I was born in 1951 right smack dab in the middle of the American Folk Revival. This revival started in the 1940s and ran through the 1960s. It brought rural white and African-African American musicians to audiences everywhere. White artists include: Pete Seeger, Doc Watson, Jean Redpath. While African American artist included Leadbelly, as well as Mississppi John Hurt, Odetta, Elizabeth Cotton and Josh White. I wasn’t around for the 1940s and not listening too much music in the 50s.
In the early 1960s I was listening to The Beatles, Stones and the other British invasion bands. Then for several years I was listening to a lot of Motown until the late 1960s. As my world became more political, as a result of the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War, the music I listened to became more folkie. I listened to more and more Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton.
But I’m sure in the years between 1962 and 1967 I was aware of the folk groups that were making it big. One of the ways America was discovering Folk Music was through TV where shows like Hootenanny were on the air….
Hootennnay Showcases Folksingers…..
Hootenanny was a musical variety show that aired on ABC from April 1963 to September 1964. Here’s a little bit about the show from Wikipedia……
By the time Hootenanny concluded its first 13 weeks, a craze had been born. A front-page Variety story noted that “the big demand for the folk performers in virtually all areas of show biz (records, concerts, college dates, TV, pix) is stimulating a new folk form that can appeal to a mass audience. writers now contributing to the new-styled folk song are Bob Dylan, Mike Settle, Tom Paxton, Shel Silverstein, Bob Gibson, Malvina Reynolds, Oscar Brand, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie.”[13] MGM’s Sam Katzman produced Hootenanny Hoot, a motion picture featuring The Brothers Four, Johnny Cash, Judy Henske, Joe and Eddie, Cathie Taylor, The Gateway Trio and Sheb Wooley – all of whom did or would appear on Hootenanny.
Here;s one of the aforementioned groups The New Christy Ministrels performing their hit “Green, Green”
Renaissance Granddad adds to His Vinyl Record Collection
During 2023, as I started looking through old albums at Goodwills throughout Southern New Jersey, I decided I would add albums from the folksingers from the Folk Revival period. So far I’ve added albums from the likes Bob Gibson and Hamilton Camp, Flatt & Scruggs, and even Pete Drake and his talking guitar Additionally, I’ve added several Ian & Sylvia and Joan Baez albums Here are several from Oscar Brand and The Weavers that I’ve found…….
Oscar Brand takes a Humorous Walk on the Folk Song Wild Side
From Wikipedia>>>>
Oscar Brand (February 7, 1920 – September 30, 2016) was a Canadian-born American folk singer-songwriter, radio host, and author. In his career, spanning 70 years, he composed at least 300 songs and released nearly 100 albums, among them Canadian and American patriotic songs. Brand’s music ran the gamut from novelty songs to serious social commentary and spanned a number of genres.e hosted the radio show
Oscar Brand’s Folksong Festival on Saturdays at 10:00 p.m. on WNYC-AM 820 in New York City, which ran into its 70th year. The show ran more or less continuously from its debut on December 10, 1945[8] to September 2016,[9] making it the longest-running radio show with the same host, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Over its run it introduced such talents to the world as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie, Arlo Guthrie, Huddie Ledbetter, Joni Mitchell, Peter, Paul & Mary, Judy Collins, The Kingston Trio, Pete Seeger and the Weavers. In order to make sure that his radio program could not be censored he refused to be paid by WNYC for the next 70 years.
Bawdy Songs and Backroom Ballads was released in 1950. It contains folk songs Brand had been collecting for years. Here’s a description of the songs on Side one of the album!
RG adds The Kingston Trio and Chad Mitchell Trio to his Vinyl Collection
Finally, I’ve added a handful of Kingston Trio and Chad Mitchell Trio albums. When I buy Kingston Trio albums I always look for the ones released when John Stewart was a member of the trio (1961-1967). John had a fine solo career after leaving the group. His album Willard is one of my favorites
Here are the Kingston Trio albums I’ve added to my vinyl collection….
Basically, when I look for Chad Mitchell Trio albums, I look for ones, when John Denver was a member of the trio! Actually, the group was called The Mitchell Trio then because Chad had left the Trio. Oh, I also have one Chad Mitchell Trio album with Jim McGuinn was in the Trio. Before he became Roger McGuinn of The Byrds! You can listen to The Chad Mitchell Trio here.
The Chad Mitchell Trio was more political than The Kingston Trio. Here is one of their albums I picked up in 2023.
The title The Slightly Irreverent Mitchell Trio may have given the game away! The album includes two songs that are among my all time favorites. Tom Paxton’s “I Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound” and Phil Och’s “Draft Dodger Rag”. Both were recorded before Paxton and Ochs recorded them! It was daring stuff! Here’s
…..The version of “Draft Dodger Rag,” which appeared almost a year before composer Phil Ochs’ first release, is fantastic and sung with gusto. This was daring stuff indeed for 1964, and it shows that the Mitchell Trio were keeping tabs on new songwriters at the same time as they mined the traditional folk songbooks. Their beautiful cover of Tom Paxton’s “I Can’t Help But Wonder” also came out before the songwriter’s own debut album, and it’s one of the best cuts here. More at AllMusic
Final Note to Self……
Keep looking for Folk music released during the 1960s Folk Revival. Maybe you’ll find some Dave Van Ronk, Fred Neil, Eric Von Schmidt or some Pete Seeger! Until then you can always listen on Spotify.
And for you folks, here’s a Spotify playlist from the above mentioned folkies I’ll be searching for!
