Folk Obits

Gil Robbins

2011-04-11T05:14:00.001-07:00

Gil Robbins, a singer, guitarist and songwriter with the folk group the Highwaymen and a fixture on the folk-music scene, died on Tuesday at his home in Esteban Cantú, Mexico. He was 80. ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/arts/music/10robbins.html?_r=1&hpw

Suze Rotolo, a Face, With Bob Dylan, of ’60s Music, Is Dead at 67

2011-03-02T07:04:00.001-08:00

Suze Rotolo, who became widely known for her romance with Bob Dylan in the early 1960s, strongly influenced his early songwriting and, in one of the decade's signature images, walked with him arm-in-arm for the cover photo of his breakthrough album, "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan," died on Friday at her home in Manhattan. She was 67. lThe cause was lung cancer, her husband, Enzo Bartoccioli, said.

Ms. Rotolo (she pronounced her name SU-zee ROTE-olo) met Mr. Dylan in Manhattan in July 1961 at a Riverside Church folk concert, where he was a performer. She was 17; he was 20.

"Right from the start I couldn't take my eyes off her," Mr. Dylan wrote in his memoir, "Chronicles: Volume 1," published in 2004. "She was the most erotic thing I'd ever seen. She was fair skinned and golden haired, full-blood Italian. The air was suddenly filled with banana leaves. We started talking and my head started to spin. Cupid's arrow had whistled past my ears before, but this time it hit me in the heart and the weight of it dragged me overboard."

In "A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties" (2008), Ms. Rotolo described Mr. Dylan as "oddly old-time looking, charming in a scraggly way."

They began seeing each other almost immediately and soon moved in together in a walk-up apartment on West Fourth Street in Greenwich Village.

The relationship was intense but beset with difficulties. He was a self-invented troubadour from Minnesota on the brink of stardom. She was the Queens-bred daughter of Italian Communists with her own ideas about life, art and politics that made it increasingly difficult for her to fulfill the role of helpmate, or, as she put it in her memoir, a "boyfriend's 'chick,' a string on his guitar."

Her social views, especially her commitment to the civil rights movement and her work for the Congress for Racial Equality, were an important influence on Mr. Dylan's writing, evident in songs like "The Death of Emmett Till," "Masters of War" and "Blowin' in the Wind." Her interest in theater and art exposed him to ideas and artists beyond the world of music.

"She'll tell you how many nights I stayed up and wrote songs and showed them to her and asked her: 'Is this right'?" Mr. Dylan told the music critic and Dylan biographer Robert Shelton. "Because her father and her mother were associated with unions and she was into this equality-freedom thing long before I was."

When, to his distress, she went to Italy for several months in 1962, her absence inspired the plaintive love songs "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," "Boots of Spanish Leather," "One Too Many Mornings" and "Tomorrow Is a Long Time."

Mr. Dylan later alluded to their breakup and criticized her mother and sister, who disapproved of him, in the bitter "Ballad in Plain D."

Ms. Rotolo spent most of her adult life pursuing a career as an artist and avoiding questions about her three-year affair with Mr. Dylan. (He was, she wrote, "an elephant in the room of my life.") She relented after Mr. Dylan published his autobiography. She appeared as an interview subject in "No Direction Home," the 2005 Martin Scorsese documentary about Mr. Dylan, before writing "A Freewheelin' Time."

Susan Elizabeth Rotolo was born on Nov. 20, 1943, in Brooklyn and grew up in Sunnyside and Jackson Heights, Queens. Her mother, from Piacenza, Italy, was an editor and columnist for the American version of L'Unità, published by the Italian Communist Party. Her father, from Sicily, was an artist and union organizer who died when she was 14.

Artistically inclined, she began haunting Washington Square Park and Greenwich Village as the folk revival gathered steam, while taking part in demonstrations against American nuclear policy and racial injustice. She adopted the unusual spelling of her nickname, Susie, after seeing the Picasso collage "Glass and Bottle of Suze."

The famous photograph of her and Mr. Dylan, taken by Don Hunstein on a slushy Jones Street in February 1963, seemed less than momentous to her at the time, and she later played down her instant elevation to a strange kind of celebrity status as the girl in the picture.

"It was freezing out," she told The New York Times in 2008. "He wore a very thin jacket, because image was all. Our apartment was always cold, so I had a sweater on, plus I borrowed one of his big, bulky sweaters. On top of that I put on a coat. So I felt like an Italian sausage. Every time I look at that picture, I think I look fat."

The album, Mr. Dylan's second, included anthems like "Blowin' in the Wind," "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" and "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right."

After Ms. Rotolo returned from Italy — a trip engineered by her mother in a move to separate her from Mr. Dylan — the relationship became more difficult. Mr. Dylan was becoming increasingly famous and spending more time performing on the road, and he entered into a very public affair with Joan Baez, with whom he had begun performing.

Ms. Rotolo moved out of their West Fourth Street apartment in August 1963 and, after discovering she was pregnant, had an illegal abortion.

By mid-1964 she and Mr. Dylan had drifted apart. "I knew I was an artist, but I loved poetry, I loved theater, I loved too many things," Ms. Rotolo told The Times. "Whereas he knew what he wanted and he went for it."

In "Chronicles," Mr. Dylan wrote: "The alliance between Suze and me didn't turn out exactly to be a holiday in the woods. Eventually fate flagged it down and it came to a full stop. It had to end. She took one turn in the road and I took another."

In 1967 she married Mr. Bartoccioli, a film editor she had met while studying in Perugia. The couple lived in Italy before moving to the United States in the 1970s. In addition to her husband, she is survived by their son, Luca, of Brooklyn, and her sister, Carla, of Sardinia.

Ms. Rotolo worked as a jewelry maker, illustrator and painter before turning to book art, fabricating booklike objects that incorporate found objects.

She remained politically active. In 2004, using the pseudonym Alla DaPie, she joined the street-theater group Billionaires for Bush and protested at the Republican convention in Manhattan.

Tom Winslow 10/23/10

2010-11-21T05:36:00.001-08:00

Tom Winslow was one of the original Clearwater crew members and Sloop Singers. He died on October 23 at the age of 69 in Albany, NY, due to complications from a stroke.

Tom is known for writing and performing "Hey Looka Yonder (It's the Clearwater)," a fundraising anthem for the construction of the sloop that appeared on the album "Tom Winslow" in 1969 on Biograph Records. The song is significant as it represents the first environmental song by an African-American song-writer, and predates Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" by two full years.

After moving to upstate New York from his native North Carolina in the early 1960s, Tom met Pete Seeger at a concert in Albany. Before the sloop was ever launched, music was the foundation of the organization. Pete Seeger and his supporters raised the first few dollars for the sloop's construction by performing songs about the river and passing around a banjo to collect donations. "Hey Looka Yonder (Its the Clearwater)" was Peter Seeger's and Tom Winslow's major collaboration. Click here to listen to Winslow performing the song.

Tom performed many times with Pete Seeger. He recently performed onstage with his daughter Thomasina Winslow at the 2010 Clearwater Festival and Great Hudson River Revival, and continued to perform in Upstate New York until shortly before his death. He is the father of Gary Winslow, also a notable performing artist.

During the 1960s, Tom traveled the country playing at festivals and clubs and serving as artist in residence at colleges and universities where he conducted workshops in folk and acoustic blues. During that time he quickly changed his musical focus to "human activism," including civil rights and environmental causes.

Irwin Silber RIP

2010-09-11T10:26:00.001-07:00

From: Les Herring

Irwin Silber, the co-founder of Sing Out! magazine with Pete Seeger and Alan Lomax, died Wednesday in Oakland, CA. He was 84.

--Bess Lomax Hawes, 1921-2009

2009-12-06T12:03:00.001-08:00

From: John Pietaro <leftmus@earthlink.net>
Date: Sun, Dec 6, 2009 at 10:52 AM
Subject: OBITUARY--Bess Lomax Hawes, 1921-2009
To: "leftmus@earthlink.net" <leftmus@earthlink.net>

Sisters and Brothers,

Sadly, below is my obituary for Bess Lomax Hawes, a pioneering woman radical folksinger, folklorist and member of the Alamanc Singers. Though I did not ever get to meet Bess, we did speak on the phone at length some years ago when I interviewed her about Sis Cunningham, after the loss of that sister. Bess was a warm, gracious woman who downplayed her own part on the cultural front, but whose vast contribution requires greater acknowledgement on every level.

Peace,
John
------------------------------

http://www.peoplesworld.org/radical-folk-music-pioneer-dies-at-8/

Bess Lomax Hawes, 1921-2009
Obituary by John Pietaro

Portland, Oregan: Bess Lomax Hawes, a member of the esteemed Lomax family of folklorists and part of the seminal urban folk music group 'the Almanac Singers' died on November 27. She was 88 years old.

Ms. Lomax Hawes, born in Texas, began her journey into folk song through her father John Lomax's important work of collecting rural musics throughout the US. The Lomaxes relocated to Washington DC during Bess' teen years and her father, and soon after her brother Alan, began to work for the Library of Congress, chronicling the music of the nation and offering the young Ms. Lomax a visceral education into the power of culture.

She'd begun playing the guitar at 15 as a means to get through the long hours as she and her parents traveled Europe. Adapting to a wide array of music in various languages, Bess was able to develop both her repertoire of "peoples' songs" and her guitar technique simultaneously. Within two years, she'd become an in-demand guitar teacher and to meet the needs of the many students seeking tutelage, Lomax created a curriculum for seminar-style lessons to teach large groups. This type of music education would serve her well in later years, particularly after she'd moved to the west coast.

But by 1940, Ms Lomax became further entrenched in folk song when she was recruited by her father and brother to help catalog material for a book entitled Our Singing Country. At this time, Woody Guthrie was brought to DC to record for the Library of Congress and Pete Seeger was now on staff for the season, cementing their relationship. Bess' brother Alan Lomax was now seen as the major link among this new breed of radical folksingers which grew to include Guthrie, Leadbelly, Aunt Mollie Jackson and others. He and Leftist actor Will Geer organized a New York event to benefit migrant workers, "A Grapes of Wrath Evening" which featured the growing stable of this first generation of folk revivalists; Bess Lomax a stood among those performers.

Soon after, Seeger, Lee Hays and playwright Millard Lampell formed the nexus of the Almanac Singers, the first urban folk ensemble. The group performed traditional music presented with new, revolutionary lyrics, and incorporated into their sets older songs of dissent and their own topical compositions, too. Based in a communal living space in Greenwich Village, the Almanac Singers performed throughout 1940 and '41 for Communist Party functions, May Day parades and radical cabarets. To the Almanacs' surprise, the group was courted by the William Morris Agency, Decca Records and even the Rainbow Room as they toured the sites of countless CIO organizing campaigns.

By 1941, the group had expanded to include Bess Lomax, who'd graduated from Bryn Mawr College and moved into the group's townhouse, often supplying the only regular income to their communal fund. But Bess was also seen as an important musical force, offering strong guitar playing, harmony vocals and an innate understanding of the folk process. Another new member, the illustrator Butch Hawes, would become Bess' husband soon after; their union would produce three children over the years. Photos in this period depict a youthful but intense coalition of performers brandishing guitars and banjos as weapons of this cultural front, with Lomax Hawes looking younger, perhaps more vital, than the rest. Bess, with the Almanacs, recorded several historically powerful albums for the independent Keynote label including 1941's 'Talking Union' , which produced the legendary versions of "Union Maid" and "Which Side Are You On?", and the post-Pearl Harbor 'Dear Mr. President' which featured the stirring anti-fascist theme "Round and Round Hitler's Grave". She was also present for the sessions which produced the 'Citizen CIO' wartime collection, select Guthrie recordings and an important set of Spanish Civil War songs, among others.

Regardless of their strong anti-fascist output, the Almanac Singers were cited in the fury of reactionary suspicion and were branded as "Moscow agents" due to their earlier anti-war music of the Hitler-Stalin Pact. All offers for national radio broadcasts and record contracts were now off the table. Blacklisted, their engagements became scarce and the group fell apart. Worse, Bess lost her government job and in the post-war years would experience harassment by the FBI and various Rightist organizations. By 1950, Bess and songwriter Jackie Steiner would compose "The MTA Song" for a Boston mayoral candidate running on the Progressive Party line and this reflected Lomax Hawes' continued radical leanings. Ironically, it became a major hit for the Kingston Trio in '59; this group served as the portal for many of the next generation to discover the kind of folk singing the Almanacs had brought to wider attention, though the latter ensemble rarely if ever featured the protest core which was a staple of the Almanac Singers.

Later, Bess would move to the west coast where she'd teach American folklore in colleges before serving, for many years, as director of the National Endowment for the Arts' Folk Arts Program. In 1993, a year after here retirement, Lomax Hawes was granted the National Medal of Arts by President Clinton for her work on behalf of American culture. In her latter years, Lomax Hawes continued speaking about folklore, ethnomusicology and the power of folk music as a force for social change. She is survived by her three children and six grandchildren.

