Tag Archives: Folk

Today: The late Huddie William Ledbetter (Lead Belly) was born in 1888 – 125 years ago

leadbelly

“The blues is like this. You lay down some night and you turn from one side of the bed to the other all night long. It’s not too cold in that bed, and it ain’t too hot. But what’s the matter The blues has got you.”
~Lead Belly

I heard Leadbelly somewhere and that’s what got me into folk music, which was exploding.
~Bob Dylan (Joe Smith interview 1988)

Lead Belly was not an influence, he was the influence. If it wasn’t for him, I may never have been here. I don’t think he’s really dead. A lot of people’s bodies die but I don’t think their spirits die with them.
~Van Morrison

”Sang the blues wonderfully,but he was much bigger than that. He encompassed the whole black era, from square dance calls to the blues of the 30’s and 40’s”
~Alan Lomax

Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter 1998 Folk Alliance International Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient:

The Midnight Special:

From Wikipedia

Birth name Huddie William Ledbetter
Also known as Lead Belly
Born January 1888
Mooringsport,  Louisiana, United States
Died December 6, 1949 (aged 61)
New York, New York, United States
Genres Delta blues, songster, country blues
Occupations Musician, songwriter
Instruments Vocals, guitar, accordion, piano, lap steel guitar
Years active 1936–1949
Website www.leadbelly.org

Huddie William Ledbetter (January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949) was an iconic American folk and blues musician, and multi-instrumentalist, notable for his strong vocals, his virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the songbook of folk standards he introduced.

lead_belly

Goodnight, Irene:

He is best known as Lead Belly. Though many releases list him as “Leadbelly“, he spelled it “Lead Belly”. This is also the usage on his tombstone, as well as of the Lead Belly Foundation. In 1994 the Lead Belly Foundation contacted an authority on the history of popular music, Colin Larkin, editor of the Encyclopedia of Popular Music, to ask if the name “Leadbelly” could be altered to “Lead Belly” in the hope that other authors would follow suit and use the artist’s correct appellation.

Although Lead Belly most commonly played the twelve-string, he could also play the piano, mandolin, harmonica, violin, and accordion. In some of his recordings, such as in one of his versions of the folk ballad “John Hardy”, he performs on the accordion instead of the guitar. In other recordings he just sings while clapping his hands or stomping his foot.

John Hardy (Accordion):

The topics of Lead Belly’s music covered a wide range of subjects, including gospel songs; blues songs about women, liquor, prison life, and racism; and folk songs about cowboys, prison, work, sailors, cattle herding, and dancing. He also wrote songs concerning the newsmakers of the day, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Adolf Hitler, Jean Harlow, the Scottsboro Boys, and Howard Hughes.

In 2008, Lead Belly was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

lead belly accordion

Album of the day:

King of the 12-String Guitar (1991)

leadbelly king of the 12-string

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Today: Robert Earl Keen is 57

…Here’s Bob Dylan and he is the greatest and when we’re all dead and gone and they’re looking back at us 400 years from now, they can look at Bob and say he was the Shakespeare of songwriters, and I would agree.
~Robert Earl Keen (to American Songwriter – Sept. 2011)

Among the large contingent of talented songwriters who emerged in Texas in the 1980s and ’90s, Robert Earl Keen struck an unusual balance between sensitive story-portraits (“Corpus Christi Bay”) and raucous barroom fun (“That Buckin’ Song”)
~James Manheim (allmusic.com)

Amarillo Highway live at the Ryman:

From Wikipedia:

Born January 11, 1956 (age 57)
Origin Houston, Texas, United States
Genres Country, Texas country, outlaw country, country rock, alternative country, folk, Americana
Occupations Singer, Songwriter
Instruments Acoustic Guitar
Years active 1984–present
Labels Arista Records
Sugar Hill Records
KOCH Records
Lost Highway
Rosetta Records,Inc.
Website RobertEarlKeen.com

Robert Earl Keen, Junior (born January 11, 1956) is an American country and folk guitarist and singer-songwriter from the southern state of Texas. He is popular with fans of various musical genres including traditional country, alternative country, folk, Americana, and college radio. Keen currently resides in Kerrville, Texas, and maintains a ranch in Medina, Texas.

