Roger Welsch - Postcards From Nebraska- March 8, 1976

I am assuming that the interview I transferred is called Postcards From Nebraska. I became interested in him when my buddy Drew who does the Democracy for the Cartoons blog did a radio show and included one of his songs in it. Below is the Wikipedia post on him. below that is a biographical page link. As with the Utah Phillips Interview, this is not music, but an interview. I thought it was interesting, so I decided to post it. You can download his album "Sweet Nebraska Land" at the Smithsonian Folkways website.

Roger Welsch (born November 6, 1936) is a senior correspondent on the CBS News Sunday morning program, and was featured in a segment called "Postcards from Nebraska". An author, humorist and folklorist, Welsch was born in Lincoln Nebraska, and today lives outside of Dannebrog, Nebraska. Welsch was the 2005 winner of the Henry Fonda Award, from the State of Nebraska Travel and Tourism Division.

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Folk and Country Songs of the FDR Years

This album consists of performers Roy Berkeley and Tim Woodbridge.

I'm not trying to plagiarize, but I do not know the original source of this bio Berkeley, but felt I should include it:

Roy Berkeley was involved in the 50's and 60's New York folk scene along with the likes of performers such as Dave Van Ronk and the NewLost City Ramblers (NLCR). Roy Berkeley was a mainstay in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s New York City folk scene along with Dave Van Ronk, The New Lost City Ramblers and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and played flatpick country/folk guitar and sounded like a cross between

Jimmie Rodgers and Woody Guthrie. During these years, along with Van Ronk and others, he wrote a parody of the well known leftist songbook The People’s Songbook that he called The Bosses’ Songbook and Roy was also a political activist who moved from the Trotskyist movement (like Van Ronk he was anti-Stalinist) and later became deputy sheriff in his town of Shaftsbury, Vermont. Unfortunately, Berkeley passed away this last May, but left an indelible mark in the history of the folk movement of the world.

As far as i could tell, he recorded two albums with Woodbridge for two different labels; Longview and Green Linnet. Both seem to be out of print.

In addition to recording this album, Berkeley combined efforts with Artie Rose and NLCR's Tom Paley in the formation of the Old Reliable String Band (Available on Smithsonian Folkways). A side note to this being that Tom Paley left NLCR because he did not wish to perform as frequently as John Cohen and Mike Seeger intended to. The liner notes are free on the Folkways website and are worth looking into.

I couldn't find any images of the album cover or liner notes. I transferred this sometime last spring and neglected to do so then when i had the album. If anyone can help with this, it would be greatly appreciated. Anyways, here is a download link:

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The Second Annual Farewell Reunion (1973)

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Part 1

Part 2

part 3

Kill the Shanghai Rooster

Bruce "Utah" Phillips

This may not exactly be old-time but it's Utah Phillips so it's in the old folk-tale/songster tradition. This is a radio Interview done in Spokane on the KXBX-FM radio station. I am not sure exactly what year it took place, but it is on cassette so it's fairly old I'm assuming. Here are the notes that came with the audio cassette:

Bruce "Utah" Phillips tells his own story best:

"I am six-foot-two, well preserved, have a steady gaze, firm hand, and very regular teeth. Our family moved from Cleveland, Ohio, in 1947 and settled in Utah where I lived till late 1969. Briefly, I have washed dishes in Yellowstone, worked building a hospital on the Navajo Reservation, been to Korea and back, tramped and boomed the western freights, worked as a printer, warehouseman and archivist, assisted in the management of a house for migrants and bums, done a stretch as a neighborhood organizer, joined the Industrial Workers of the World and, in 1968, I ran either for or from the U.S. Senate on the Peace and Freedom ticket. 

I won.

". . . After the political campaign [Utah] became very different to live in. So I took me and several thousand songs I didn't make up and a hundred  or so that I did and went East to see if I couldn't make enough money to stay alive and pay off some old debts."

"I don't really have a great voice . . . Mostly I guess my voice sounds like the places I've been and the people I've stayed with. I sing songs about trains, coal mines, Unions, factories, working people, lazy people, the old and new West, bums, politicians, and the different things that happen to you when you're in love. And I tell stories and try to get people laughing and singing together. You know, most of the songs I sing really belong to those people -- they just don't know it yet. That's what I do."

Bibliography

Book

Starlight on the Road, Wooden Shoe Press.

Records

Good, Though, Philo no. 1004

El Capitan, Philo no. 1016

All Used Up, Philo no. 1050

We Have Fed You All for a Thousand Years, Oral Tradition, Vancouver, B.C.

Silly Songs and Modern Lullabies, Sierra Records

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Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Jazz Podcast

Track List:

1. Charlie Fry & His Million Dollar Orchestra- Happy Days Lonely Nights

2. Lionel Belasco- Caroline

3. Elizabeth Johnson- Sobbin' Woman Blues

4. Cliff Edwards (Ukulele Ike)- Hard-Hearted Hannah

5. Emmett Miller- The Ghost of the St. Louis Blues

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Early Country Music Vol. 2

Featuring Joe Evans, Nap Hayes, Matthew Prater, John Dilleshaw, Golden Melody Boys, and Arthur McLaine.      

 1928-1931

Liner Notes:

This early album of early country music originally recorded in the late Twenties and early Thirties illustrates the variety and style in this rich and colorful music. Joe Evans (New Huntsville Jail) on side 1 sings a story about his ordeal in jail. A familiar phrase that was frequently used in early jazz bands at Negro funerals, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust", can be heard in this recording. "New Huntsville Jail" later became popular with the addition of new words as "Down In The Valley". On the next number a kazoo and scat singing are added to give a real skiffle sound to the music. "Sittin' On Top of the World" starts with the violin followed by vocal and guitar accompaniment. This is a beautiful rendition of an old country ballad. The lilting strains on the mandolin in "Nothin' Doin'" are complimented by the sensitive guitar playing of Nap Hayes, and although the tempo is stepped up in "Somethin' Doin'", the saim sensitivity remains. "Old Hen Cackle" and "Sourwood Mountain" were some of the first songs to enjoy popularity in the early twenties in the country field. The next two sides are good snappy versions of these tunes, and show just how exciting mandolin can sound. John Dilleshaw opens up the second side with the warm and free flowing "Spanish Fandango" followed by "Cotton Patch Rag" and interesting contrast to the first number. The next five numbers are played by the Golden Melody Boys. These are very rare sides and little is know about the group. "Sabula Blues" and "Freak Melody" are mandolin and guitar duets listed on the original record label as being played by Demps and Phil. "Way Down South in Arkansas" and "Cross-Eyed Butcher" are country stories set to the music with humorous lyrics. The final number is "Guitar Rag", a duet of mandolin and guitar played at medium tempo. It is difficult to describe the feeling of this music in the liner notes. The real enjoyment can only come from listening to this LP.

 Arnold S. Caplin

Discographical Notes:

Brian Rust

Many thanks to Joe Bussard

for his assistance.

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Industrial Ballads Workshop

Hello there. I was recently inspired by my friend, Drew Christie, a fabulous and gifted artist, musician, and amateur musicologist to post "obscurish" music that I have come across. Here is an excerpt of  a folk festival series from the 10th Annual San Diego Folk Festival, that took place in 1976. I found this in the cassette tape section of the library and decided it was interesting enough to transfer. The portion I have chosen to include is a performance by Mike Seeger.  

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