Customer Reviews

Troubadours of the Folk Era, Vol. 3: The Groups {Various Artists }

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you're interested in the Banana Boat Song by the Tarriers, pick up Eric's Hard To Find 45's On CD Volume 3. The version on the Rhino CD appears to have been digitally mastered from a damaged tape. It contains numerous crackles and pops. The version on the Eric CD is flawless.

The Rhino compilation otherwise is a pretty good.

One of the things that is most impressive about the "Troubadours of the Folk Era" series is that we get all the way to Volume 3, "The Groups," before I find that I already have half of the 18 tracks on the album. I have been working on building up the folk music section of my music library so that I can put together the ultimate 12-CD collection of folk music, which would be both comprehensive and thematically elegant. So finding two CDs full of "new" songs in the three CDs of this series is pretty impressive, but also exactly what we have come to expect from the people at Rhino.

There is actually something of a theme to this look at "The Groups" of folk music, as we see how the traditional folk music of the hills got transformed into hits at the top of the pop charts. Both of the folk songs that made it all the way to #1 on the Billboard singles chart are here, "Tom Dooley" by the Kingston Trio in 1958 and "Michael (Row the Boat Ashore)" by the Highwaymen in 1961. However, like the first two volumes in the series this third one begins with a Titan of folk music, as the Weavers get the first spot following Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. But instead of folk singers who were being blacklisted during the 1950s, the 1960s saw groups of happy, peppy folksingers on the charts, from the Rooftop Singers ("Walk Right In") to the New Christy Minstrels ("Green, Green"). For those who like more authentic sounding groups we also have the Limeliters ("Hard, Ain't It Hard"), the Au Go-Go Singers ("Gotta Travel On"), the Greenbriar Boys ("Stewball"), the Brothers Four ("Greenfields"), and Jim Kweskin's Jug Band ("Mobile Line").

Most of the time in this collection the artists you do not recognize are real old school; traditionalists who have been forgotten although we probably know the songs they were singing because they were covered by somebody else. On Volume 3 there is actually as sense of looking forward. The Springfields ("Silver Threads & Golden Needles") consisted of Mary and Dion O'Brien, who changed their names to Dusty and Tom Springfield. The Big Three ("Rider") were Tim Rose, James Hendricks, and Cass Elliott. As long as we are talking about singers who go on to successful solo careers we can toss in Glenn Yarbrough of the Limeliters and Barry McGuire from the New Christy Minstrels. Of course, things still go back to the beginning when both the Weavers ("Goodnight Irene") and the Big Three are doing songs originally written by Leadbelly. That is why this is a pretty good collection for those with a solid folk music collection and pretty great for anyone who has ignored this part of their musical heritage.

This collection depends on ones perspective of folk. This cd mostly focuses on the large joyous sounds of groups such as New Christy Minstrels. A lot of people ridiculed this sound saying it wasn't true folk but I like it. This cd introduced me to groups I didn't even know existed like The Big Three, the group Mama Cass belonged to before the Mamas and the Papas. Also on this cd is the one hit wonder group Rooftop Singers' catchy "Walk Right In" and Even Dozen Jug Band's irritating but lovable "Take your Fingers Off It."
The only inclusion that is questionable is Gotta Travel On by Au Go Go Singers, as that group is only remembered now for Stephen Stills involvement. But still it fits well in the middle of the mix.

I have to admit at the outset that, with the exception of The Kingston Trio and The Brothers Four, I was never a huge fan of the folk sound, and that my only purpose in purchasing this volume in the first place, in pursuit of my hobby of collecting hit singles, was to get a quality CD version of The Banana Boat Song by The Tarriers.

Like another reviewer I was not happy to hear the horrible sound quality on that tracks, and have since myself picked up the Eric compilation which provides a much better-sounding cut. I would also point out that track 1 is not rhe original Weavers hit version of Goodnight Irene done in 1950 with Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra but, rather, from a live performance at Carnegie Hall on Christmas Eve 1954.