-John Pietaro is a cultural worker and labor organizer from New York – www.flamesofdiscontent.org

Mary Travers

2009-09-17T05:04:00.001-07:00

Folk singer Mary Travers dies at 72

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Sep 17, 2009 04:30 AM

DANBURY, Conn.–Mary Travers, one-third of the hugely popular 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, has died.

Travers, 72, had battled leukemia for several years.

Travers joined forces with Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey in the early 1960s.

The trio mingled their music with liberal politics, onstage and off. Their version of "If I Had a Hammer" became an anthem for racial equality.

They were vehement in their opposition to the Vietnam War, managing to stay true to their liberal beliefs while creating music that resonated in the U.S. mainstream.

The group collected five Grammy Awards for their three-part harmony on enduring songs like "Leaving on a Jet Plane," "Puff (The Magic Dragon)" and "Blowin' in the Wind."

At one point in 1963, three of their albums were in the top six Billboard best-selling LPs as they became the biggest stars of the folk revival movement. It was heady stuff for a trio that had formed in the early 1960s in Greenwich Village, running through simple tunes like "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

They disbanded in 1971, launching solo careers – Travers released five albums – that never achieved the heights of their collaborations.

In 2005, Travers had undergone a successful bone marrow transplant to treat her leukemia and was able to return to performing.

But by mid-2009, Yarrow said, her condition had worsened and he thought she could no longer perform.

Associated Press

Sam Hinton

2009-09-17T04:56:00.001-07:00

Sam Hinton dies at 92; folk songwriter and singer

Hinton

was one of the founders of the folk-song movement that began in the

1930s. A onetime San Diego area resident, he also wrote two books on

the sea and seashore animals.

Sam was also a SO! board member for about 6 years in the late 1980s

and one of the truest friends that folk music ever had. A true font

of musical knowledge and an absolutely BRILLIANT performer (as anyone

who ever say him knows). Along with being a terrific songster, he was

one of the best harmonica players ever ... and was known for being

able to make music with just about anything you could blow into or

over: from a garden hose to a blade of grass. (He was also the

calligrapher for all the song titles in the early editions of Rise Up

Singing ... and a fantastic resource for background and history for

dozens of songs we shared in the magazine over the years.) I'm sorry

I didn't send a posting to the list earlier, but I *did* add a nice

YouTube interview I found to the Sing Out! home page.

RIP, Sam ... I'm proud and grateful to have known you!

_____________________________________

Mark D. Moss / Sing Out!

From George Mann-

2009-08-25T06:55:00.001-07:00

From George Mann-
Hello all you beautiful people:

I've known for some time that I would have to type this message, and I will try to be brief.

Our friend Julius Margolin:

a child of the Depression;

an organizer and member of the CIO;

who served in the Merchant Marine and as a member/organizer of the
National Maritime Union during World War II;

survivor of the blacklist that pulled him off the boats in 1949;

a proud member of IATSE Local 52 and delegate to the NYC Central Labor Council;

a lifetime honorary member of both AFM Local 802 and the New York City Labor Chorus, and countless other organizations;

lover of all working people and the struggles they engage in;

and since 1998 a singer/songwriter and performer for all good causes,

died this morning in New York City at the age of 93. An obituary will be forthcoming.

I spent last night with Julius and left him at his apartment at 9:25 this morning. He was comfortable and in no apparent pain. He had been very happy that we had moved him back home under hospice care last week. As I left this morning, I said I'd see him later, took his hand, and he squeezed it. Ten minutes after I left, he was gone. I got the call when I got off the subway....

We have set up a guest book on the opening page of our website, where you may leave messages, stories of Julius, and other remembrances. Look on the left side of the opening page and click on the "sign guest book" button after clicking on this link:

http://www.georgeandjulius.com

If you would like to listen to and view some great video of Julius, our friend Doug Calvin has posted multiple interviews and video at this site:

http://worldyouth.org/events_glae.html

We will hold a memorial service and concert on Friday, October 16 in New York City. More info will come later. The one-hour memorial service will be at 5 PM (at either Local 802, 322 W. 48th Street, or Local 1199's Martin Luther King, Jr. Auditorium at 310 W. 43rd Street).

The concert will be from 8:00 to 10:30 PM at the MLK Auditorium, 310 W. 43rd Street, and will feature some of Julius's closest friends.

I will send details to public listservs and to your email once it is finalized but if you want to be added to an email list for these events, please email me at georgemann@att.net and I will send you the info.

Julius asked to be cremated and his ashes will be spread on the sea as per his request. I ask that donations be sent to the Scholarship Fund in memory of Julius. This fund was created to help bring young unionists to labor cultural events, most notably the Great Labor Arts Exchange and the Western Workers Labor Heritage Festival, both of which were very dear to him. In fact, I met Julius, and so many other great labor artists and activists, at the Great Labor Arts Exchange in 1996.

Checks/money orders may be made out to "Local 52 Julius Margolin Scholarship Fund" and mailed to:

George Mann, PO Box 697, New York, NY 10033

Thank you for all your support. Julius did not want for love or appreciation in his final battle. And once we got him back home to his apartment, with books and videos and CDs lining every wall and his friends there with him in the living room, I know he was able to accept that this was the end with the same dignity and quiet humility he displayed all his life.

I will leave you with a note that Julius sent out in late June, after the cancer he had been fighting returned. It is a fitting way to end this message.

If I may ask for something else in his memory, it is that you keep fighting (his words), that you not give up in your determination to make your life and the world a better place, that you show kindness and compassion to people, especially strangers, and minimize your bickering with and negativity about others involved in the struggle. These were the qualities, in a nutshell, that Julius displayed to me from the day I met him, qualities that I will now strive to make part of my character as I go forward.

And in the future, whenever things get you down, take a minute to remember this little old man who had such a big heart and spirit, and hope for the working class of the world. Remember that laugh, that determination, and you will find strength to carry on, as I am finding now.

In Solidarity,

George Mann

---

To all or our friends and supporters of our music:

I have not been well and don't get around much any more. And I wish I had been feeling well enough to be more active at this year's Arts Exchange, where so much important work and beautiful labor songs and art were shared. But I still support our struggle for a better society. For peace and the security of working and progressive people the world round.

With and without me the struggle goes on. There must be one world in peace, security and with a good life for all families of the world.

No more wars, poverty or hatreds must exist. We have an important job to do.

Thanks for listening to George Mann's and my music and for your support.

Thank you all for everything,

Julius Margolin

--
http://www.georgemannmusic.com
http://www.georgeandjulius.com
http://www.aunionman.com

Labor and protest music in the finest tradition

Mike Seeger Loses Battle with Cancer

2009-08-08T11:42:00.001-07:00

Mike Seeger Loses Battle with Cancer
Date: Saturday, August 08 2009 @ 04:40:00 EDT
Topic: Silent Strings

Mike Seeger lost his battle with cancer last night, August 7. Back on Thursday, July 30, Mary Katherine Adlin at Folklore Productions informed us that Mike Seeger, one of the founding members of the New Lost City Ramblers, and the half-brother of folk singer Pete Seeger, had been battling leukemia for several years; just recently he was diagnosed with a new and very aggressive form of cancer, called multiple myeloma. In the same forthright way that he has lived his life, he made the decision to discontinue treatment and enter hospice care. Last night, August 7, his battle ended. Mike died in hospice care at his home in Virginia, surrounded by the loving care of his wife, his sons and his sister. He was at peace and not in pain.

Just a few days ago, we wrote about The New Lost City Ramblers DVD video. This is sad news to follow that happy release announcement. Mike Seeger and The New Lost City Ramblers captured the essence of old music from early 78 records and spend decades performing the traditional music in the traditional way thus preserving it for many generations.

During the '60s folk movement, Seeger and the New Lost City Ramblers were one of the most influential bands going. Scores of new bands picked up on what they were doing and pushed the music into the public's eye. Seeger was both a musician and a historian devoted to preserving the music he loved.

Seeger was a folk musician who was also accomplished on multiple instruments. He performed playing the fiddle, banjo, mandolin, dobro, and other instruments. Seeger's love for the old time music resulted in a half dozen Grammy® nominations, four NEA grants and numerous other awards.

Just as he set his own path musically, he chose his own path for his final journey as well. May God be with him.

Mike is survived by his wife Alexia. Condolences may be sent to:

Folklore Productions
1671 Appian Way
Santa Monica, CA 90401
mkaldin@folkloreproductions.com

Jerry Holland

2009-07-23T12:09:00.001-07:00

Cape Breton fiddler Jerry Holland passed away on July 16 at age 54 after a two-year fight with cancer. He was not a contradance fiddler at all, but his tunes found their way into the Portland collections and Waltz books, and into Irish sessions as well.

From the notes for the CD "Cape Breton, Fiddle and Piano Music, The Beaton Family of Mabou", about fiddler Kinnon Beaton, who is from Jerry Holland's generation:

"The music was in decline when Kinnon began. He and his good friend, the late John Morris Rankin, were probably the only two people of their generation in (the village of) Mabou to pick up the instrument. Elsewhere, Jerry Holland, still living in Brockton, Massachusetts, eventually to move to Cape Breton, was learning the music, as was Brenda Stubbert, in Point Aconi, on the island's north side. Without them, as the older generation of musicians stopped playing, the music might have vanished."

Kinnon writes: ".. They were all old (who were) playing the fiddle. You just didn't see young fiddlers. And shortly after, my folks came home from a concert in Glendale, talking about the young guy that would stepdance and play the fiddle at the same time. That was Jerry Holland. He was twelve, I think, or thirteen."

Re:

2009-07-20T19:25:00.001-07:00

On Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 6:26 PM, Les Herring <lesherring@gmail.com> wrote:

I've just heard on the radio that Gordon Weller, the Gordon of Peter and Gordon, has died of a heart attack in Connecticut--Not that it would have been better in a different state. Another reminder of our age--boo hoo.

Jackie Washington

2009-06-30T15:30:00.001-07:00

Death of Jackie Washington

Posted by: "Michael Williams" rjmwilliams@hotmail.com

Mon Jun 29, 2009 12:10 am (PDT)

To everyone,

We regret to announce that our dear beloved friend and unstoppable musical spirit, Jackie Washington has passed away at the age of 89. Jack was taken to hospital 2 weeks ago with a breathing problem and after suffering a heart attack and a series of related

episodes, he died peacefully, surrounded by family and friends, at 1:22pm today.

Thankfully, Jackie was able to attend a tribute to his life's work held at McMaster University on June 3, 2009. Jackie's archives will be housed in perpetuity in the McMaster University Library Archives, for all to see and enjoy. Jackie was also

blessed to live to see his great grandson, Miles. Here is a picture of Jackie with Miles taken on June 3 at McMaster: www.ronscheffler.com/mcmaster/20090603_library/images/page284.html

You can see lots of pictures of Jack from this event here:

http://www.ronscheffler.com/mcmaster/20090603_library/index5.html

Thanks to Ron Scheffler for the great photos.

Other announcements will follow.

On behalf of all of us, thanks for your support over the years.

Sincerely,

The Jackie Washington Committee

Terry Bramhall, David Kidney, Mose Scarlett, Cathy Powell, Margaret Stowe, Jennie Struiksma, Ken Whiteley.

the last weeks and days of his life, we, on the Jackie Washington Committee, were supported by an additional loving Circle of Friends: Ken Whiteley, Irene Manning, Patti Warden, Reg Denis, Tom and Marilyn Scott, James Strecker, Michelle Josef, Graham Rockingham, Albert De Vos and Glenna Green.

Many others have given their support from afar.

Cards-notes to:

Jackie Washington

21 Alanson St

Hamilton ON L8N 1W6

Feel free to send email to any of us OR mstowe@execulink.com or kidneyd@mcmaster.ca

For more info on the Jackie Washington Archives:

tel: 905-525-9140 ext.22764

e-mail <kidneyd@mcmaster.ca>

Jackie Washington Archives

Attn. MARGARET STOWE / MOSE SCARLETT

c/o David Kidney

Mills Library, L118

McMaster University

1280 Main Street West

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4L6

all the best,

Michael

Michael Williams

rjmwilliams@hotmail.com

Mobile: 07908 749699

Koko Taylor

2009-06-06T12:20:00.001-07:00

Messages
1. Koko Taylor - Singing About the Union Hall
Posted by: "Bennet Zurofsky" BZurofsky@ReitPar.com bzurofsky
Fri Jun 5, 2009 8:12 am (PDT)

I was saddened to learn yesterday evening of the death of Koko Taylor. As
the obituary in the NY Times well stated, "While there had been other blues
queens, Ms. Taylor was the undisputed queen of the Chicago variety."

