SH Spotlight The Weavers!! Here are all of their amazing 1951 short music movies together...

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Steve Hoffman, Mar 30, 2014.

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  1. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    the-weavers.jpg I love the Weavers. Their story is amazing, check it out sometime, the height of the "red scare" made people do stupid things.

    This is a nice comp of their 1951 films, together. The Weavers started the folk music craze in America but they did much more than that!



    Notice how Lee holds up a picture of LEADBELLY when they sing "Goodnight, Irene"? To die for.
     
  2. therockman

    therockman Senior Member In Memoriam

    Thanks. I am going to have to check this out.
     
  3. dhoffa85

    dhoffa85 Well-Known Member

    Steve I literally can't thank you enough for this post it really did make my day. This music was amazing and even had me up dancing! What an amazing piece of history you witnessed I'm very jealous. Please post more stuff like this often!
     
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  4. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    Wow, thanks. I discovered the Weavers when I was working in Commie Radio (Pacifica KPFK) after school in the 1970's. I quickly realized that they were the real deal and had already led full, important and crazy lives even before coming together to be the Weavers in 1949. For example, read Lee Hayes bio on Wiki. Can you believe all of that? Amazing:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Hays
     
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  5. Henryflowr

    Henryflowr Honorary Toastmaster Emeritus Runner-Up

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    Thanks, Steve. Love the Weavers and those 1951 films are overflowing with energy: much more than the Gordon Jenkins-era studio cuts (which I also love, I must admit).
     
  6. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    Well, Gordon was just being true to the time. Remember, he was the one that convinced DECCA to sign those left-wing folkies. :^)

    In fact, Gordon was pretty much a God Of Music and doesn't get enough credit..
     
  7. jfine

    jfine Forum Resident

    Heard of Pete Seeger but never knew about the Weavers, huh, neat stuff.
     
  8. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    For the Decca material, seek out a copy of The Best of The Decca Years on MCA CD to start with, and then go on with the Bear Family box for more Decca material. The Vanguard albums recorded at Carnegie Hall are seminal albums as well.
     
  9. dhoffa85

    dhoffa85 Well-Known Member

    Wow. That was a history lesson. Love the part about the books. Hard to believe these days. Thanks
     
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  10. Hey Vinyl Man

    Hey Vinyl Man Another bloody Yank down under...

    I remember when my parents finally got a car with a tapedeck (in 1989), they bought a bunch of tapes for the car, and the Weavers' At Carnegie Hall and On Tour (which if I recall correctly was actually from the same Carnegie Hall concert? Christmas eve 1955 I believe) were among them. I was already a walking encyclopedia of rock history by then, but hearing those albums over and over again was the beginning of my non-rock education. From that day to this, I pretty much consider them the height of musical erudition. It's great if someone knows Elvis didn't sing "Blue Suede Shoes" first or can explain why "Rocket 88" may or may not be the first rock and roll song, but the real height of cool is if you like the Weavers.
     
  11. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    Yeah, crazy life, and then being sprinkled into his compost heap.
     
  12. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    I saw that PBS movie on the Weavers in the 1980s and that really fired me up on them. Big time. It was time for me to really branch out into music that influenced the music that I knew and loved.
     
  13. stereoptic

    stereoptic Anaglyphic GORT Staff

    Location:
    NY
    Wow - Incredible! Thanks for that link.
     
  14. auburn278

    auburn278 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Baltimore, MD, USA
    Thank you! This post is serendipitous (for me at least). I just wrote a paper on Appalachian culture with a brief mention about the music of the region and have been on a Folkways, Country (the label), and roots/folk buying binge.

    I love The Weavers. I cried when Pete Seeger passed. There is so much history associated with the folk revival; this group and its members were an integral part of the movement. Its amazing to think about what these performers and their contemporaries did for music.

    Many of the songs performed in this era were collected from remote areas of the country. In many ways it was a cultural renaissance, too.

    Thank you again for sharing! Its so exciting for so many reasons.
     
  15. jgreen

    jgreen Well-Known Member

    Location:
    St. Louis,MO.
    Along with Woody Guthrie they were the beggining of the political folk movement that Peter, Paul and Mary, Joan Beaz and Bob Dylan made so big. Thanks, Steve.
     
  16. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    Can we read it?
     