Original renditions are, however, provided on tracks 2, 9, 11, 12, 13 [but with generally poor sound], and 14. The rest are also original releases, although none of them ever made any national charts. A complete discography of the contents is provided, along with photographs of some of the artists ["Spyder" John Koerner, The Tarriers, Springfields, Au Go Go Singers, and Limeliters are NOT shown], and seven pages of admittedly very interesting liner notes written by noted author Bruce Pollock.

If Folk was your bag and you are not an audiophile (I'm not either, but I DO like a somewhat clean sound) this is a 4-star collection with the only notable flaw being track 13.

The generic parts of this review, relating to the 1960's folk revival, have been used in other reviews of musicians from this period.

My musical tastes were formed, as were those of many of the Generation of 1968, by `Rock and Roll' music exemplified by the Rolling Stones and Beatles and by the blues revival, both Delta and Chicago style. However, those forms as much as they gave pleasure were only marginally political at best. In short, these were entertainers performing material that spoke to us at some other level. In the most general sense that is all one should expect of a performer. Thus, for the most part that music need not be reviewed here. Those who thought that a new musical sensibility laid the foundations for a cultural or political revolution have long ago been proven wrong.

That said, in the early 1960's there nevertheless was another form of musical sensibility that was directly tied to radical political expression- the folk revival. This entailed a search for roots and relevancy in musical expression. While not all forms of folk music lent themselves to radical politics it is hard to see the 1960's cultural rebellion without giving a nod to such figures as Dave Van Ronk, the early Bob Dylan, Utah Phillips, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and others. Whatever entertainment value these performers provided they also spoke to and prodded our political development. They did have a message and an agenda and we responded as such. That these musicians' respective agendas proved inadequate and/or short-lived does not negate their influence on the times.

My leftist political consciousness, painfully fought for in my troubled youth, coincided with an expansion of my musical tastes under the influence of the great blues and folk revivals of the 1960's. Unfortunately my exposure to the blues greats was mainly on records as many of them had been forgotten, retired or were dead. Not so with the folk revival which was created mainly by those who were close contemporaries. Alas, they too are now mainly forgotten, retired or dead. It therefore is with special pleasure that I review this two volume compilation of songs by the best musicians of the early folk period.

Many of the folksingers of the 1960's attempted to use their music to become troubadours for social change. The most famous example, the early Bob Dylan, can be fairly described as the voice of his generation at that time. However, he fairly quickly moved on to other concepts of himself and his music. The artists here, for the most part, stayed within the broad parameters of the term folk. There are, indeed, many rooms in that mansion as this compilation will demonstrate to the attentive listener. Some of the artists listed here, like Pete Seeger, I have reviewed previously elsewhere in this space. Others, like Eric Von Schmidt, I will do individual reviews of in the future. As a general observation the producers of this CD went out of their way, way out of their way to get the best renditions available of the songs by the individual artists represented and to provide the best range of what folk meant to those who wrote the songs, sang them and listened in. For those too young to have heard it then you have been given a reprieve- use it.

Highlights of Volume One are Joan Baez on "Silver Dagger"; Eric Andersen on "Violets of Dawn", the late Odetta on "John Henry"; Jesse Colin Young on "Four In The Morning": Donovan on "Catch The Wind" and an incredible rendition by the late Eric Von Schmidt of his "Wasn't That A Mighty Storm" (about a flood in Galveston, Texas in the early part of the 20th century).

Highlights on Volume Two are Tom Rush on "The Circle Game"; Judy Collins on " Who Knows Where The Time Goes"; Tom Paxton on "Ramblin' Boy"; and, Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band (that's with Geoff Muldaur and Maria Muldaur along with Jim, by the way) on a very well done version of the old blues classic "Don't You Leave Me Here".

Highlights on Volume Three, which is a little less worthwhile than the first two volumes and, frankly, reflects inclusions of some 'spacefillers', are Leadbelly's "Goodnight, Irene"; Woody Guthrie's "Hard, Ain't It Hard" and Sonny Terry's "Rider".