I have always thought of her signature song "Wang Dang Doodle" as one of the
great union songs. Willie Dixon's lyric makes it plain where all the action
is: "We gonna pitch a ball/Down at the Union Hall."

I saw Taylor perform about a year ago - and she was still going strong. Her
daughter had to come out to convince her to end her set lest she collapse
from exhaustion (or was that just show-womanship - adapting the old James
Brown collapsing-from-exhaustion bit for an 80-year old?). She certainly
gave it her all.

Youtube has a video of her singing Wang Dang Doodle (w. Little Walter on
harmonica) in 1967. The quality of the visual is poor - but the quality of
the musical performance can't be beat! I can't think of a better way to
remember her.

Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxCa16-nxtM.

- Bennet

P.S. Please note my new street address below

BENNET D. ZUROFSKY
Attorney at Law
17 Academy Street - Suite 1010
Newark, New Jersey 07102
Phone: 973-642-0885
Fax: 973-642-0946
E-mail: bzurofsky@zurofskylaw.com

Dan O'Connell of Knocknagree

2009-05-25T16:56:00.000-07:00

Date: Mon, 25 May 2009 15:23:37 +0100
From: Paul de Grae <pauldegrae@EIRCOM.NET>
Subject: Dan O'Connell RIP

The legendary Dan O'Connell of Knocknagree, dancer, publican (in whose
premises Denis Murphy and Johnny O'Leary used to play), teacher and tireless
promoter of all aspects of Sliabh Luachra culture, has died, after a long
illness. They don't make them like Dan any more.

Dick "Nitelinger" Golembiewski

2009-04-03T09:54:00.001-07:00

Sad News in Milwaukee
Posted by: "Jym Mooney & Carol Lee Hopkins" hopmoon@milwpc.com jymandcarol
Thu Apr 2, 2009 6:35 am (PDT)
Our good friend Dick "Nitelinger" Golembiewski died of a heart attack while
shoveling snow at his parents' house on Sunday. This is a real loss for all
of us who have enjoyed Dick's friendship over the years. He was a friend to
every Milwaukee area folk and acoustic musician, and his Folk City radio
show on WMSE in the 80s and early 90s plus his long tenure as a volunteer at
The Coffee House showed his dedication to local music. Dick routinely
played recordings by local folk musicians on his show, and frequently
invited us into the studio for live on-air performances. We are all stunned
by the unexpectedness of this loss. Dick was only 51, and had no history of
heart trouble.

This weekend we will all be singing our songs in his memory.

Jym Mooney

Rich Morse

2009-03-14T14:04:00.001-07:00

Rich Morse, founder and owner of The Button Box, died Monday, March 2, 2009, following the recurrence and rapid progression of melanoma, which he first developed in 1995. The end was quiet and peaceful, for which we are all grateful.

Rich was born in Hawaii as Gordon Richard Morse, III. He came to the mainland to study at the Rhode Island School of Design and made New England his home thereafter. In his years as a practicing architect, his designs were a marvel, consistently displaying an exceptional sense of spatial relations and creative problem-solving. He was a longtime advocate for energy efficiency, incorporating conservation-minded principles into his plans for clients and practicing them in his private life. Rich riding his aging bike the mile between his house and The Button Box was a familiar sight; regardless of the weather, he was rarely willing to make such an inefficient trip using fossil fuel.

Rich started The Button Box in 1980, while living in a cabin in rural Wardsboro, Vermont. It was a sideline in the beginning, but his passion for free-reed instruments overtook his interest in architecture, and he eventually became a full-time "employee" of The Button Box. His capability as an innovative designer and his unlimited capacity for optimism were largely responsible for the development of R. Morse & Co. concertinas, and his abiding interest in all to do with concertinas made him something of a celebrity in the admittedly small niche of free-reed aficianados. In that role, he was unstintingly generous with his time, knowledge, and positive spirit.

Rich was in inveterate player of games, with an especial fondness for Go and Scrabble. He was a dedicated father, a talented photographer, an enthusiastic Morris dancer and contra dancer, and loved to play music and compose tunes.

He is survived by two sons, Geordie, of Sunderland, Massachusetts, and Kiva, of Phoenix, Arizona. His parents still live in Hawaii, and he has other close relatives in Hawaii and throughout the mainland.

Our last printed catalogue gave Rich's job description as "Guiding Light," and so he was, not only to us, but to others whose lives intersected with his. We at The Button Box will carry on, as will his friends and family, but we will miss him very much. Our thanks to all who have been in touch with us to express their sadness and share their memories of an exceptional human being.

A celebration of Rich's life is being planned for later in the spring.

Dan O'Connor

2009-01-29T05:49:00.000-08:00

Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:37:45 -0000 From: Paul de Grae <pauldegrae@EIRCOM.NET> Subject: Dan O'Connor R.I.P. I'm very sorry to have to say, Dan O'Connor (Dan Jeremiah) of Scartaglen, County Kerry, Sliabh Luachra fiddler, story-teller, and all-round gentleman, has died.

David "Fathead" Newman

2009-01-23T18:36:00.001-08:00

The man known as "Fathead," jazz sax player David Newman, has died at the age of 75 of pancreatic cancer after a long, storied career.

Newman made a name for himself as a tenor sax soloist, but also played with legendary acts like the Ray Charles band, Herbie Mann, Aretha Franklin and Aaron Neville.

Sam Taylor, Famed Bluesman, Dies.

2009-01-09T18:34:00.001-08:00

Sam Taylor, Famed Bluesman, Dies.

Sam "The Bluzman" Taylor, the singer-songwriter and guitarist whose music has been recorded by everyone from Elvis Presley and Son Seals
to DMX and EPMD, died Monday at his home in Islandia of complications associated with heart disease. He was 74.

Taylor was one of the first inductees into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2006 and an inductee into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1995.
He built a stellar reputation in blues and R&B over nearly five decades of work, as a solo performer and as a guitarist with Otis
Redding, The Isley Brothers, and Sam and Dave.

"He was one of the last of the great bluesmen," said his friend Richard L'Hommedieu, co-founder of the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.
"He's created decades of wonderful music. It's a great loss."

Taylor was part of Joey Dee & The Starlighters when they had their "Peppermint Twist" hit in 1962, and when he left the group he
recommended that a young guitarist named Jimmy James, later known as Jimi Hendrix, be his replacement. He worked with B.T. Express when
they had their string of No. 1 R&B hits "Do It (Til You're Satisfied)" and "Express" in 1974 and 1975.

But Taylor was best known for his own blues work - more than 12 albums, including "I Came from Dirt" and 2004's "Voice of the Blues"
-- and his regular appearances at Long Island blues clubs.

Vic Calabro was looking forward to Taylor's singing at his 53rd birthday party at Bobbique's in Patchogue on Wednesday night. Though
Taylor had been ill for several months, he had been doing well enough in recent weeks that he planned to perform on Wednesday, said Calabro,
who now plans to turn his party into a memorial.

"He was a great man," Calabro said. "He lived a great life, and he just loved making people happy with his music."

For Taylor, one of the career moments that made him happiest was his induction into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. "So many Long
Island musicians have said they were from New York instead of Long Island because they thought it helped them," Taylor said that night.
"I've been saying I've been from Long Island since 1955. I'm so proud to be here. It's giving me goose bumps just thinking about it."

Taylor is survived by three daughters, Sandra Taylor, Daionae Sparks and Donna Brown, and a son, Kevin Taylor; 13 grandchildren and eight
great-grandchildren. Funeral services were pending.

In famous company Long Island-based bluesman Sam Taylor worked with: Otis Redding, The Isley Brothers, Sam and Dave

And his songs were recorded by: Elvis Presley, Son Seals, DMX and others.

Thomas R. Siblo - Landsman

2008-12-17T05:58:00.000-08:00

Thomas R. Siblo - Landsman

Born in Brooklyn on Feb. 25, 1950
Died on Dec. 12, 2008 and resided in Saugerties, NY.

Thomas R. Siblo-Landsman of The Mill, Saugerties died Friday, December 12, 2008 at Kingston Hospital.

He was born in Brooklyn on February 25, 1950, a son of the late William Vito and Mary Walsh Siblo. Formerly of Long Island and Mamaroneck, Mr. Siblo - Landsman moved to this area in 1969.

A graduate of Ulster County Community College, he received a Bachelor's in History from SUNY New Paltz.

As a paralegal, Mr. Siblo-Landsman was a multi-faceted advocate for many in our community. He was trained by Mid-Hudson Legal Services, Poughkeepsie, New York and the Greater Upstate Law Project,
Rochester, New York to perform Lexis/Nexus legal research and writing. He previously worked as a System Advocate for the Resource Center for Accessible Living, Kingston, and Family of Woodstock, Kingston office.

Mr. Siblo-Landsman opened an independent paralegal business in Palenville performing consulting services
and representation before the Social Security Administration. He acted as an advisor to other legal professionals in their automation of their offices.

Mr. Siblo-Landsman advocated for landlord-tenant rights, Social Security disability, and special eduacation. He was a NYS Systems Advocate.
He also sang folk music, loved Woody Gutherie and Irish songs. He entertained farm workers, students and senior citizens.

He is survived by his three children Philip, Rubi and Max, all of Saugerties, a sister Maureen Siblo and his former wife Avigayil Landsman of Saugerties; one niece and one nephew.

Funeral services will be conducted on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. at the Woodstock Jewish Congregation, 1682 Glasco Turnpike, Woodstock. Rabbi Jonathan Kligler will officiate. Interment will be in Montrepose Cemetery.

Davy Graham R.I.P.

2008-12-17T05:53:00.000-08:00

Guitarist Davy Graham has passed away. Davy was a very influential guitarist during the 1960's English folk scene. His tune Anji was a standard for the scores of finger picking guitarist of that time. We used to hear Davy, Bert Jansch, Mike Cooper, John Renbourn, Sam Mitchell, Duffy Power etc. down at Cousins in London back then. Condolences to Davy's family and friends. Folk Britannica http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DcFB6xj1xHnM Ann Briggs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DOxOouYO5tY4 Thomas Johnson

US folk icon Odetta dies aged 77

2008-12-03T13:20:00.000-08:00

US folk singer Odetta, a civil rights campaigner and a major influence on Bob Dylan, has died at the age of 77. Born Odetta Holmes in Birmingham, Alabama, the classically-trained singer gave life to slave songs and folk tunes through her powerful voice.
Becoming a folk star in the 1950s, Odetta influenced Bob Dylan as well as Harry Belafonte and Joan Baez. Despite being recently confined to a wheelchair, Odetta performed some 60 concerts in the last two years. She died of heart disease on Tuesday at the Lennox Hill Hospital in New York. She had been admitted to the hospital some three weeks before suffering from kidney failure, said her manager Doug Yeager.
She made her name performing songs sung by ordinary people - housewives and working men, as well as prison songs and slave plantation "spirituals". "What distinguished her from the start was the meticulous care with which she tried to re-create the feeling of her folk songs," Time magazine wrote in 1960. "To understand the emotions of a convict in a convict ditty, she once tried breaking up rocks with a sledge hammer." Recording several albums, Odetta was best-known in the US for taking part in the 1963 civil rights march on Washington, where she sang O Freedom.
In a 1978 interview, Bob Dylan said: "The first thing that turned me on to folk singing was Odetta." He added he found "just something vital and personal" when he first heard her, and that her music convinced him to sell his electric guitar and play an acoustic one instead. First nominated for a Grammy in 1963, Odetta received two more nominations in the latter part of her career - one in 1999 and third in 2005.
In 1999, she was awarded a National Medal of the Arts. President Bill Clinton said her career showed "us all that songs have the power to change the heart and change the world".

Miriam Makeba,

2008-11-13T10:24:00.000-08:00

ROME - Miriam Makeba, the South African folk singer and anti-apartheid activist fondly known as "Mama Africa," died early Monday in southern Italy after performing at a concert against organized crime, hospital officials said. She was 76.The emergency room of the Pineta Grande Clinic, a private facility in Castel Volturno, near Naples, confirmed Italian news reports that the singer had died after being brought there.The ANSA news agency reported that Makeba apparently suffered a heart attack just at the end of the concert, where she had sung for about 30 minutes to show solidarity for Italian journalist Roberto Saviano, who received death threats after writing a book about the Camorra, the Naples-area crime syndicate.The news of Makeba's death caused shock and grief in South Africa. Arts and Culture Ministry spokesman Sandile Memela described her as an international icon."It's a monumental loss not only to South African society in general but for humanity," he said.Tributes poured in on morning radio talk shows for the woman who wooed the world with her sultry voice and soft eyes and who was exiled from her homeland for more than 30 years.Makeba first came to international prominence when she starred in the anti-apartheid documentary "Come Back, Africa" in 1959. In 1960, when she tried to fly home for her mother's funeral, she discovered her passport had been revoked.In 1963, she appeared before the U.N. Special Committee on Apartheid to call for an international boycott on South Africa. The South African government responded by banning her records, including hits like "Pata Pata," "The Click Song" ("Qongqothwane" in Xhosa), and "Malaika."In 1966, Makeba received the Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording together with Harry Belafonte for "An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba." The album dealt with the political plight of black South Africans under apartheid.She only returned to her homeland with the crumbling of apartheid in the early 1990s."It was like a revival," she said. "My music having been banned for so long, that people still felt the same way about me was too much for me. I just went home and I cried."

