Topic: Friends of Old Time Music: The Folk Arrival 1961-1965 (Smithsonian Folkways)

[outfidel]

Here's a new release from Smithsonian Folkways that looks very interesting.

Friends of Old Time Music: The Folk Arrival 1961 - 1965 [BOX SET]

I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing the songs from Mississippi John Hurt and Dock Boggs are from this December 1963 show:

[Muddyroads]

I've got that box set and used it in a class I was teaching on mountain music last week.  Surprisingly the class was most taken with the blues of Dock Boggs and Roscoe Holcomb.  Well it was a most pleasant suprise for me.  Consdiering that  the folks taking it had never heard either of these gentlemen before.  I have had young students really get excited about these men as they have more intensity than a lot of punk music out there.  They certainly stand up well with the Fred McDowell sides on the set.

Great box set and the only place I know where you will hear Del McCoury playing banjo with Bill Monroe.

Mud

[uncle bud]

Worth noting there seems to be a fair amount of Jesse Fuller on there, too. I imagine some of those nice extensive notes we've come to expect from Smithsonian Folkways as well?

[Muddyroads]

Even more interesting is that this 3 CD set is the tip of the iceberg.  There are 29 CDs of these concerts on file with Smithsonian-Folkways.  Now that would be a treasure trove.  There are some great cuts on the 3 CDs in the set, but what did they have to leave off?

Mud

[outfidel]

In addition, related to this box set is a conference in New York City on November 18.

Panel 1 (10am) ? In Search of the Authentic Folk ? The FOTM mission to introduce traditional folk music into the early 1960s Greenwich Village folk music scene.

Chair/overview ? Ron Cohen (historian and folk music revival specialist)

John Cohen - FOTM founder, member of the New Lost City Ramblers

Izzy Young ? FOTM founder, proprietor of the McDougal Street Folklore Center

Kate Rinzler ? Biographer and wife of the late Ralph Rinzler (FOTM founder and director of the first Smithsonian Folklife Festival)

Peter Siegel ? Record producer who recorded the FOTM concerts

Panel 2 (1pm)? Staging the Folk in the City ? The cultural politics of staging traditional folk music in workshop and concerts settings at the FOTM concerts, the early 1960s Chicago and Newport Folk Festivals, and the contemporary Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

Chair/overview ? Ray Allen (folklorist)

Mike Seeger ? Member of the New Lost City Ramblers, long-time folk music performer, documenter, and presenter.

Richard Kurin ? Director of the Smithsonian Office of Folklife Programs

Henrietta Yurchenco ? Host of early public radio folk music programs

Interview with Doc Watson (3pm)

Panel 3  (3:30pm)? The Southern Folk Meet the Northern Citybillies ? The relationship of southern country music and the urban folk revival; the interaction of southern folk artists and northern folk enthusiasts at the FOTM concerts.

Chair/Overview ? Bill Malone (country music historian)

Jean Ritchie ? FOTM organizer and performer

Mary Wright Hurt ? Granddaughter of Mississippi John Hurt (FOTM performer)


8pm Concert at Town Hall with Doc Watson and the New Lost City Ramblers

[Stuart]

I have the original LP (FA-2390) from way back when and I ordered the CD set yesterday, so I'm looking forward to seeing what they added. As Mud says, there's a lot more where this came from. Perhaps someday S-F will make it accessible and available to the rest of us.

Thanks for the info on the conference, Outfidel! I wish that I was closer to NYC as it looks extremely interesting.

[outfidel]

Hey Stuart -

If I make it to the conference -- big "if", depending on my family schedule that day -- I'll let you know all about it. I'm especially interested in hearing from Doc Watson, John Cohen & Mike Seeger. The evening concert with Doc & the NLCR should be terrific.

[outfidel]

FYI I picked up my copy of this box set yesterday and listened to some of it last night. This is marvelous stuff -- terrific performances with great sound quality.

Doc Watson is all over this set, playing in various combinations -- with Clarence Ashley, with Fred Price & Clint Howard, and with his brother Arnold.

Great to hear Mississippi John Hurt talking about his show (Dec 1963) being his first chance to perform in NYC since 1928 -- then he launches into his beautiful version of "My Creole Belle".

Once again, I'm amazed at how much Mike Seeger & John Cohen were involved in the early days of the "folk scare" in getting traditional artists exposed to a broad audience.

The only (minor) disappointment with the box set is that the liner notes mention a 1963 FOTM show featuring Gus Cannon, Furry Lewis and Memphis Willie B -- but no songs from that show are included on the CDs. I wonder if this show didn't get recorded?

[frankie]

Jesse Fuller is represented pretty well on the set, too.  There was definitely a lot more to that guy than "San Francisico Bay Blues."  I know I overlooked him for a long time...  something I'm happy to set straight now.  His "Guitar Lesson" is great!

[Stuart]

I received mine yesterday as well. As Muddyroads has mentioned, S-F has 29 CDs' worth of FOTM concerts in its archives. I'm thinking that this set, as well as the original LP, should be thought of as "samplers," and obviously some judgment calls were made re: what to include that we would probably not be in complete agreement with.

