Customer Reviews

Songs of the Lincoln Brigade

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I am only commenting on the 1st 12 songs in the album. Those were the original and only songs on the 33 RPM record released in the late 1940's or early 1950's.

The Lincoln and International Brigades fought in the Spanish civil war in the 1930's. The war was a lose-lose situation, the anti-fascists (mainly socialists or communists) on the one side fighting the fascists on the other side. The fascists won, thanks to the help of the Nazis who used the war to test their airpower and other weapons prior to World War II.

The Lincoln Brigade was made up of American volunteers who fought against the fascists. The International Bridages were made up of volunteers from other nations. Thus, the songs - the first 6 of which are in mainly in English, German and Spanish - have themes relating to freedom, liberty, comradery, army life, fighting, and so on.

It happens to be one of my favorite recordings which is why I am commenting on it. The enjoyment of the music is greatly enhanced by understanding German and/or Spanish. However, it is not necessary. The fact that the anti fascists lost and that the Lincoln Brigade was looked down on by American society, makes the music very poignant. The songs are the type that stir the emotion.

Ernst Bush sings the first 6 songs, the next 6 are sung by well-known folk artists, including Woodie Guthrie and Pete Seeger.

I was given the LP version of the Songs of the Lincoln Brigade as a 16th birthday present too many years ago to count. I grew up knowing friends of my parents who had fought in Spain and for whom the war was a vivid memory.

It should be remembered that the Spanish Civil War was viewed by many as a "rehearsal" for WWII and that the "bad guys" won it. For those with an interest in 20th Century history, and particularly in the conflict between fascism and socialism, the collection is well worth owning. I would also recommend George Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia" as a literary companion to the music. Be forewarned however, the disc has not been remastered and is as scratchy as the LP.

I, too, grew up with a copy of the original LP, cut, no doubt with serious emotional intent, in translucent red vinyl.One of the most interesting aspects of this recording is that it was recorded in between bomb blasts during the Battle of Barcelona in the Spanish Civil War. That explains the soundtrack jiggles.

Of the 12 international songs, one of the most interesting and most poignant is The Peat Bog Soldiers. That song was written by a prisoner committee in an early Nazi labor camp in Saxony. Emslandlager camps - as they were known - were for political opponents of the Third Reich, The captors demanded some music that the prisoners would sing, and they wanted it to reflect positive feelings on the part of the prisoners. The prisoner committee, made up mostly of highly-politicized union and party officials, struggled to come up with something that would transcend the Nazi demands while letting the world know about their plight. They succeeded well beyond their expectations - one of the few cases in which a song written to order by a committee actually worked. It is sung even today.