Yma Sumac, 'Peruvian songbird' with multi-octave range, dies at 86

2008-11-10T06:24:00.000-08:00

Yma Sumac, the Peruvian-born singer whose spectacular multi-octave vocal range and exotic persona made her an international sensation in the 1950s, has died. She was 86.

Sumac, who was diagnosed with colon cancer in February, died Saturday in an assisted-living facility in Silver Lake, said Damon Devine, her personal assistant and close friend.

Bursting onto the U.S. music scene after signing with Capitol Records in 1950, the raven-haired Sumac was known as the "Nightingale of the Andes," the "Peruvian Songbird" and a "singing marvel" with a 4 1/2 -octave (she said five-octave) voice.

"She is five singers in one," boasted her then-husband Moises Vivanco, a composer-arranger, in a 1951 interview with the Associated Press. "Never in 2,000 years has there been another voice like hers."

After Sumac performed at the Shrine Auditorium with a company of dancers, drummers and musicians in 1955, a Los Angeles Times writer observed:
"She warbles like a bird in the uppermost regions, hoots like an owl in the lowest registers, produces bell-like coloratura passages one minute, and exotic, dusky contralto tones the next."

Sumac's first album for Capitol, "Voice of the Xtabay," soared to the top of the record charts. A handful of other albums followed during the 1950s.

With her exotic beauty, elaborate costumes and singing voice that could imitate the cries of birds and wild animals, the woman who claimed to be a descendant of an ancient Incan emperor offered Eisenhower-era audiences something unique.

During her 1950s heyday, Sumac sang at the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall and Royal Albert Hall. She reportedly made $25,000 a week in Las Vegas.

She was featured in the 1951 Broadway musical "Flahooley" and appeared in the films "Secret of the Incas" in 1954 and "Omar Khayyam" in 1957.

Although details of her birth date and early life vary widely, Devine said Sumac was born Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chavarri del Castillo in Cajamarca, Peru, on Sept. 13, 1922.

Sumac said she began singing when she was about 9.

After joining Vivanco's large group of native singers, dancers and musicians, she made her radio debut in 1942; she and Vivanco were married the same year.

In Argentina in 1943, Sumac and Vivanco's group recorded a series of Peruvian folk songs. By then, she was known professionally as Imma Sumack. (Capitol Records later changed the spelling.)

In 1946, she and her husband moved to New York City, where they performed as the Inca Taky Trio, with Vivanco on guitar, Sumac singing soprano and her cousin Cholita Rivero singing contralto and dancing.

After making her name as a solo artist, Sumac toured around the world for several years in the '60s, but her popularity in the U.S. had waned by then.

In 1971, she recorded a psychedelic rock album, "Miracles," that was not widely released, and semi-retired to Peru later in the decade -- at least that's what she always said.

"That's the legend that she stuck with all through these decades," Devine, who runs the Sumac website www.yma-sumac.com, told The Times in June. "She didn't want people to know she was here and not working. The story was good for her. She's a very eccentric woman. . . . Her whole career and life is based on her mystery, and so the facts and fiction is a fine line with her."

Sumac, however, did return to performing in 1984 at the Vine Street Bar & Grill and the Cinegrill in Hollywood. In the early 1990s, she toured in Europe and continued to perform until 1997.

"The younger generation loves the music, loves Yma," Sumac told the Tampa Tribune in 1996. "The new generation told me many times: 'Miss Yma, we love you. Your music is something. It's out of this world.' "

Sumac, who was divorced from and remarried to Vivanco in the late '50s and divorced from him again in 1965, is survived by their son, Charles, who lives in Europe, and three sisters, who live in Peru.

Services will be private.

McLellan is a Times staff writer.

PETER HAMILTON

2008-10-27T11:57:00.000-07:00

Peter Hamilton: Wattle recordings
Posted by: "mark gregory" mark@crixa.com
Sun Oct 26, 2008 10:13 pm (PDT)
Pioneer record and film producer PETER HAMILTON died peacefully at
home on October 23rd.

Founder of the Wattle Record label and Wattle Films, Peter started the
company in 1954 in Sydney, with his friend and associate Edgar Waters.
The label released the first commercially available bush songs
including landmark recordings by The Bushwhackers Band, and
their hit 'The Drover's Dream'. Two of the label's most important
releases were field recordings of bush singers and musicians like Sally Sloan
of Lithgow NSW and Simon McDonald of Creswick Victoria

Peter was an extraordinary inventor in film and sound
recording (see the Hindsight program link below)

I don't have a complete list of Wattle recordings but here is a start
(I think they say a lot about the breadth of musical interest among
the early folk revival enthusiasts)

The Green Bushes /Beth Schurr 1956
The Green Bushes /Beth Schurr 1956
Drovers' Dream /The Bushwhackers 1956
Black Velvet Band /The Bushwhackers 1956
Botany Bay /The Bushwhackers 1956
The Bullockies Ball /The Bushwhackers 1956
The Old Bullock Dray /The Bushwhackers 1956
Travelling Down The Castlereigh /The Bushwhackers 1956
Nine Miles from Gundagai /The Bushwhackers 1957
Australian Bush Songs / The Bushwhackers 1957
American Songs of Protest /John Greenway 1957
Workin' on a Building /John Greenway 1957
Irish Songs of Resistance /Patrick Galvin
The Art of the Digeridu
Music of New Guinea
Australian Traditional Singers and Musicians /1957
Singing Sailors /Ewan MacCol and A L Lloyd 1957
Banks of the Condamine /A L Lloyd 1957
Convicts and Currency Lads /Ewan MacColl & A L Lloyd 1958
Across the western Plains /A L Lloyd 1958
The Old Bark Hut /The Rambleers 1958
The Shearers Dream /The Rambleers 1958
The Waltzing Matilda /The Rambleers 1958
Songs from Queensland / Morton Bay Bushwackers and the Bandicoots
Billy Goat Overland /Stan Arthur and Bill Scott 1958
Traditional Singers & Musicians of Victoria Archive series no 1 /1962
The Land Where the Crow Flies Backwards /Dougie Young 1963

In 2004 there was an ABC Radio program about Wattle

see Hindsight at

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/history/hindsight/stories/s1157792.htm

Peter Hamilton fought hard to get Australian folk songs taken
seriously by the ABC as this quote from the program illustrates

"The chairman of the ABC at that time was Sir Charles Boyer and I
arranged a session with him and put to him that I thought it was an
appropriate thing for Australian ABC to do what the BBC were doing in
England and the Library of Congress were doing in America, that is
that they had dedicated full time staff recording the folk music in
England respectively and in America respectively and that was part of
their charter to do that and they had a team of people and outdoor
full facilities to go and visit old singers and collect material and
subsequently have that aired. He was very interested in that and
supportive of that as a concept but he had a music manager and he
would need to consult him so he called him in to this meeting and he
just said well in his view there was no Australian folk song and they
were just popular songs that came from overseas and he then left the
room and the chairman said well he would have to respect the views of
his senior music authority and that was the end of that."

regards

Mark

--
http://folkstream.com/

Kingston Trio's Nick Reynolds, 75, dies in SD

2008-10-06T06:39:00.000-07:00

October 2nd, 2008 @ 7:19pm
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Nick Reynolds, a founding member of the Kingston Trio who jump-started the revival folk scene of the late 1950s and paved the way for artists such as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, has died. He was 75.

Reynolds had been hospitalized with acute respiratory disease and other illnesses, and died Wednesday in San Diego after his family took him off life support, said son Joshua Reynolds.

"Dad was so happy he turned people onto music in a way that people could really approach it, in a simple and honest way," Josh Reynolds told The Associated Press. "He was a very gracious and loving performer. He was a devoted family man."

The Kingston Trio's version of the 19th century folk song "Tom Dooley" landed the group a No. 1 spot on the charts in 1958, and launched the band's career.

Born on July 27, 1933, in San Diego, Nicholas Reynolds demonstrated an early love of music and did sing-alongs with his two sisters and their Navy captain-father, who taught him to play guitar.
He graduated from Coronado High School in 1951 and attended the University of Arizona and San Diego State University before attending Menlo College, a business school near Palo Alto. He graduated from Menlo in 1956.

It was during the mid-1950s that Nicholas Reynolds met Bob Shane, who introduced him to Stanford student Dave Guard. Guard and Shane knew each other from playing music in Guard's native Hawaii. The three formed the Kingston Trio.

In 1958, "Tom Dooley" earned Reynolds, Guard and Shane a trophy for best country and western performance at the first Grammys. The group, defined by tight harmonies and a clean-cut style, went on to win a Grammy the next year for best folk performance for its album "The Kingston Trio At Large."

Later member John Stewart joined the group in 1961, replacing Guard. Stewart died in January, also in San Diego.

After leaving the Kingston Trio in 1967, Reynolds moved to Oregon, where he stayed until the 1980s and took a break from music to raise his family, his son said.

Reynolds moved back to California in the mid-1980s and rejoined Stewart for one album. In 1991, Reynolds rejoined Shane in a reconstituted version of the Trio. He remained with the group until retiring in 2003, his son said.

Reynolds is survived by his wife Leslie, sons Joshua and John Pike Reynolds, daughters Annie Reynolds Moore and Jennifer Reynolds, and his two sisters.

Vic Schwarz

2008-09-09T12:16:00.000-07:00

Vic Schwarz, a folk singer, artist, environmentalist and luthier, died on September 3, after a 14 year battle with cancer. Vic was a long-time friend of Pete Seeger's and is credited with giving
Pete the book about Hudson River sloops that led to the two of them collaborating on the creation of the Sloop "Clearwater". Vic can be seen in the documentary "Pete Seeger:The Power of Song" discussing the early days of the "Clearwater". Vic continued to be dedicated to the
sloop over the years and was also actively involved in saving Little Stony Point Park on the Hudson.

Greg Duffy

2008-09-08T07:13:00.000-07:00

Remembering Greg Duffy
Published: Sep 4, 2008
Greg Duffy was quite well known. Not the kind of "well known" that merits a page 1 headline in the New York Times, necessarily, or that prompts heads of state to issue statements of condolence.
But within the worldwide community of Irish traditional music and culture, it was clear that Greg Duffy's sudden death on the night of August 28 was truly of great moment. Indeed, notice of his passing had made it onto the Irish Traditional Music Listserv by 3:37 a.m. on Friday.
Local musician Bill McKenty, who has known Greg and his wife Charlotte for 15 years, posted the announcement. It read, in part:
"… husband, father, friend, photographer and great fan of traditional music and its people, Greg lived within the music, befriending many and opening his heart and home to the music …"
Within the traditional community, Greg Duffy was quite well known indeed, and loved. And now, mourned.
Greg was known for his loving photos of Irish traditional musicians. (A good example is currently posted on the Thistle and Shamrock Web site. It's a remembrance of singer-guitarist Mícheál Ó Domhnaill.) View it here.
He was also renowned for his great hospitality. Many, many road-weary musicians were fortunate to stay in his Jenkintown home.
We asked a few of those who knew him best to share their thoughts and memories. (Of course, you can also offer your comments in the little form that follows.)
Bill McKenty, longtime friend and musician
Greg was always trying to drag me to concerts as i tend not to go to many.
About a year-and-a-half ago, he enticed me to go on my birthday with him and his wife Charlotte to a Flook concert in Wilmington. Michael McGoldrick, one of my favorites, was filling in for Sarah Allen of the band as she'd just had her baby. I agreed to accompany the Duffys as McGoldrick almost never comes to the US of A.
The Duffys were very well known at venues such as the Cherry Tree, Green Willow and Sellersville. They always had front row seats reserved for them as Greg's wife Charlotte was pretty much confined to a wheelchair.
So we get to the show. I go outside to catch a smoke, and who should bum a butt off me but Michael McGoldrick. We hit it off quite quickly, trading tunes in the "diddly di," lilting kinda way flute players do.
Later, as I was sitting in the front row with the Duffys, McGoldrick would sit next to me in an open chair on sets in which he wasn't playing with the band, and egg the band on from the audience. McGoldrick and Flook were quite the characters.
So at half time, McGoldrick and Greg compared notes and friends and chatted away. Nice concert. At the end they did an encore and went to start the first tune but couldn't remember how it went. Greg looked over to me and said, "You know that," so I hummed a few bars. McGoldrick hears me and goes, "Ah, that's it." He comes over to me, hands me his whistle and shoves me up on stage, much to the horror of the rest of the band, as they didn't know me from Adam.