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  17. auburn278

    auburn278 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Baltimore, MD, USA
    If I get an A, sure. :) It was for a Multicultiral Psychology class.

    If you are interested I will post it, but I'm not sure if it will make for scintillating reading.
     
  18. Hey Vinyl Man

    Hey Vinyl Man Another bloody Yank down under...

    Here's a story I shared on Facebook the day after Pete died...it seems fitting here now:


    My dad (born in 1946) told me once that one of his earliest memories involved his parents leaving him with some neighbors one afternoon...for reasons he never understood, his "babysitters" brought him to a bar, and his most vivid memory is of "Goodnight Irene" playing on the jukebox and everyone in the room singing along in beer-soaked harmony.
     
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  19. auburn278

    auburn278 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Baltimore, MD, USA
    Here is the portion regarding Appalachian music from my paper about Appalachian culture. Keep in mind that I had to keep my paper short to fit the assignment criteria, so I wasn't able to go in depth regarding the types of instruments used, musical influences, how dialect shaped lyrical composition, and the million other things I would have loved to include. I will spare you all the whole paper.


    Appalachian Music

    Appalachian culture has been able to impact the dominant culture in its own way. The Carter Family, Doc Watson, Dock Boggs, and Earl Scruggs all hailed from Appalachia. Additionally, The Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music included several tracks by Appalachian artists. An ethnomusicologist, Smith compiled a careful selection of songs from his personal collection. The Anthology was released in 1952 by Folkways Records, a label that also released several albums of Appalachian music.

    While Appalachian music didn’t single handedly inspire the musicians in Greenwich Village, it surely had its impact and its importance within the folk music revival of the 1960s. Folk enthusiasts traveled into the mountains and made field recordings, which were then reinterpreted, recorded, and released for public consumption. Pete Seeger, Mike Seeger (New Lost City Ramblers), The Weavers, Bob Dylan, and many others released previously unheard music. New ears were hearing old songs for the first time. History was made and history was preserved. The folk music revival had a lasting effect on the musical landscape of this country. Generations of musicians have been inspired by the movement and its music.

    Not only did Appalachian culture impact the music of the dominant culture, but an increased interest in the area led to changes within Appalachian society through interaction with outside society and cultures. Musicians who had never stepped foot outside of the Appalachian Mountains were venturing to New York, Washington DC, New England, and other “foreign” places. They brought back with them new sounds, flavors, and ideas. Preservation of Appalachian society became important to Americans, not just Appalachians.
     
  20. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    Great!
     
  21. Thank you so much Steve for posting these

    Just as a matter of interest. has that PBS documentary ever seen official release?

    As a Brit, that documentary was my introduction to The Weavers, a journey I am still on some 30 years later - the humanity and goodness of those folk was/is humbling. The sheer joy of their performing together is so infectious.

    There is a lovely moment towards the end of the film of the (at the time final) reunion show, where Lee Hays begins to wheel himself offstage and Fred Helleman moves forward to assist him and to push him when Ronnie Gilbert intervenes , as if to say , 'Let Lee do it, let him be independent', for me a sign of the amazing bond and affection between 4 people who touched so many lives.

    Lee's book 'Lonesome Traveler' is a good read and well worth looking out for.

    I listen to The Weavers regularly and also their more recent spin-off groupings. H.A.R.P. aka Holly (near), Arlo (Guthrie), Ronnie and Pete released a superb live recording, which contains my favourite ever version of 'City Of New Orleans' - again well worth looking out for.

    Best Wishes,
    David
     
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  22. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    David,

    "Lonesome Traveler" book, ordered. Many thanks, looking forward to reading it.

    The film "Wasn't That A Time" (believe it or not) is not on DVD. It was released on VHS tape though, that I remember...

    So glad I got to meet three of them. I actually saw Ronnie and Holly perform but was too shy to come up to them.... Yup.
     
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  23. David R. Modny

    David R. Modny Гордий українець-американець

    Location:
    Streetsboro, Ohio
  24. Adam9

    Adam9 Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй.

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Wonderful video! I recently watched a birthday tribute to Pete Seeger where performers were praising his banjo skills. Now I see why!
     
  25. dhoffa85

    dhoffa85 Well-Known Member

    I would check that book out thanks, looks very interesting! I ordered a few cd's I can't wait to listen to them. What a great group!
     
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