FOUND GEMS - Summer time, and the livin' is easy...

Good lord, have I gotten behind on my updates, or what?? I'll catch up and post them all in the next few days, but for now, here is my CKUA monty project update from July 19:

There's a parade outside our windows today, and the 'county fair' is coming to town! Even though I haven't gone in years, knowing that the fair is in town always makes me feel like a kid again. So this week, I bring you some children's songs, found like a shiny new penny at thebottom of the slide!

From outside my townhouse the other day, I heard the cheerful sound of the ice-cream trolley passing through the neighborhood, and it made feel nostalgic for childhood summers. In tribute to the lazy days of carnivals and lemon-aid stands, this week I want to share some of the great children’s songs I’ve come across. None of these songs come from children’s albums, but they do reflect the spirit of the genres.

1. The Greatest Songs of Woody Guthrie
Originally released as a two-volume set in 1972 by Vanguard, this album was later condensed from 29 songs to 23 songs, to be released on CD. The CKUA library has the original two-album set.
Includes performances by: Guthrie himself, Cisco Houston, The Weavers, Country Joe McDonald, Jack Elliott, Odetta, and Jim Kweskin.
Here are some notes I found on the web, written by Cisco about his friend Woody Guthrie:

… I first met Woody in Los Angeles, California in 1938, where he had a daily radio program…We used to sing together on his program, and I would help him open the letters and count the quarters, which he always shared with anyone who needed a few---and I did. Those were hard days! With Will Geer, one of our finest actors, we traveled up and down California, putting on shows of skits and songs for the migratory workers.
…During the years that followed Woody and I traveled and sang together throughout the country. We sang on street corners and in saloons all over the big Southlands. We were always trying to get enough money to get to the next town. …During World War II, we were Merchant Seamen together. I can remember Woody coming aboard ship looking like a walking pawn shop window, with guitars, mandolins and fiddles hanging all over him. We took the instruments everywhere we went, and we sang and played all over Africa, Sicily, and the United Kingdom. We got torpedoed a couple of times, and when the ship didn't sink too fast, we would get the whole crew to join in, singing the "Reuben James." We've had a lot of years and a lot of good and hard times together, and I only wish I had the space to tell you more about Woody Guthrie. He is quite a remarkable man. (http://www.ciscohouston.com/essays/cisco_sings_woody.shtml, found July 18, 2007)

The first album includes a wonderful group of (some of my favourite) children’s songs, all written by Woody, and my number one pick is:

Cisco Houston, covering “Ship in the Sky”

2. Newport Folk Festival, 1960 Vol. 1

Alan Mills, “I Know an Old Lady”

Anyone who grew up in Canada will know this song, but most of us probably think of Burl Ives when we hear it. He did the version that we hear in the National Film Board of Canada’s 1964 film of the same name. It was actually co-written by Alan Mills and Rose Bonne. This live version of the song is great because you can really hear how tickled-pink the audience is!

3. Old-Time Southern Dance Music; The String Bands, Vol. 2

Uncle Bud Landress, “Rubber Dolly Rag”

‘Uncle’ Bud Landress was an incredibly prolific performer in the 1920’s American South. Here is what AllMusic.com had to say about his version of this song:

His interpretation of "Rubber Dolly Rag", a fiddle tune that for many represents the essence of nostalgia for the good old days, is considered the standard, at least to the point where it is Landress that gnabed [sic] songwriting credit for the piece when it was covered by country stars such as western swing bandleader Bob Wills or guitar virtuoso Chet Atkins. Merle Haggard wrote a song about the song, "Uncle John", and Captain Beefheart liked "Rubber Dolly Rag" so much that the original recording made it onto a compilation entitled Gimme Dat Harp Boy which purports to be a flattened, miniaturized vision of Beefheart's desert island jukebox.
(http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0ifqxqtjldae~T1, found July 18, 2007

4. So Glad I’m Here – Bessie Jones

Bessie Jones was one of the founding members of the Georgia Sea Island Singers, a roots music group that drew on the diverse Afro-cultural music traditions of the region. AllMusic.com details some of the history that made these small American islands so unique:

Once the site of large plantations, the islands were seized by the Union in 1861, early in the Civil War. It was a strategic location from which the Union could easily blockade shipments that were headed to the rebellious Southern states. The original landowners had fled, leaving something in the neighborhood of 10,000 former slaves behind. These people became part of what was known as the Port Royal Experiment, a chance to see what fate would bring to the newly freed slaves. Since the Northern army had consistently rejected the enlistment of black soldiers, the governing and security of the Georgia Sea Islands was handed over to locally enlisted citizens, meaning that for the first time in American history, African-Americans were allowed to protect themselves. From the end of the Civil War until the '30s, these islands enjoyed a period of isolation from mainland life. During these years, a further cultural blend took place between the descendents of two sets of former slaves: the Afro-Americans and a huge group of former slaves from the Bahamas who traveled there following the abolishment of slavery in the British empire. (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:kzfpxqw5ldae~T1, found July 18, 2007)

On this particular album Bessie goes solo, performing the songs she learned as a child, and the liner notes include stories about them in her own words. The best children’s song on the album is:

Bessie Jones singing with local children, “Shoo Turkey”

Happy Listening!

Natalya