After a few awkward moments they ascertained that i did know the tune and great fun ensued. Of course, Greg took much delight in this and started to shoot away …which is where the attached came from.
He had a great eye, a great ear and a great love of the music and the people and characters who lived it.
Andy Irvine, Irish singer-songwriter

I was extremely sad to hear of the unexpected passing of Greg Duffy. He was a man I held in high esteem and respect for many years.
I first met him in Philadelphia, at The Cherry Tree, sometime around 1985/86 and we became friends immediately. As any traveling performer might say, I never had enough time to spend with him and his wife, Charlotte.
I stayed in his house in Jenkintown on a few occasions. He made a pretty good breakfast! Conversations with Greg were always witty and well informed from his side. He took a great interest in all things Irish.
In retrospect I was very happy to have made a detour in June of this year to visit the family on the occasion of Charlotte's birthday. Greg was in great form and walked me to my car when I was leaving. We had a farewell hug and I never thought it would be the last I would see of him.
A good man has passed.
Lois Kuter, longtime friend and Breton music authority
I met Greg as a fellow fan of Celtic music—and that means not just Scottish and Irish, but also Welsh, Breton, Manx, Cornish, Galician, and Asturian (when you had the luck to hear them).
I can't recall where or when I met Greg but he and Charlotte listened to the Breton music radio program I did for WXPN from the mid '80s to the mid '90s. They had impeccable taste in music—picking out the most innovative and interesting. I renewed a friendship with them at a scattering of concerts over the years.

I've met very few people who have such knowledge and true appreciation for the rich traditions and innovative variations of music from the Celtic world.

I am sure all the musicians who beat Greg to Heaven are thrilled to have him there to share the joy and beauty of their music. I am sure Johnny Cunningham has a big hug for him.

Jonji Provenzano

2008-09-04T06:53:00.000-07:00

From Baird Hersey

Loving Friends,
Jonji passed peacefully this morning around 5:00 am at his home. His wife Suzanne was with him.

Jonji was born on March 27th, 1944 in Norwalk, Connecticut to Ignatius and Roberta Provenzano. He moved to Woodstock in 1969, where he worked as a master carpenter and Yoga teacher.

Jonji influenced thousands of yoga practitioners with his grounded, intelligent approach to yoga and to living. In 1991 he opened the Yoga Studio, one of the Hudson Valley's first yoga schools. In 1999 he founded the River Cloud School of Yoga. His classes were known for their thought provoking, sometimes humorous, Dharma talks. He was also an ordained minister.

Diagnosed with 4th stage stomach cancer in May of 2007, he chose to turn his dying process into a learning experience for his students and friends. He shared his experiences through classes, one on one sessions, and his journal on CarringBridge http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jonjiprovenzano

With courage, introspection and humor, he endured two courses of chemotherapy and one of radiation, all the while encouraging everyone to examine their own mortality. He put the medical staff at the hospital at ease with his playful smile and rollicking laugh.

In the 15 months since his diagnosis, Jonji recorded a CD of Tibetan Buddhist meditations, "Rest in Quiet Mind", and a video of instructions on opening a home Buddhist shrine. Both are available as free downloads on MySpace http://www.myspace.com/restinquietmind . He also finished writing a book on Yoga, Buddhism and Dying.

A musician most of his life, he learned to play guitar from his father. As a teenager, he formed "The Three Js". After moving to Woodstock he played with Mark Black and the St. Johns Parish Folk Group. From 2000 until 2005 he sang with Prana, a meditational music choir.

Jonji founded "Spoke Folks of Woodstock", a pioneering bicycle club in the mid 70s, In the last several years he has been an avid model railroad enthusiast and an active member of the "West Shore Model Railroad Club".

A loving husband, father, and brother, family was always of greatest importance to him. He is survived by his wife Suzanne, sister Lynda Anderson of Marietta Ohio, and his children Blanche Provenzano of West Hurley, Johnny Woodlief of Davies Florida, Moses Provenzano of Woodstock, Kasey Stelter of Zena, Jack Stelter of Zena.
Calling hours will be at Jonji and Suzanne's home on Saturday, September 6th from noon until 8 PM. In lieu of flowers please make donations in Jonji's name to Family of Woodstock ( http://www.familyofwoodstock.org/ )

Jerry Reed

2008-09-03T12:14:00.000-07:00

Jerry Reed, country music's howling virtuoso and a star of stage, studio and screen, has died. Born Jerry Reed Hubbard, Mr. Reed suffered from emphysema and was in hospice care. He was 71, and he leaves an unparalleled legacy of laughter and song.

By the time Mr. Reed came to popular attention as Burt Reynolds' truck-driving sidekick "The Snowman" in the Hollywood trilogy Smokey and the Bandit, he was already a musical deity to the guitar players who admired the syncopated flurries he unleashed with a casual gleam. He was also a hit recording artist by that time, having topped the charts with "When You're Hot, You're Hot" and "Lord, Mr. Ford,' and having written songs for Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Porter Wagoner, Brenda Lee and others. Then there was his work as session guitarist for Presley, Waylon Jennings, Bobby Bare and many others.

Mr. Reed enjoyed his comedic Hollywood roles (which included a part in the 1998 Adam Sandler film, The Waterboy), and he often smiled when movie fans would ask for an autograph without realizing that he was a singer and guitarist of significance. Music was most important to him, though. Asked by interviewer Frank Goodman which facet of music he preferred - songwriter, solo guitarist, session man or entertainer - Mr. Reed said, "Hey, that's like trying to pick out your favorite leg."

"There's nothing on earth as powerful as music, period," he told Goodman. "I mean, it's pretty hard to fight and hate and be angry when you're making music, isn't it?"

As Mr. Reed's health declined in recent years, he focused on spiritual studies and on bringing attention to veterans' issues.

"For 50 years, all I'd done was take, take, take," he told The Tennessean's Tim Ghianni in 2007. "I decided from now on it is going to be giving. And I'm way behind. We're all way behind. We live this life like what's down here is what it's all about. We're temporary, son, like a wisp of smoke."

Mr. Reed was born in Atlanta, Ga., on March 20, 1937. He was the son of cotton mill workers Robert Spencer Hubbard and Cynthia Hubbard, who divorced in their son's first year. From fall of 1937 until 1944, the boy lived in orphanages and foster homes. He rejoined his mother when she married mill worker Hubert Howard in 1944.

Already transfixed by music, he listened to the Grand Ole Opry on the radio each Friday night, jumping around on a woodpile in lieu of a stage, and playing a hairbrush as if it was a rhythm guitar. Noticing his enthusiasm, Cynthia Howard bought a used guitar from a neighbor for $7, presented it to her son and taught him two chords. He began striking the strings with a thumb-pick, a practice he continued throughout his career. When a guitar teacher told him to discontinue that method, an already headstrong Mr. Reed dropped the teacher rather than the pick.

Hearing finger-style guitarist Merle Travis play "I Am A Pilgrim" caused young Mr. Reed to aspire to something beyond simplicity.

"I thought when I heard it, 'Boy, there it is! That man is walking with the big dog. He knows where the bodies are buried, and I want some of that,'" Mr. Reed told Bob Anderson in a 1979 interview.

Another hero was banjo great Earl Scruggs, and Mr. Reed ultimately arrived at a guitar style that fused Scruggs' rapid torrents of notes with the rhythms heard in Ray Charles' "What'd I Say." That is the style that made Mr. Reed an inspiration to generations of guitarists, and though he would not fully realize his signature sound until the 1960s, he spent his high school years honing his musical and performing chops and displaying a talent and magnetism that set him apart from others at school.

In 1954, he played a self-penned song called "Aunt Meg's Wooden Leg" for Atlanta publisher and radio host Bill Lowery, who began managing and booking the young man. A 30-day tour opening shows for Ernest Tubb and the Texas Troubadours ensued, and the experience was enough to convince Mr. Reed that high school was of little use to him.

"I knew what I was going to spend my life doing," he later said. "Nothing else made any sense. Nothing else made any difference."

In 1954, a 17-year-old Mr. Reed played a show in Atlanta in honor of country star Faron Young, who had been discharged from the Army. Ken Nelson ran Capitol Records, and Nelson attended the Atlanta show. Lowery, who had hired Mr. Reed as a disc jockey at Atlanta's WGST, told Nelson that Capitol could do worse than to sign the cotton mill boy from Georgia.

Reluctant to sign such a young act to Capitol, Nelson acquiesced. He told Mr. Reed to wait until his 18th birthday before recording, and in October of 1955 the men entered a Nashville studio and made a record. First single "If The Good Lord's Willing And The Creeks Don't Rise" did not make any great commercial waves, and neither did follow-up single "I'm A Lover, Not A Fighter." And neither did any others of Mr. Reed's Capitol recordings, as he flailed about for a form that rang true. He moved through country, pop and rockabilly, to little avail.

"My records were selling like hot cakes: About fifty cents a stack," he often joked in later years.

In 1958, Mr. Reed ended his association with Capitol. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1959, the same year he married Priscilla "Prissy" Mitchell. Army brass thought Mr. Reed's talents better suited for a stage than a battlefield, and the would-be warrior became a member of the army's Circle A Wranglers band. Meanwhile, Lowery kept pitching Mr. Reed's songs to others. In 1960, Brenda Lee had a Top 10 pop hit with Mr. Reed's "That's All You Gotta Do." That song was the "flip" side of Lee's wildly popular single "I'm Sorry." That success was a change for the better, as was a 1961 military discharge and the development of a unique guitar-playing method that would later be called "Claw style."

"If (Merle) Travis' thumb and index finger picking style was first generation, and Chet Atkins' use of thumb, index and middle finger was second, Reed's use of his entire right hand to pick (the famous "claw" style) was the wild, untamed and dauntingly complex third generation," wrote historian and journalist Rich Kienzle.

Mr. Reed switched from a steel-stringed acoustic guitar to a nylon-stringed Baldwin model, with an electronic "pickup" that allowed the guitar to be heard above a full band. He signed a Columbia Records contract in 1961, but that deal yielded no hits. His songwriting and session playing proved more lucrative, as he performed on hits for Bobby Bare and he penned Porter Wagoner's 1962 No. 1 hit, "Misery Loves Company." And Mr. Reed attracted a high-powered fan in Chet Atkins, the guitar star who ran Nashville's branch of RCA.

"Chet and I had got friendly, and he told me, 'You ain't never going to have a hit recording what's not you. Just go in there and be what you are.' Chet thinks I'm funky," Mr. Reed told Morton Moss of the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner.

Atkins expressed interest in Mr. Reed signing to RCA, and Mr. Reed broke the news to a Columbia Records executive that he would like to go to RCA. "It really broke his heart," Mr. Reed recalled, later. "Took him about 30 seconds to let me go."

Atkins was determined to record Mr. Reed as an atypical artist rather than molding him into a pre-established model. In his guitar work and in the songs he wrote, Mr. Reed revealed a humor and a wit that set him apart from other performers and endeared him to audiences.

The key was capturing that in a way that didn't dull spontaneity or intelligence, and Atkins figured quite correctly that he knew how to do this. Rather than asking Mr. Reed to write or record for a particular audience demographic, as he'd done on Capitol and Columbia, Atkins insisted that Mr. Reed be Mr. Reed.

"I owe almost every bit of success that has come to me to Chet Atkins," Mr. Reed told the Associated Press in 1999. "He's a nonconformist, and he suggested that I just play my guitar and sing my songs and he'd release singles."

The first best result of Mr. Atkins' prodding was instrumental showcase "The Claw," so named because of the way Mr. Reed's hand looked when playing in his intricate style.

Then, Mr. Reed came up with "Guitar Man," which showcased his guitar work, his voice and his storytelling ability. "Guitar Man" was followed by "Tupelo Mississippi Flash," which became Mr. Reed's first Top 20 hit, in 1967. "Tupelo Mississippi Flash" was a funky laugher that poked fun at an industry executive who didn't understand the power and reach of Elvis Presley.

In fact, Presley recorded two songs from Mr. Reed's pen, "U.S. Male" and "Guitar Man." Presley was unhappy with others' attempts to recreate Mr. Reed's guitar sound, and Mr. Reed received a telephone call from producer Felton Jarvis, asking how he did what he did. Mr. Reed told Jarvis that the only way to get the Jerry Reed sound was to have Jerry Reed on the session, asserting that most studio players are "straight pickers," while, "I play with my fingers and tune that guitar up all weird kind of ways."

Jarvis, and Presley, took note, and Mr. Reed performed on the Presley sessions. It all made sense: The only way to sound like Jerry Reed was to be Jerry Reed.

