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28 Feb 02 - 10:16 AM (#659887) Subject: Help me find some good threads From: Max I am preparing a proposal for support from a folk society, and my inside man says that it would be a good idea to list some threads that would be considered historically important. He says:
I think it would help our cause to be able to point to a couple of key threads which show the importance of Mudcat to the folk community. One of them is the "Walt Robertson thread". It shows that Mudcat has some historical value and is a good example of something that needs to be permanently archived. I'm a relative newcomer to Mudcat, so I'm not familiar with a lot of what has gone on there in the past. I'm sure you can think of some other significant threads. What I'd like is the links to a few significant threads. Maybe you can ask some other members (like Dick Greenhaus) for some favorites. With the links we can suggest to the Board that they have a look at them before the meeting. and
I think a paragraph here about the significance of Mudcat to the folk community would be appropriate. It should include a few links to significant threads. These threads could include lyric requests, commentaries on folk songs (I think there was something about John Henry), historical aspects of the folk community (eg Walt Robertson thread), and ways that Mudcat has helped bring folkies together. This thread has some good stuff (http://www.mudcat.thread.cfm?threadid=26366), what else? |
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28 Feb 02 - 10:26 AM (#659894) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: Sorcha I quite liked the replies I recieved in this one: /thread.cfm?threadid=17738&messages=81 |
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28 Feb 02 - 10:39 AM (#659899) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: Steve in Idaho Before I became a member I contributed a song (actually ened up being a verse), Erie Canal, and some of the historical relevance in this thread. It also has a good discussion of the song and was one of the determining factor that made me a member as opposed to a guest. Contains a piece of everything you asked for I think. Steve |
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28 Feb 02 - 10:46 AM (#659904) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: wysiwyg I think our "Origins Of" and "African American Spirituals" permathreads show not only the depth of knowledge that is shared here, but also the diversity of it. Because we have access to one another so easily, we transcend barriers of time and culture on a daily basis. ~Susan |
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28 Feb 02 - 10:46 AM (#659905) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: Steve in Idaho And here is the current thread on my visit to Washington DC and the Mudcat Gathering surrounding it. Steve |
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28 Feb 02 - 10:49 AM (#659907) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: Steve in Idaho Here is a great discussion on instruments, how they are built, woods involved, and lots of technical info on how to choose a good guitar. Steve |
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28 Feb 02 - 10:53 AM (#659909) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: SharonA I'm fairly new here myself, but I'm overwhelmed by the sheer volume of threads with "historical value" with regard to folk music. Showing a few sample links to the Board of this folk socety is a great idea, but I hope they'll understand that those links will be just a miniscule sample of the wealth of information available here. |
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28 Feb 02 - 10:53 AM (#659911) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: George Seto - af221@chebucto.ns.ca Don't forget the threads on voice, and how to improve your capabilities. |
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28 Feb 02 - 10:54 AM (#659912) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: catspaw49 Okay Max...Here's one that ought to really appeal to your folk society. The World is Old-Request Info Let me tell you why......... Kytrad is Jean Ritchie, a truly legendary and famous folkie who brought the music of her Kentucky mountains and the Appalachian Dulcimer to the folk scene in the 50's and 60's. Her influence on folk music as well as her fame cannot be overemphasized. Many books by and about her and her family have been written and she will be very well known to and extremely respected by any folk society. We are all happy to have her here at the 'Cat and she's been a source of great info and a lot of fun. I'm not trying to "use" Jean here, but the thread I linked is unique in several ways. Jean recorded the song she is asking about! AND, she is the only artist to ever record the song. Like many of her songs, this one came from her family, in this case a sister. On the thread, Jean says this: Re the song: Here's the story. Way back in the 1930s, one of my sisters wrote and directed a Christmas play at the Hindman Settlement School, and included this "Shepherds' Song." She has passed on now and no other soul in the world, it seems, can find where she got the song. Maybe she wrote it herself! But somehow I don't think so- it MUST have a source. I think it's very beautiful and it certainly SOUNDS ancient... Jean As you can also read on the thread, Jean has been looking for this info for years. Think about this a minute........Generally we go to someplace the artist or songwriter has written about a song to get some history right? In this case, the ONLY artist to record the song and the sister of the writer is ASKING for info!!! The fact that it's Jean is pretty fun too as she is a wellspring of knowledge herself. Bottom line......By keeping the thread going and involving lots of folks banging ideas back and forth.......THE SONG'S ORIGIN WAS FOUND....AT MUDCAT!!!! To me, this thread really shows what can happen here because of the forum and the way it's laid out to work. Spaw |