REK

Gringo Honeymoon:

Album of the day:

Best (2006):

REK best

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Today: Joan Baez is 72

Joan Baez

And Joan Baez means more to me than 100 of these singers around today. She’s more powerful. That’s what we’re looking for. That’s what we respond to. She always had it and always will, power for the species, not just for a select group.
~Bob Dylan (to Neil Hickey, Sept. 1976)

“I’ve never had a humble opinion. If you’ve got an opinion, why be humble about it?”
― Joan Baez

I went to jail for 11 days for disturbing the peace; I was trying to disturb the war.
~Joan Baez (Pop Chronicles interview – 1967)

Diamonds and Rust – Live, 1975:

baez & dylan

Baez & Dylan – Blowing in the wind – 1976/05/23:

From Wikipedia:

Birth name Joan Chandos Báez
Born January 9, 1941 (age 72)
Origin Staten Island, New York City, United States
Genres Folk, folk rock, country
Occupations Musician, songwriter, activist
Instruments Vocals, guitar, piano, ukulele
Years active 1958–present
Labels Vanguard (1960–1971)
A&M (1972–1977)
Portrait/CBS (1977–1981)
Gold Castle (1987–1991)
Virgin (1991–1993)
Guardian (1995–2002)
Koch (2003–present)
Associated acts Jackson Browne, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Judy Collins,Donovan, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, Mimi Fariña, the Grateful Dead, Janis Ian, the Indigo Girls, Odetta, Pete Seeger, Paul Simon, Rocker T, Dar Williams
Website joanbaez.com

Joan Baez (pron.: /ˈbaɪ.ɛz/) (born January 9, 1941 as Joan Chandos Báez) is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician, and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace, and environmental justice.

Baez has a distinctive vocal style, with a strong vibrato. Her recordings include many topical songs and material dealing with social issues.

Baez began her career performing in coffeehouses in Boston and Cambridge, and rose to fame as an unbilled performer at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival. She began her recording career in 1960, and achieved immediate success. Her first three albums, Joan BaezJoan Baez, Vol. 2, and Joan Baez in Concert all achieved gold record status, and stayed on the charts of hit albums for two years.

baez & dylan2

Baez has had a popular hit song with “Diamonds & Rust” and hit covers of Phil Ochs’s “There but for Fortune” and The Band’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”. Other songs associated with Baez include “Farewell, Angelina”, “Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word”, “Joe Hill”, “Sweet Sir Galahad” and “We Shall Overcome”. She performed three of the songs at the 1969 Woodstock Festival, helped to bring the songs of Bob Dylan to national prominence, and has displayed a lifelong commitment to political and social activism in the fields of nonviolence, civil rights, human rights and the environment.

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down:

Baez has performed publicly for over 53 years, releasing over 30 albums. Fluent in Spanish as well as in English, she has also recorded songs in at least six other languages. She is regarded as a folk singer, although her music has diversified since the 1960s, encompassing everything from folk rock and pop to country and gospel music. Although a songwriter herself, Baez is generally regarded as an interpreter of other people’s work, having recorded songs by The Allman Brothers Band, The Beatles, Jackson Browne,Bob Dylan, Violeta Parra, Woody Guthrie, The Rolling Stones, Pete Seeger, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Leonard Cohen, and many others. In recent years, she has found success interpreting songs of modern songwriters such as Ryan Adams, Josh Ritter, Steve Earle and Natalie Merchant.

Album of the day:

Diamonds & Rust (1975):

Joan Baez - Diamonds Rust

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Today: John Prine is 66

“Jesus was a good guy, he didn’t need this shit.”
― John Prine

“And you may see me tonight with an illegal smile. It don’t cost very much, but it lasts a long while. Won’t you please tell the man I didn’t kill anyone.
No, I’m just tryin’ to have me some fun.”
― John Prine

From Wikipedia:

Born October 10, 1946 (age 66)
Origin Maywood, Illinois,
United States
Genres Country
Folk
Progressive bluegrass
Occupations Singer-songwriter
Guitarist
Instruments Vocals
Guitar
Years active 1971–present
Labels Atlantic, Asylum, Oh Boy, Rhino
Associated acts Steve Goodman
Website www.johnprine.net

John Prine (born October 10, 1946, in Maywood, Illinois) is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s.

Sabu Visits The Twin Towns Alone (1978) w/intro:

In 2003, he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award for songwriting by the UK’s BBC Radio 2 and that same year was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. The following year saw his song “Sam Stone” covered by Laura Cantrell for the Future Soundtrack for America compilation.