Mr. Reed wrote "Alabama Wild Man," a Top 50 country hit in 1968 that gave the native Georgian a fun but geographically incorrect nickname. But his breakthrough moment came in late 1970, when the funny, funky and swampy "Amos Moses" landed in the Top 10 of the pop charts and in the Top 20 of the country charts. An instrumental with Atkins won a Grammy in 1971, and the following year Mr. Reed won a best country male performance Grammy for his first No. 1 country smash, appropriately titled "When You're Hot, You're Hot." Two years later, he hit No. 1 again with the modern times lament, "Lord, Mr. Ford."

During this time, Mr. Reed was also appearing regularly on friend Glen Campbell's Goodtime Hour, and television types took notice of his charisma. In 1974, he played a joke-cracking role in W.W. and the Dixie Dance Kings. His best-loved film role came in 1977, when he starred as Cledus Snow, a.k.a. "The Snowman," in the Reynolds' flick Smokey and the Bandit. Mr. Reed co-wrote the movie's theme song, "East Bound and Down," which spent two weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard Country singles chart.

The Hollywood success and country hits provided smiles for Mr. Reed's casual fans, but musicians also took notice of the staggering virtuosity behind the records. Brent Mason, now the top session man in Nashville, calls Mr. Reed "my favorite guitar player of all time." And scores of others sought to decipher the secrets behind Mr. Reed's rocket-fueled licks. As Guitar Town struggled to catch up, Mr. Reed notched another No. 1 hit with "She Got The Goldmine (I Got The Shaft)" and a No. 2. effort with "The Bird," in which Mr. Reed displayed his spot-on impressions of Willie Nelson and George Jones.

And, in terms of chart runs and guitar innovation, that was it. Mr. Reed had no Top 20 hits after 1983, and his triumphs following that were limited to live performance and movie roles. But the sound he got out of his guitar in the years between 1967 and 1983 is an influence that is more than temporary, more than a wisp of smoke.

"Like Django (Reinhardt), Chet and a few others, Jerry Reed created a unique style of guitar playing, one which will be carried on by admirers for generations to come," said esteemed musician David Hungate. Scholar John Knowles told Thomas Goldsmith, "His playing has the complexity of classical music but the rhythmic sense that comes from country, rock and gospel."

There were plenty who never knew of Mr. Reed as anything more than "The Snowman," or as the coach in The Waterboy. He was funny, and an entertainer, and in terms of movie-making that was enough. Yet Mr. Reed was also one of the most compellingly original guitarists of all time. He fully understood that most of the general public didn't know that, and he fully understood that many session guitarists not only understood it but attempted to replicate his feel and technique. And he was fine with all of that.

"Every dream I ever dreamed came true in my life," he told interviewer Calvin Gilbert in 2005. "I got to write hit songs. And I got to be on phonograph records. I'm a cotton mill boy, and I got to go to Hollywood. Can you imagine that? Why, yeah, my goodness gracious. Go figure."

Love can touch us one time and last for a lifetime and never let go till we're gone.

Ronnie Drew

2008-08-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

Ronnie Drew
Singer with the Dubliners whose distinctive vocals became the hallmark of Seven Drunken Nights and other hits

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2575471/Ronnie-Drew.html

Ronnie Drew, who died on Saturday aged 73, was a founder member of the Dubliners, the popular and influential Irish traditional music group.

The Dubliners achieved fame and notoriety as singers of street ballads and bawdy songs, and as players of fine instrumental traditional music. Their emergence coincided with the British folk revival of the early 1960s, and they were one of the first folk bands to break into the pop charts.

In Ireland their closest rivals were the Clancy Brothers. The American roots music magazine Dirty Linen described the difference between the two groups as follows: "Whereas the Clancys were well-scrubbed returned Yanks from rural Tipperary, decked out in matching white Arran sweaters, the Dubliners were hard-drinking backstreet Dublin scrappers with unkempt hair and bushy beards, whose gigs seemed to happen by accident between fist fights."

There was more to the Dubliners, however, than a colourful image. Reviewing their 1971 album Hometown in this newspaper, Maurice Rosenbaum wrote: "[They] have consistently held their position in the upper brackets of the folk league by virtue of their art, their skill and their folk integrity - in other words the kind of 'professionalism' that is superbly worthwhile."

Drew's distinctive voice has been compared to a rickety bass and a cement mixer. Influenced by Dominic Behan, he sang in an uncompromising Dublin accent, and this was central to the group's success in attracting a strong hometown following

The Dubliners' popularity quickly spread beyond Ireland, and they enjoyed success in North America and continental Europe as well as in Australia and New Zealand.

Ronnie Drew was born at Dún Laoghaire on September 16 1934 and was educated by the Christian Brothers. On leaving school at 17 he was apprenticed to an electrician, and later worked as a draper's assistant, vacuum cleaner salesman and night telephonist. In 1955 he went to Spain to teach English, taking the opportunity to learn to play flamenco guitar.

Returning to Ireland, Drew began singing in stage shows at the Gate Theatre and was joined by Barney McKenna on tenor banjo. Drew and McKenna hosted informal sessions in a Dublin pub, and with Luke Kelly (vocals and five-string banjo) formed the nucleus of the Dubliners. The original line-up was completed by the arrival of John Sheehan (fiddle) and Ciaran Bourke (vocals and tin whistle).

Initially known as the Ronnie Drew Group, they adopted the name the Dubliners after the book by James Joyce. They had their first chart hit in 1967 with Seven Drunken Nights, sung by Drew, who got the song from the renowned sean-nós singer, Seosamh Ó hÉanaigh. When it was released it was banned by Radio Éireann - Ó hÉanaigh's version in Gaelic incurred no sanction.

The pirate station Radio Caroline plugged the record relentlessly, helping to propel it into the Top Ten, and the Dubliners were invited to appear on Top of The Pops.

On the record Drew sang of only five nights, claiming that he would be jailed were he to sing the song in full. This was all grist to the publicity mill, and paved the way for the Dubliners' second chart hit, Black Velvet Band, with Luke Kelly on vocals.

On St Patrick's Day 1968 they launched their first American tour with an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. In 1969 they topped the bill in a "pop prom" at the Royal Albert Hall, supported by the Ian Campbell Folk Group, Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick, and the Young Tradition.

The Dubliners went from strength to strength, but in the 1980s two of the original members, Luke Kelly and Ciaran Bourke, died. The group recovered from the blow, joining forces with the Pogues in 1988 to record a rousing version of The Irish Rover, featuring Drew and Shane McGowan on vocals; it became a hit.

Drew had left the Dubliners in 1974 to pursue a solo career, but returned 10 years later and finally departed for good in 1996. As a solo artist he devised a show, Ronnie I Hardly Knew Ya, and, accompanied by Mike Hanrahan on guitar, performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1998. He later took the show to the United States, Denmark, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Israel.

The show, a mixture of song and story, was based on the writings of Brendan Behan, James Joyce, Patrick Kavanagh, Louis McNeice and Sean O'Casey as well as on Drew's experience of Dublin and its many characters.

Drew enjoyed acting, and in the 1960s appeared in a series of ballad shows and entertainments. In the 1970s he had parts in Richard's Cork Leg, by Brendan Behan, which was staged at the Royal Court, and in the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

He was a keen horseman and rode at every available opportunity. Two of his horses carried off prizes at the Dublin Horse Show, and his horsemanship was further acknowledged when he was made an honorary member of the mounted section of the New York Police Department. Dublin honoured him in 2006 when he was chosen to be Grand Marshal of the city's St Patrick's Day parade.

Drew saw himself as a journeyman singer, refusing to be tied to one particular genre. Accordingly he collaborated with artists such as Antonio Breschi, Rory Gallagher and Jah Wobble. For his 1995 album Dirty Rotten Shame he recorded songs specially written for him by Bono, Elvis Costello and Shane McGowan.

His album with Eleanor Shanley, El Amor de mi Vida (2006), features songs by Nick Cave, Neil Young and Tom Waits. Drew particularly enjoyed his duet with Shanley on The Good Old Days, by Eels: "It's saying 'everything's not perfect, but we'll get on with it'. We're not all Sharon Stone and George Clooney. We're not all millionaires. Life isn't like that. It's a reminder that life can be good, if you make the effort."

Last year he released Pearls, an album with Grand Canal.

Drew had been suffering from throat cancer, and earlier this year a group of musicians, including Bono, Christy Moore, Shane MacGowan and Sinead O'Connor, released The Ballad of Ronnie Drew, with all profits from the single going to the Irish Cancer Society.

Ronnie Drew married, in 1963, Deirdre McCartan, who died last year; they had a son and a daughter.

Erik Darling

2008-08-05T12:16:00.000-07:00

Erik Darling passed away on August 4th in Chapel Hill, NC from
lymphoma. Erik was 74.

Artie Traum, 65, Stalwart of ’60s Folk Music Scene, Is Dead

2008-07-22T12:35:00.000-07:00

Artie Traum, 65, Stalwart of '60s Folk Music Scene, Is Dead
By JON PARELES
Published: July 22, 2008
Artie Traum, a guitarist, songwriter and producer who helped carry the spirit of the 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene to Woodstock, N.Y., died on Sunday. He was 65 and lived in Bearsville, N.Y., near Woodstock. He recorded albums and film scores.
His brother, the musician Happy Traum, who sometimes performed with him, said the cause was liver cancer.
In a long and varied career, Mr. Traum played folk music and smooth jazz; recorded 10 albums of his own and four with his brother; produced albums; composed film scores; created guitar-instruction books and videos; teamed with his brother for a radio program; and made a documentary film about the Catskill water system.
Mr. Traum, who was born and reared in the Bronx, became a regular visitor to Greenwich Village clubs in the 1960s, hearing blues, folk music and jazz. Soon he was performing there, too. He made his first recording in 1963 as a member of the True Endeavor Jug Band, founded by the blues scholar Sam Charters. He worked with Eric Kaz and the group Bear on the score for Brian de Palma's 1968 film "Greetings."
In the late 1960s, Artie followed Happy to Woodstock, and they began working as a duo. In 1969 the Traums performed at the Newport Folk Festival and released their first studio album. Managed by Albert Grossman, whose other clients included Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul and Mary, the Traums toured worldwide. They released additional duo albums in 1971 and 1975, reunited as a duo for a 1994 album, "The Test of Time" (Roaring Stream), and continued to play concerts together.
Mr. Traum's first solo album, "Life on Earth," was released by Rounder Records in 1977.
In Woodstock during the 1970s and '80s, Mr. Traum was a member and producer for the Woodstock Mountains Revue, a gathering of upstate folk musicians and singer-songwriters that also included John Sebastian; it made five albums for Rounder Records, with guests including Paul Butterfield, Eric Andersen and Maria Muldaur. "He was a real instigator, of bringing people together from various styles," said Happy Traum, "and melding them into a conglomerate that became something totally different."
One member of the Revue was the songwriter Pat Alger, with whom Mr. Traum made a 1980 duo album, "From the Heart." (Mr. Alger later moved to Nashville and wrote hits for Garth Brooks and others.) Mr. Traum was married in 1981; his wife, Beverly, survives him, along with Happy Traum.
The Traum brothers were the hosts of a 1988 public-radio show for WAMC in Albany, "Bring It On Home," which presented live folk-rooted performers like Richard Thompson, Molly Mason and, from the Band, Rick Danko and Garth Hudson. The programs became the basis of a pair of compilations by the same title released by the Sony Legacy label in 1994.
Mr. Traum was a producer on albums by Happy Traum, Livingston Taylor and the bassist Tony Levin, among others. He also wrote guitar-instruction books and demonstrated his techniques on instructional videos released by Happy Traum's company Homespun Tapes.
In the 1990s, Mr. Traum decisively reworked his guitar style, delving into jazz and making instrumental albums. His 1999 album "Meetings With Remarkable Friends" (Narada) included collaborations with Béla Fleck, members of the Band, Mr. Sebastian and others.
After another instrumental album, "The Last Romantic" (Narada) in 2001, Mr. Traum returned to songs with words for his album "South of Lafayette" in 2002 and his 2007 album, "Thief of Time," both on Roaring Stream.
Mr. Traum was one of the producers and directors for the 2002 documentary "Deep Water: Building the Catskill Water System." And he collaborated with Chris Shaw and the fly fisherman and musician Tom Akstens, as the group Big Trout Radio, for the 2003 album "Songs About Fishing" (Twining Tree).
"I like it all and enjoy wearing different hats on different days," he told the online magazine Guitar Sam.

Michael Dmoch’s “Mooseherd”

2008-07-21T05:42:00.000-07:00

Bob Diddley dies at 79

2008-06-02T12:52:00.001-07:00

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Bo Diddley, a founding father of rock 'n' roll whose distinctive "shave and a haircut, two bits" rhythm and innovative guitar effects inspired legions of other musicians, died today after months of ill health. He was 79.
Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Fla., spokeswoman Susan Clary said. He had suffered a heart attack in August, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak, and he had returned to Florida to continue rehabilitation.
The legendary singer and performer, known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat, was an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, had a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, and received a lifetime achievement award in 1999 at the Grammy Awards. In recent years he also played for former presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Diddley appreciated the honors he received, "but it didn't put no figures in my checkbook." "If you ain't got no money, ain't nobody calls you honey," he quipped.