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28 Feb 02 - 11:10 AM (#659922) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: Wolfgang Margery Gray Smashing of the Glasgow van Penguin completed Wolfgang |
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28 Feb 02 - 11:15 AM (#659932) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: Wolfgang Of course, you could also go to the Mudcat FAQ Newcomer's guide permathread and you'll find there Alice's Memorable Mudcat threads readily linked. Wolfgang (grin) |
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28 Feb 02 - 11:25 AM (#659939) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: Hollowfox FWIW, my teenaged son just used the American Pie thread in a school language arts project on the "60's" (teacher is stretching the era to include the early 1970's). The thread included annotations to the lyrics, a possible origin story, and a possible rebuttal to part of same. I'm no good with blue clicky's yet, but the last entry was 30-April-2000. I don't know which one you'd like to choose, but you also might consider some of the threads that hold some of the oral history of folk music in (mostly) North America. Lee Haggerty andEd McCurdy obituaries come to mind. Good luck with this. |
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28 Feb 02 - 06:24 PM (#660247) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: catspaw49 Max, the Guitar thread that Norton(Steve) linked above is part of a series of discussions covering popular guitar brands.....A good group of threads in addition to all of the other "Instrument Related" threads that we have run. As a good example of discussion on "Instrument Lore", I'd suggest the Rosewood Discussion Thread. Lots of good information and an wxcellent discussion. Also, some of Rick's teaching tips have been wonderful threads also. I think you'd do well to locate the threads where Bill Sables toured around the US doing the Mudcat Couch Trips." The Great Adventure with Allan C was marvelous and his last trip with Sam and Ian was a grand thing that served several different purposes as far as a folk society may be concerned. Bill, Sam, and Ian aptly named there CD "Bridging the Gap" and it did.......and so did the US trip in both age and country, especially for Sam and Ian. Along the way, many of us followed along on both and made even more friends such as Sam's "Mum" Gill who posts some still and who many of us have kept up a PM correspondence. That trip(s) showed how much better the forum style works and how great it was for so many to live vicariously through their adventures. And for those of us lucky enough to have them stop by....Well Max, it would never have happened were it not for the 'Cat and especially the design of the forum. No listserv thing could even come close to this sense of community. Spaw |
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28 Feb 02 - 06:51 PM (#660266) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: Don Firth Max, how about RE: Hootenannies, history and such? We covered a lot of history in that one. Don Firth |
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28 Feb 02 - 08:41 PM (#660345) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: McGrath of Harlow Noone's mentioned Spancil Hill - but I imagine that is because it should automatically be included.
- and the way it then led into the creation of an online story.
Songs about Vietnam War - because that showed the song gathering and the discussion side of the Mudcat interacting in a way that couldn't really happen in any other kind of medium.
Field of Athenry and The Hills of Athenrye - because these threads show a falsehood which has spread like wildfire - Pete St John being accused of passing off an old song as a new one - being identified and nailed here in a scholarly way. Again something that couldn't have been done as effectively in any other medium.
And I think that the succession of threads about campaigning for a change in the law in England restricting music in public houses and so forth is actually quite historically significant, showing how people in different parts of the world can get together to assist folk musicians carry on and develop a tradition.
And in a different way, the way that the Mudcat reacted to September 11th, and the way that InOBU's song about the firemen came out of it and spread is an example of the Mudcat carrying on a traditional role of folk song, in a new context.
And threads showing how the Mudcat has been responsible for gatherings of folk musicians who otherwise would not have met, and exchange of music and so forth in a way that is very different from folk festivals - those are relevant enough too, if part of the aim is to show that the Mudcat has contributed to the process of carrying on the folk process in a new age.