Prine has taken his place as one of the most influential songwriters of his generation. In 2009, Bob Dylan told the Huffington Post that Prine was one of his favourite writers, stating “Prine’s stuff is pure Proustian existentialism. Midwestern mindtrips to the nth degree. And he writes beautiful songs. I remember when Kris Kristofferson first brought him on the scene. All that stuff about “Sam Stone,” the soldier junkie daddy, and “Donald and Lydia,” where people make love from ten miles away. Nobody but Prine could write like that.”

 In Johnny Cash‘s autobiography Cash, he admitted “I don’t listen to music much at the farm, unless I’m going into songwriting mode and looking for inspiration. Then I’ll put on something by the writers I’ve admired and used for years (Rodney Crowell, John Prine, Guy Clark, and the late Steve Goodman are my Big Four)…”

When asked by Word Magazine in 2008 if he heard Pink Floyd‘s influence in newer British bands like Radiohead, Roger Waters replied “I don’t really listen to Radiohead. I listened to the albums and they just didn’t move me in the way, say, John Prine does. His is just extra-ordinarily eloquent music—and he lives on that plane with Neil Young and Lennon.” 

Prine received the Artist of the Year award at the Americana Music Awards on September 9, 2005. The award was accepted in his name by awards host and long-time friend Billy Bob Thornton.

Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness (2010):

“Have you ever noticed
When you’re feeling really good
There’s always a pigeon
That’ll come shit on your hood
Or you’re feeling your freedom
And the world’s off your back
Some cowboy from Texas
Starts his own war in Iraq.”
-John Prine

Album of the day – John Prine (1971):

From allmusic.com – William Ruhlmann:
A revelation upon its release, this album is now a collection of standards: “Illegal Smile,” “Hello in There,” “Sam Stone,” “Donald and Lydia,” and, of course, “Angel from Montgomery.” Prine’s music, a mixture of folk, rock, and country, is deceptively simple, like his pointed lyrics, and his easy vocal style adds a humorous edge that makes otherwise funny jokes downright hilarious.

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Today: The late Jerry Garcia was born in 1942 – 70 years ago

From Wikipedia:

Jerome John “Jerry” Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician who was best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead. Though he disavowed the role, Garcia was viewed by many as the leader or “spokesman” of the group.

One of its founders, Garcia performed with the Grateful Dead for their entire three-decade career (1965–1995). Garcia also founded and participated in a variety of side projects, including the Saunders-Garcia Band (with longtime friend Merl Saunders), Jerry Garcia BandOld and in the Way, the Garcia/Grisman acoustic duo, Legion of Mary, and the New Riders of the Purple Sage (which Garcia co-founded with John Dawson and David Nelson). He also released several solo albums, and contributed to a number of albums by other artists over the years as a session musician. He was well known by many for his distinctive guitar playing and was ranked 13th in Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” cover story.

From Allmusic (William Ruhlmann):

Guitarist, singer, and songwriter Jerry Garcia was best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead, the rock band for which he served as de facto leader for 30 years, 1965-1995. Concurrently for much of that time, he also led his own Jerry Garcia Band (JGB), and he performed and recorded in a variety of configurations and a variety of styles, particularly styles of folk and country music, sometimes switching to banjo or pedal steel guitar for the purpose. But the Grateful Dead remained his primary musical outlet, and he performed thousands of concerts with them and appeared on dozens of their albums (many of them live recordings), 28 of which reached the Billboard chart during his lifetime, including the million-sellers Workingman’s DeadAmerican Beauty,Europe ’72Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of Grateful DeadWhat a Long Strange Trip It’s Been: The Best of the Grateful Dead, and In the Dark, and another eight that went gold.

Lagacy:

  • Garcia was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Grateful Dead in 1994.
  • In 2003, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Jerry Garcia 13th in their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
  • According to fellow Bay Area guitar player Henry Kaiser, Garcia is “the most recorded guitarist in history. With more than 2,200 Grateful Dead concerts, and 1,000 Jerry Garcia Band concerts captured on tape – as well as numerous studio sessions – there are about 15,000 hours of his guitar work preserved for the ages.”
  • Seattle rock band Soundgarden wrote and recorded the instrumental song “Jerry Garcia’s Finger”, dedicated to the singer, which was released as a b-side with their single “Pretty Noose“.

Peggy O live 1994 Las Vegas:

Album of the day – Workingman’s Dead:

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