The name Bo Diddley came from other youngsters when he was growing up in Chicago, he said in a 1999 interview. "I don't know where the kids got it, but the kids in grammar school gave me that name," he said, adding that he liked it so it became his stage name. Other times, he gave somewhat differing stories on where he got the name. Some experts believe a possible source for the name is a one-string instrument used in traditional blues music called a diddley bow.

His first single, "Bo Diddley," introduced record buyers in 1955 to his signature rhythm: bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp, often summarized as "shave and a haircut, two bits." The B side, "I'm a Man," with its slightly humorous take on macho pride, also became a rock standard.

The company that issued his early songs was Chess-Checkers records, the storied Chicago-based labels that also recorded Chuck Berry and other stars.

Howard Kramer, assistant curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, said in 2006 that Diddley's Chess recordings "stand among the best singular recordings of the 20th century." Diddley's other major songs included, "Say Man," ''You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover," ''Shave and a Haircut," ''Uncle John," ''Who Do You Love?" and "The Mule."

Diddley's influence was felt on both sides of the Atlantic. Buddy Holly borrowed the bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp rhythm for his song "Not Fade Away."
The Rolling Stones' bluesy remake of that Holly song gave them their first chart single in the United States, in 1964. The following year, another British band, the Yardbirds, had a Top 20 hit in the United States with their version of "I'm a Man."

Diddley was also one of the pioneers of the electric guitar, adding reverb and tremelo effects. He even rigged some of his guitars himself. "He treats it like it was a drum, very rhythmic," E. Michael Harrington, professor of music theory and composition at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., said in 2006.

Many other artists, including the Who, Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello copied aspects of Diddley's style. Growing up, Diddley said he had no musical idols, and he wasn't entirely pleased that others drew on his innovations. "I don't like to copy anybody. Everybody tries to do what I do, update it," he said. "I don't have any idols I copied after." "They copied everything I did, upgraded it, messed it up. It seems to me that nobody can come up with their own thing, they have to put a little bit of Bo Diddley there," he said.

Despite his success, Diddley claimed he only received a small portion of the money he made during his career. Partly as a result, he continued to tour and record music until his stroke. Between tours, he made his home near Gainesville in north Florida.

"Seventy ain't nothing but a damn number," he told the Associated Press in 1999. "I'm writing and creating new stuff and putting together new different things. Trying to stay out there and roll with the punches. I ain't quit yet." Diddley, like other artists of his generations, was paid a flat fee for his recordings and said he received no royalty payments on record sales. He also said he was never paid for many of his performances. "I am owed. I've never got paid," he said. "A dude with a pencil is worse than a cat with a machine gun."

In the early 1950s, Diddley said, disc jockeys called his type of music, "Jungle Music." It was Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed who is credited with inventing the term "rock 'n' roll." Diddley said Freed was talking about him, when he introduced him, saying, "Here is a man with an original sound, who is going to rock and roll you right out of your seat."

Diddley won attention from a new generation in 1989 when he took part in the "Bo Knows" ad campaign for Nike, built around football and baseball star Bo Jackson. Commenting on Jackson's guitar skills, Diddley turned to the camera and said, "He don't know Diddley." "I never could figure out what it had to do with shoes, but it worked," Diddley said. "I got into a lot of new front rooms on the tube."

Born as Ellas Bates on Dec. 30, 1928, in McComb, Miss., Diddley was later adopted by his mother's cousin and took on the name Ellis McDaniel, which his wife always called him. When he was 5, his family moved to Chicago, where he learned the violin at the Ebenezer Baptist Church. He learned guitar at 10 and entertained passersby on street corners.

By his early teens, Diddley was playing Chicago's Maxwell Street. "I came out of school and made something out of myself. I am known all over the globe, all over the world. There are guys who have done a lot of things that don't have the same impact that I had," he said.

David Gahr, 1922-2008

2008-05-29T06:05:00.000-07:00

Fwd: David Gahr, 1922-2008

From Henry Sapoznik via Mark Moss at Sing Out:

Pioneering folk music photographer, irascible wag, and all around mentsh, David Gahr died yesterday in his Brooklyn, New York home after several months of steadily deteriorating health. He was 86. Gahr was one of the first photographers to document the burgeoning folk music scene in the 1960s with work regularly appearing on album covers, in music magazines, documentary films and books. (His 1968 anthology "The Face of Folk Music" -- with essays by Robert Shelton -- is a stunning panorama of over 500 photos of the who's who of American folk music still unmatched in its scope.)

His photo sessions -- a seamless stream of high voltage shouted profanity with teeth clenched around his ubiquitous cigar -- consistently produced lyrical and insightfully breathtaking portraits. David's fearless disdain of the physical distance between himself and his many, many subjects -- Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Mississippi John Hurt, the New Lost City Ramblers, Bruce Springsteen, Roscoe Halcomb, Miles Davis, John Lennon, Eck Robertson, Pete Seeger, Bill Monroe, (oh, yes: and me, too) just to name a very few -- coupled with his brilliant use of natural light produced pictures of powerful nuance and intimacy whether posed or candid. It is impossible to think about America's popular and folk music of the last half century without having a Dave Gahr picture in your mind.

Utah Phillips

2008-05-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

Utah Phillips just passed. I met him many years ago when he did a benefit for Sing Out at the Bardovan, sponsored by the Hudson Valley Folk Guild. A bear of a man, a legend in more than his own mind. I remember his jumbo Guild guitar - incredible - never seen another just like it. And doubt if there will be another one of him. "Daddy what's a train?" - Bob

From Mark Rust

Utah Phillips died Friday night. He was 73. He was a great singer & activist, and I'm sure some of you, like me, learned to play guitar by learning his songs. Here's a link to a California newspaper on his passing.

So long Utah.

"...it's good though..."

http://origin.mercurynews.com/news/ci_9373739

Yours,
Mark Rust
(845)679-8213
markrust@markrust.com

Those that have passed on-

2006-12-17T12:50:00.000-08:00

Eric Levine
I'm very sorry to hear of Eric Levine's passing. Eric was an old friend of mine - taught me the melody to Abe Sammon's Applejack which had been collected in High Falls by his grandfather Norman Studer, the famous educator and Camp Woodland director. Eric too was an authentic folk singer -hadn't heard him in a long time, but he used to play a great 12 string guitar. - Bob

From "Stephen & Marilyn Suffet"
Greetings! This is an early heads-up for an event that is two months away, the EighthAnnual Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash in New York City. We are dedicating it to the memory of our dear friend, comrade, and fellow MacDougal Street Rent Party member Eric Levine. As you already know, Eric passed away last week atthe age of 51. He had performed in all seven of the previous Woody GuthrieBirthday Bashes, and he was planning to do this coming one as well. He had even picked out the songs he was going to perform: Pastures of Plenty, Hobo's Lullaby, and a parody of I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night which he called I Dreamed I Saw Woody Guthrie Last Night. Unfortunately, Eric took that last song with him, so we can only guess what it said.
We know Eric will be with us in spirit if not in flesh, and we welcome you to join us in honoring his memory along with celebrating what would have been Woody Guthrie's 96th birthday.
Here are the details:
Eighth Annual Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash Round Robin Songfest Sunday . July 13, 20087:00 to 9:30 PM
Featuring...MacDougal Street Rent Party (Joel Landy . Anne Price . Steve Suffet . GinaTlamsa)
Also featuring...Hillel Arnold . Jessica Feinbloom . Emma Graves plus Carlos Vazquez on the bass
Bowery Poetry Club308 Bowery . New York CityBetween Houston & Bleecker Streets $6 cover + one drink minimum.
The site is supposedly wheelchair accessible -- Eric would never have played there if it weren't -- but like most places it could be better. Ifyou have any questions, please call 212-614-0505 for information.
Be there!--- Steve
Posted by Bob Lusk at 7:27 PM
Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Bob Norman, former SO! Editor, Passes
I considered Bob to be a good friend even though I rarely saw him. I'm shocked and saddened by his passing.
From Mark Moss at Sing Out! Magazine - Bob Norman, who edited Sing Out! from 1970 to 1977, died on Sunday, May 4th, after a long battle with prostate cancer. A songwriter and singer, Bob had 4 recordings to his credit and a 30+ year career touring and sharing his music. His gentle and relaxed demeanor belied the passion he maintained for his family and friends, as well as the broader world around us ... always a central focus of his life's work and mission. Bob was already editing Sing Out! when I first met him and began my involvement with the magazine (back in the summer of 1970). I know that wasn't the most popular period for Sing Out! (or folk music), but the stew of traditional music with politics that was emblematic of his tenure at Sing Out! was a real inspiration for me, and his friendship and guidance through the years, including nearly ten years serving on the Sing Out! board for the first phase of my tenure here, was indisputably one of my true guiding forces in helping to retool what we do here. It's safe to say that without Bob's steady hand, bridging the "old" Sing Out! and the "new" one, I simply would not have been able to learn on the job or have kept things going. He was a great friend to me, to Sing Out! and to folk music. I'll miss him.

Below is the official obit from the family:
Robert Stephen Norman, 61, of Lawrenceville died on Sunday at his home of metastatic prostate cancer.Born in New London, CT, he was a Lawrenceville resident since 1994 after living in New York City for 30 years. Bob graduated form Columbia University in 1969 with a degree in English Literature Bob had been a copy editor for Business Week Magazine for twenty years, but his passion and true vocation was music. He was a well-known singer/songwriter folksinger locally and across the country for over 30 years. From 1970 to 1977, he was editor-in-chief of Sing Out!, and was on its board until 1990. His CD titles include: Romantic Nights on the Upper Westside; To the Core; Love, Lust, and Lilacs; and Time Takin' Man. His music fused varied influences of blues, country, contemporary folk, and classical guitar writing about topics ranging from the streets of New York to local life in Lawrenceville.Son of the late Victor and Francis (Sharaf) Norman and brother of the late Jon Norman, he is survived by his wife Clara Haignere, his son Samuel Norman-Haignere, his nephew Daniel Norman, and his nieces: Forest Cattich and Martina Norman Botinelli.Funeral services will be held on Wednesday at 11 AM at Poulson & Van Hise Funeral Directors, 650 Lawrence Road, Lawrenceville. Burial will be in the Lawrenceville Cemetery.
The family extends an invitation to friends to come to their home at K18 Shirley Lane, Lawrenceville after the burial. A memorial service will be held on May 17th at a time and place to be determined. In lieu of flowers, please tax-deductible donations can be made to Sing Out! Magazine (P.O. Box 5460 Bethlehem PA 18015) or to the Westminster Conservatory Young Artist's Program. Check should include a note that it is for the Young Artist's Program in Memory of Bob Norman to Westminster Conservatory, Attn Sandra Franc, 101 Walnut Lane, Princeton NJ 08540.

John Stewart

From Bob Horan

Folk singer/songwriter John Stewart has died. He apparently had a massive stroke yesterday; he was 68 years old. He replaced Dave Guard of the Kingston Trio in the early 60's. His biggest pop success came when he wrote "Daydream Believer" which was recorded by the Monkies later in that decade. John wrote big songs about little people and made every day folk come alive in his songs. He wrote "Americana" before the musical category was coined. He was and is a big influence on me. I will miss him.

"..only once around and they nail the top down on the long wooden box in the ground. Only once around you know all that I've found is right here in my own hometown.." - from You Long To See Cheyenne By John Stewart

Ron Osenenko -Woodstock Music Store
I have posted too many obituaries here in the past few years. This one is a personal shock. I considered Ron to be a good friend. I loved hanging out at his store and chatting. He recently showed up at my Phil Ochs performance at the Colony Cafe. It was the first time he had heard me perform and he was very enthusiastic. He took some great pictures of me that night. He was the kind of store owner you love to buy things from because you really believed he tried to give you a good deal. I say that as someone who grew up in retail.I'm in shock. I will post more details when I hear about them. Bob

Driver dies after crash on Route 28By Kyle Wind, Freeman staff12/28/2007WEST HURLEY - A co-owner of the Woodstock Music Shop and brother of the Middletown Times Herald-Record Executive Editor Derek Osenenko died after a one-car crash on state Route 28 Wednesday evening.State police at Ulster said that at about 7:30 p.m., Ronald J. Osenenko, 58, of Woodstock, lost control of his car while eastbound on Route 28, drove through a snow bank, struck and drove through a wire fence, and collided with a small tree.Osenenko was taken to the Benedictine Hospital where he was pronounced dead.Police said the autopsy, which was performed Thursday afternoon, indicated Osenenko lost control of his vehicle due to "medical reasons," but specific results of the autopsy were not immediately available.No other cars were involved in the accident, police said, and no other injuries were reported."

