred Neil, David Rea, Gary White, Erik Frandsen, Pat Chamberlain, the list could go on forever, if my memory was a little better. As George Carlin has been heard to say, "If you remember the '60's, you weren't really there.

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Cool Beans
Date: 05 Nov 04 - 09:40 AM

Brucie,
Oh yeah, Dick Glass. He had a semi-regular gig at a club in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn when I was in college. He put out an album called "The Well-Rounded Dick Glass," a pun on his being a bit overweight.
He wrote a pretty good song about being a folksinger always on the road. The only lines I recall are "I passed by here/ I'm going to die here..."
He was known in New York for singing "They're Laying Eggs Now." I know I saw him; I'm pretty sure it was at the Gaslight or Gerde's Fok City.

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Peace
Date: 05 Nov 04 - 04:03 AM

"Will McLain, Michael Strange, Grant Rogers, Mike Kellen, Logan English, Robbie Basho, Jim Dawson, all people I appreciated in my time and who had all some how slipped away."

How 'bout the guy who wrote the above?

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: rich-joy
Date: 05 Nov 04 - 03:57 AM

I'm still chasing info on a "Chris Couveau" of Williamsport, Pa, c.1962 - as listed in "The Coffee House Songbook" - Oak Publications, NY, 1966.

Any takers?!

Cheers! R-J

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: DonMeixner
Date: 05 Nov 04 - 12:13 AM

Will McLain, Michael Strange, Grant Rogers, Mike Kellen, Logan English, Robbie Basho, Jim Dawson, all people I appreciated in my time and who had all some how slipped away.

Don

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Peace
Date: 04 Nov 04 - 10:24 PM

Saw a fellow named Dick Glass. He played a nylon guitar and had a great voice. Funny guy also. Worked with him somewhere--club gig--and never saw him again. This was in 1966(?). Anyone heard of him?

Subject: RE: Little known 1960's Folk Singers
From: Bobert
Date: 04 Nov 04 - 10:09 PM

Rita reminded me when she brought up Austin... There's a local boy who has done purdy good since movin' down there: James McMurtry... Now, for anyone who ain't familiar with him, get so... I mean it... He is the real deal...

Bobert