And the enormous number of songs which the song challenges have been midwife to - songs largely based in folk traditions; and some pretty good songs among them. |
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28 Feb 02 - 09:47 PM (#660381) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: Jeri Here's a few. I think many of the "OBIT:" threads would be good canditates, as they often contain memories people have about that person that can't be found anywhere else.
Cisco Houston: His story and songs.... |
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28 Feb 02 - 09:48 PM (#660384) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: Jeri Oh, and all those threads have something in common. I did a user search for "Art Theime." |
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28 Feb 02 - 10:07 PM (#660391) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: rangeroger I also was going to suggest Art's contributions to the Mudcat Tavern Steamboat thread. There was the thread about Jesus's Aeroplane where a lot of the questions were answered by the writer's son, who also happens to be the founder of Earth Day. I can't remember the name, but what about the one where the grade? school boy asked for information to do a play, musical, pageant? and ended up winning a competion based on a song and info gathered here at the 'Cat. rr |
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28 Feb 02 - 11:59 PM (#660426) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: Bill D A basic folk library |
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01 Mar 02 - 12:07 AM (#660427) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: Bill D there are also all the technical threads, where people who know how to do stuff help those who are new to it... and here is a little one that was only up briefly, but WOW the link in it! |
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01 Mar 02 - 07:14 AM (#660518) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: McGrath of Harlow Jeri mentioned the Ludlow Massacre thread. The one about 1913 Massacre - Historical Background also deserves attention.
In some cases threads like this have actually unearthed and preservew memories and history that might have otherwise got forgotten. Other times the information they contain might be available to scholars or historians already, but they provide it in a way that makes it available to the people singing the songs, and ensures that there are people singing them with understanding of where they come from, and what they are about. |
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01 Mar 02 - 07:18 AM (#660521) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: harpgirl I like "Women & The Sea" |
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01 Mar 02 - 07:42 PM (#660992) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: Dicho (Frank Staplin) The Song Origins Permathread started by George Seto and Katlaughing (42072) Origins was mentioned, but should be emphasized; it is a relatively new thread but is very useful. If you have some pet "origins" threads, make sure that they are included in the permathread. All of the threads on song origins and history mentioned individually above should be there. Enter your selections on this thread (42091) Add Here |
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02 Mar 02 - 02:25 PM (#661425) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: wysiwyg I think this one post says it all:
Subject: RE: most popular dulcimer album Hello from Ireland My favourite dulcimer album is John Molineux's Douce Amere. Believe it or not we do listen to and play the mountain dulcimer here in Ireland. I might be the only one here but you have to start somewhere. Yours truly Val Hughes. =====================================================
There is also a collection of nice ones here: ~Susan |
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04 Mar 02 - 12:05 PM (#662505) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: Don Firth Wow! Great discussion going on right now on What makes folk music American? Don Firth |
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04 Mar 02 - 04:43 PM (#662685) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: Amergin here is one thread I found very interesting.... |
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04 Mar 02 - 04:48 PM (#662693) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: Amergin Here is another one: |
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04 Mar 02 - 05:08 PM (#662708) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: McGrath of Harlow I think the problem is going to be cutting the number of good threads to include down to a manageable number.
And I think the most important factor in deciding which to use would be to pick out some that demonstrate the ways the Mudcat does things that would not be possible through another medium, such as books or magazines or newsletters or conferences.
The first special thing is the Mudcat's way with space. I'm thinking of the way the Mudcat links people and sources that would be highly unlikely to come together, and out of that something of real value comes into the light or is brought into existence.
And the other special thing about this type of communication relates to time. On the one hand there is the speed with which it can operate - and on the other, the way that questions and explorations can be left on one side, and then fanned into life at a later stage.
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04 Mar 02 - 05:09 PM (#662710) Subject: RE: Help me find some good threads From: JohnInKansas There has also been significant activity that doesn't show up in the threads. The effort to put "missing tunes" in place has involved a lot of PM and email correspondence directly between those involved. Some of them get posted in the "Unanswered Requests" PermaThread, but there seem to be quite a few that don't make it there. A summary of "tunes added" and number of contributors should be quite easy to put together, and would show that mudcat is putting quite a few people to work at it. And they're having fun! John |