He was a great guy, he had a great sense of humor, and he loved this town," said Derek Osenenko, who co-owned the Woodstock Music Shop on Rock City Road with his brother since Ronald Osenenko moved back to the Hudson Valley in 2003.According to his brother, Ronald Osenenko ended a 25-year career in marketing when he moved to Woodstock from South Florida. Prior to pursuing opportunities in Florida, he worked for Citicorp in New York City and Texas Gulf in Stanford.He moved back to the region to be closer to his brother and sister-in-law Joanne and to return to his lifelong love of music. Osenenko played the guitar since his early teens, his brother said. The Woodstock Music Shop specializes in unique string and percussion instruments, accessories, and vintage vinyl LP records. "People came (to the Woodstock Music Shop) to play, chat, listen, and share stories," said Derek Osenenko, who described himself as "more of a listener than a player" and "not nearly the musician my brother was.

"In a statement by Derek Osenenko on the shop's Web site, he said his brother should be remembered "for his love of music and his musicianship."While his family in the area is small, Derek Osenenko said his brother will be missed by numerous friends he made since returning to the Hudson Valley and patrons of the music shop. And he will, of course, miss his brother too."There is emptiness now I've never felt before," Osenenko wrote in the statement on the shop's Web site. "I could not have had a better brother."Born in Queens, Osenenko "spent the first half of his life in New York City," according to his brother, and he graduated from Long Island University with a bachelor's degree in psychology. According to obituary information provided by the Lasher Funeral Home, he spent many years honing his photography and graphic design as well, and Osenenko was described as "a skilled, creative photographer and a fervent reader, largely of books on architecture, photography, and music."

Private funeral services will be held Monday, followed by burial at the Woodstock Cemetery, according to the funeral home.©Daily Freeman 2007

Dan Fogelberg
From Drew Ferraro

I don't know if any of you are aware, or care, but I thought I would pass around the word that another hero has moved on.

Dan Fogelberg died Sunday morning at 6:00 at his home in Maine. He was 56.

There are a lot of heros we all have; some matter to us more than others. I remember the moment I heard that John Denver had died. Shock is all I remember.

Even though I knew that Dan discovered that he had advanced prostate cancer in May of 2004, I always wondered...... more so in the past day or two, if he would make it. Still, it is a shock.

Amongst the things he said recently, was to stop being afraid to have yourself checked by your doctor. In his case, he referred to a prostate exam, but it refers to all of us, man or woman: Don't neglect your health, do the right thing, whatever it is; fear won't save you. Action will.

To a slightly different twist, I happed upon one of his lyrics that I know I heard before but forgot to listen:

"Death is there to keep us honest / And constantly remind us we are free".

But he was, apparently known -recently- for saying something else that hit home too:
"You've got to just follow your heart and do your best work … There is no doubt in my mind or heart that everything I've done is exactly what I intended to do."

Value your heros, there are things that we can learn and emulate.
But do not worship them - if you worship them, you will miss out on becoming a hero
to yourself.

Be good to yourselves.
The future really is now.
All we have.....is now.
And then it is gone.......

Peace,
Stay in Tune,
~ Andy/Drew

Jackie Alper
From the Sing Out list- Jackie Alper, 86, social activist and long running host of Mostly Folk onWRPI 91.1, Troy, NY died last Thursday, September 6, 2007.She will be missed.http://timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=620972

Tommy Makem
Tommy Makem passed away on Wednesday after a long battle with lung cancer. He was 74. Fans of folk music will always remember Tommy as the bard who helped introduced Irish folk music to a wider audience. Tommy performed for the better part of five decades, and his legacy will continue on through his sons as well as the numerous musicians that he inspired.
Posted by Bob Lusk at 9:41 AM
Sunday, July 29, 2007

Andy McGann

July 12, 2007 Tribute to Andy McGannFrom:Brian ConwayAlbum in Tribute to Andy McGann A Tribute to Andy McGann is a new CD from Joe Burke,Brian Conway and Felix Dolan in tribute to New Yorkfiddler, the late Andy McGann. Andy McGann was born and raised in New York to Sligoparents and became one of the key figures intraditional Irish music in the US. He grew up in acommunity that was loyal to the Sligo-American styleof music that had been established in the US ageneration earlier by immigrants from Sligo includingMichael Coleman and James Morrison. Andy beganplaying the fiddle at the age of seven and was tutoredby Michael Coleman, a family friend, and he playedwith him many times until Coleman's death in 1945.McGann's playing was beautifully sweet without beingsaccharine, deeply expressive and elegant, and it is astyle than many young musicians have tried to emulate.He would eventually become the standard-bearer of theSligo-American style made famous by Coleman and,indeed, pass the tradition on to other playersincluding his protégé Brian Conway.

In 1965 Andy McGann together with two good friends andmusicians, Joe Burke and Felix Dolan, recorded thealbum A Tribute to Michael Coleman. More than fortyyears later, on 1 April 2006 in the Irish AmericanHeritage Center in Chicago, Joe Burke, Felix Dolan andBrian Conway performed together in a concert titled 'ATribute to Andy McGann', honouring a great musicianand friend who had passed away in 2004. It was entirely appropriate that the two musicians who hadplayed with Andy on the landmark Coleman album shouldhave chosen Brian Conway, Andy's protégé, to play withthem on this occasion. Four tracks recorded live at that concert are included on A Tribute to Andy McGann together with several other tracks chosen to commemorate and celebrate the life of Andy McGann andto represent the Sligo-American style.The CD booklet includes extensive notes on Andy McGannand on the three musicians on the album. A Tribute toAndy McGann is available in music shops and from http://www.cic.ie/

The CD will be launched at the Willie Clancy festivalin Miltown Malbay on 8 July. The Traditional Festivaltaking place as part of the annual Catskills Irish Arts Week in East Durham, New York, is dedicated tothe memory of Andy McGann this year and the CD will be launched there on 21 July. Further information fromhttp://www.east-durham.org/The Musicians Joe Burke is a master box player from east Galway anda long-time friend and musical colleague of AndyMcGann. Felix Dolan is from New York and ranks as theleading Irish-American piano accompanist. BrianConway is a fiddler from New York and is the leading player in the Sligo-American style.

Gary Emmons -Cracker Box Music 1958-2007
Hi Folks, I don't know if you all knew Gary who ran craker box music, a little instrument repair shop on route to Newburgh. He was a great guy and a fine luthier and unfortunately recently died. See notice below. -Mira
We have received several notices regarding the untimely death of Gary Emmons. This following is from Mary DeBerry:
Gary Emmons, 49, died Thursday, May 31, 2007.
Gary is survived by his loving wife, Nancy Mary Emmons; his parents, Guy and Glenda Emmons of Walden; his sister, Penny Marcucci; and his former brother-in-law, Mario Marcucci of Palm Bay, Fla.
Gary was the owner and operator of Cracker Box Music in Cronomer Valley, Newburgh, and was an area resident since 1959. Gary was born in Winchester, Va., on May 26, 1958. He was a graduate of Wallkill High School, class of 1976, and was a self-taught luthier, a craft for which he gained world renown and acclaim.
To those who knew Gary, he ran a repair shop for mostly wood instruments. He had entered his 25th year in his business. He also worked prior for steinberger guitars in Newburgh (they made headless bass's and guitars) .
He died from a aneurysm.
We are organizing a memorial service so people can chat and play music. I will keep you posted.
If anyone needs to get in touch with anything about the store, contact me and I'll get you in touch with who is handling things.
Mary DeBerrythirdstone@usadatanet.net

Roscoe "Rocky" Maxim
I sang with Jim Donnelly at Rocky Maxim's funeral last night. Rocky was a great guy, he and his wife Margaret were our biggest fans. He loved Irish music and would go out of his way to hear it whenever he could. He especially liked the Jimmy Walsh band.I played an evening of anti-war songs some years ago with Melissa Ortquist at the Canal House on Veteran's Day. Rocky, a Navy Vet of WWII came and although I'm sure his politics were very different than mine, sat and enjoyed the show. He will be missed.

Mark Spoelstra

From Mark Spoelstra's son Joshua:

Dear Friends,Today my father passed away here in his lovely but modest home in the Sierra Foothills of California. There was snow on the ground and we could see the trees which surround the house like sentinels sway with the force of another approaching storm. We held him as he left us and I know he had no fear and felt no pain, and even though his life was cut short he found the strength to remind each of us that he loved us. I will miss him greatly.

Regretfully, Joshua Spoelstra

Eric Von Schmidt
From: Suffet@worldnet.att.netTo: peoplesmusic@yahoogroups.comSent: Fri, 2 Feb 2007 5:30 PMSubject: [peoplesmusic] RIP: Eric Von SchmidtGreetings:More sad news: Eric Von Schmidt, the great blues and folk singer and guitarist from Cambridge, Massachusetts, died in his sleep last night, February 1, 2007. I have no further details at this time. It is nearly impossible to overstate the importance of the role Eric Von Schmidt played in the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s. Brother Eric sits among us in our souls. May he rest in peace.--- Steve

Margaret McArthur

Just saw a post on the People's Music network newsletter from Steve Suffet regarding Margaret McArthur, wonderful Vermont Ballad singer, who passes away recently. I went to a workshop of hers at Old Songs Festival a few years ago. She was a wonderful person and did a lot to promote regional and historic folk music

Herbert Haufrecht, 88, Pianist, Composer, Folklorist and Editor
By ALLAN KOZINN
Published: July 3, 1998
Herbert Haufrecht, a composer, pianist, folklorist and music editor, died on June 23 at the Albany Medical Center. He was 88 and lived in Shady, N.Y.

Mr. Haufrecht was born in New York City and studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where his teachers included the composers Herbert Elwell and Quincy Porter, and at the Juilliard School, where he studied composition with Rubin Goldmark. He also studied piano with Severin Eisenberger and chamber music with Arthur Loesser.

Soon after he completed his studies, he was hired as a field representative in West Virginia for the Resettlement Administration of the Federal Department of Agriculture. During his four years there, he collected folk songs and stories, organized square dances and began an oral history project that occupied him for nearly four decades.

He developed educational materials based on folk music and wrote several publications, including ''Folk Songs in Settings by Master Composers'' (1970) and ''Folk Songs of the Catskills'' (1982), a three-volume work on which he collaborated with Norman Cazden and Norman Studer.

When he returned to New York in 1939, Mr. Haufrecht became a staff composer and arranger for the Federal Theater and composed incidental scores for several plays. He also organized an annual Folk Festival of the Catskills, in Phoenicia, N.Y., in 1940 and composed several stage works for it, including a musical theater work, ''We've Come From the City,'' and a folk opera, ''Boney Quillen.'' He worked with several folk singers, including Pete Seeger, Burl Ives, the Weavers and, in the 1960's, Judy Collins.

Mr. Haufrecht's symphonic music reflected his folk interests, as well as an interest in jazz. Among his works are a set of ''Fantastic Marches,'' which were given their premiere by Leopold Stokowski on an NBC Symphony broadcast in 1939; a Symphony for Brass and Timpani; ''Blues and Fugue'' for viola; two string quartets, and several children's works. His final work was a setting of Mark Twain's ''War Prayer,'' which had its premiere in Kingston, N.Y., in 1995.
He is survived by his wife, Betty; two daughters, Marsha Haufrecht and Joy Lugo; a son, William Robert Haufrecht, and two grandchildren.

NORMAN STUDER
Norman Studer (1902-1978), educator, folk enthusiast, poet, and humanist, was the founder and, for all of its twenty-four years, educational director of Camp Woodland. Inspired by the ideals of progressive education, the camp was unique for introducing young people to local Catskill culture through folklore and for its integration of African-American youngsters. Born on a farm in Ohio, Studer came east as a young man spurred by his desire for knowledge and curiosity about varied cultures. At Columbia University, he studied with educational philosopher John Dewey. In 1933, he became a teacher at the "Little Red Schoolhouse" in Manhattan and went on to become director of the Downtown Community School. Norman Studer’s philosophy of education and humanitarian values made an indelible imprint on countless educators, students, and campers.

Studer was the author of many articles on the tradition bearers of the Catskills, which he researched with Herbert Haufrecht, Norman Cazden, and scores of counselors and young campers from 1939 to 1962. Some of Studer’s articles appeared in the New York Folklore Quarterly, and some later reappeared in the book I Walk the Road Again: Great Stories from the Catskill Region, edited by Janis Benincasa and published by Purple Mountain Press. He was a coauthor of Folk Songs of the Catskills. He also wrote A Catskill Woodsman: Mike Todd’s Story, and a narrative poem about Mike Todd called All My Homespun Days, which was released by Smithsonian Folkways Records.