I have the original LP and it is interesting that only a few cuts are shared between the LP and CD set.

FYI here are the links to the respective S-F pages:

http://www.folkways.si.edu/search/AlbumDetails.aspx?ID=231

http://www.folkways.si.edu/search/AlbumDetails.aspx?ID=3136

I give the CD set a strong recommendation. The same goes for the original LP which is available as a custom CD from S-F.

[Bill Roggensack]

This three-CD release from Folkways came to my attention recently on the PreWar Blues list. I think it will be of interest to many of us here. While I have not had chance to acquire this, the contents list speaks for itself. There is plenty of blues material in the mix.
http://www.folkways.si.edu/search/AlbumDetails.aspx?ID=3136#

---snip---
From 1961 to 1965, New York City?s trailblazing Friends of Old Time Music presented 14 concerts that brought dozens of legendary traditional musicians before city audiences for the first time. This "folk arrival" changed the course of American folk music, expanding the vision of the Folk Song Revival and leaving an indelible mark on the musical landscape. For Friends of Old Time Music, Peter K. Siegel, who personally recorded most of the concerts, handpicked 55 tracks from the original master tapes. They include the first concert appearances by Doc Watson, Roscoe Holcomb, Clarence Ashley, and Joseph Spence, and the triumphant return visits to New York by Dock Boggs and Mississippi John Hurt, who had made classic recordings in the city during the 1920s. 3 CDs of live concert recordings, 55 tracks (53 never before released), accompanied by a richly illustrated 60-page book Recorded, produced, and annotated by Peter K. Siegel.

A Henry Street Folklore production Produced in association with City Lore, Inc. 

No.-Track-Artist/Performer
101 I'm Troubled Doc and Arnold Watson
102 The Country Blues Dock Boggs
103 Going Down to the River Fred McDowell
104 East Virginia Blues Roscoe Holcomb
105 The Storms Are on the Ocean Maybelle Carter
106 The Dream of the Miner's Child The Stanley Brothers
107 Soldier's Joy Hobart Smith
108 Coffee Blues Mississippi John Hurt
109 Live and Let Live Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys
110 Lonely Tombs The Watson Family
111 Rockin' Boogie Jesse Fuller
112 Brown's Dream Gaither Carlton and Doc Watson
113 Down South Blues Dock Boggs
114 Knoxville Blues Sam McGee
115 Have a Feast Here Tonight The Stanley Brothers
116 Riley John Davis and the Georgia Sea Island Singers
117 Buck and Wing Jesse Fuller
201 Hell Among the Yearlings Arthur Smith
202 Amelia Earhart's Last Flight The Greenbriar Boys
203 The Brakeman's Blues Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys
204 Foggy Mountain Top Maybelle Carter
205 Hicks' Farewell Doc Watson
206 Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel The New Lost City Ramblers
207 Write Me a Few of Your Lines Fred McDowell
208 Bimini Gal Joseph Spence
209 Shady Grove Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys
210 Grey Eagle Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys
211 Walkin' the Dog Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys
212 San Francisco Bay Blues Jesse Fuller
213 Short Life of Trouble Doc and Arnold Watson
214 John Henry Roscoe Holcomb
215 Kneelin' Down Inside the Gate Stanley Thompson
216 Tell Me Why You Like Roosevelt McKinley Peebles
217 Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow Maybelle Carter
218 Mansions for Me The Stanley Brothers
219 Before This Time Another Year Bessie Jones and the Georgia Sea Island Singers
301 My Creole Belle Mississippi John Hurt
302 Guitar Lesson Jesse Fuller
303 Cincinnati Blues Jesse Fuller
304 Poor Boy in Jail Dock Boggs
305 He's Solid Gone Maybelle Carter
306 Maggie Walker Blues The Clarence Ashley Group
307 Chevrolet Ed Young and Emma Ramsay
308 Rising Sun Blues Roscoe Holcomb
309 Lord, Build Me a Cabin in Glory Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys
310 Frankie and Albert Mississippi John Hurt
311 Hard Times The Stanley Brothers
312 The Miller's Will Horton Barker
313 The Coo Coo Bird Clarence Ashley
314 Double File Gaither Carlton and Doc Watson
315 The Wandering Boy Annie Bird
316 Stranger Blues Jesse Fuller
317 I Saw the Light Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys
318 Sugar Hill Maybelle Carter
319 Amazing Grace The Clarence Ashley Group

[Stuart]

We went over this when it was released a while ago, so it might be worth your while to do a search for "FOTM". Here's the URL:

http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?amp;Itemid=47&topic=2713.0


I have it and IMHO it is certainly worth getting as is the original release.

[Bill Roggensack]

Ooops - too much Weenie content, combined with a failing memory.
Mea culpe.
I have added tags to facilitate future reference by simlarly afflicted individuals.
 

[Stuart]

Ooops - too much Weenie content, combined with a failing memory.

Welcome to the club! (I can't even remember what I had for breakfast, not to mention all the music that has been mentioned and/or discussed here.) I wrote my post in a hurry, just to get it up. After rereading it, I can see that it might come off as sounding somewhat harsh--sorry 'bout that!

Anyway, FOTM is a great set, highly recommended.