HI LL INO I SUNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

PRODUCTION NOTE

University of Illinois atUrbana-Champaign Library

Large-scale Digitization Project, 2007.

Nu mber 30 I FRi iyll Ltober 20, 1967OCT -0 1967

WHERE IT'S GONE- LIBRARy

After a period of about four years wandering over this continent, Europe,

and in and out of the "United States Army", I chanced, somehow, to settle in

Champaign-Urbana. I had been here before. I had known too well the globby,

all-pervasive student apathy, the tread-diploma-mill machine tooled syndrome,

the silent, amoeboid bureaucracy devouring unwary students, etc. I had left

here a cynic, having learned little academically, but much outside the portals

of the University proper.

Four years ago I was a member of the Campus Folksong Club. At the time

the "American Folk Music Renaissance" was at its peak. The Club, which had

been formed to further the study and performance of traditional music, swelled

to a membership of about 400. Most of these people considered Pete Seeger or

Joan Baez to be traditional performers. The hard core traditionalists who

formed the nucleus of the Club, were constantly at odds with the pop-folk

addicts, but cooperation of a sort did exist in the form of an uneasy truce.

The Folksings usually came off as an amalgam of Bluegrass, Baez and traditional

Appalachian music. Although most of the membership had little interest in the

grass roots of music or the folk process, or in much other than listening to

their Kingston Trio records and banging their newly bought Stella guitars, the

policy of the Club continued to reflect only the interests of the traditionalists.

Many fine performers were brought here for concerts, some of whom are now dead

or infirm. The Club, partly thanks to the membership dues of those waiting to

bring Dave Van Ronk or the Roof Top Singers, put out three records of purely

traditional folk music by relatively unknown performers. By the time I left,

it seemed that the crisis was coming to a head. Either the Club would wane to

a band of dedicated Ethnologist-Musicians, or some concessions would have to be

made to the popularizer-interpreters (artsy-folksies). The Fraternity

(Brothers Four) types were just out of the question.

Four years have passed, and I am back--once again involved (I guess) with

the Campus Folksong Club. It seems that little has changed. Concerts are

traditional and the talk among the inner circle is ethnic as hell. A few

artsy-folksies remain, possibly out of a genuine love of the pure and untram-

meled. The Kingston Trio types are now working for IBM, Con Edison, J. Walter

Thompson, Kraft Foods, or maybe playing rhythm guitar for rock groups

specializing in "Looie Looie" and surfer music. Many people who came to the

Club, learned, and then left, are now into more creative things musically.

But the Club still takes an almost historical attitude toward American

folk music. The mainstream of American music passes, either deliberatelyignored or unnoticed, by Club members.

Much of the Club's interest centers on Appalachian music. This is fine,but Appalachia is getting to be rather well-mapped country. The old music isnot really the music of any Appalachian farmer under 30 with a radio. CommercialHillbilly (including Bluegrass), Rock and Roll, to a certain extent Negro R andB, even Frank Sinatra is closer to being the music of Appalachia than the oldfiddle reels and banjo breakdowns so dear to us all. The day will come whensome collector of ethnic music wandering around in some tiny hill town completewith tape recorder, etc., will chance to hear "Sally Goodin" being played in areally old time way, backed up only by a guitar, with a fine Scotch-Irish dronesound, melody a little off now and then. Can you imagine his chagrin when helearns that the fiddler is Jewish, the son- of a lawyer, born and raised inKenosha, Wisconsin, has his masters, and is just down here to sign up ArloPugh, traditional fiddle player dying of Parkinson's disease, for a membershipconcert? This is not really so far-fetched. Traditional performers are dyingoff, and in a few years they will be as scarce as Civil War Veterans. Thismeans that the music will have to be preserved by musicians who must make con-scious efforts not to change or modernize it. Eventually traditional folkmusic will become static, a museum piece, understood by historians andanthropologists, appreciated by few, no longer serving its function as thepeople's music.

So what will take the place of music handed down by oral tradition? Forall practical purposes it has been replaced by "pop" music, handed down fromday to day via aural transmission. If this sounds as though I am endorsingBobby Rydell or Tony Bennet as future folksingers, bear with me anyway. Thehuge, rather amorphous body of popular music contains many musical forms whichare direct decendents of earlier folk forms or the synthesis of more than onefolk genre. Bluegrass and R and B fall into the first category. Jazz and Rockare both syntheses, and thus subject to more change. Of the latter two, Rockis presently the dominant American folk form. There is more to rock music thanhordes of screaming teeny boppers. Rock reflects the lives and attitudes ofspecific ethnic groups. "Soul Music" is the expression of the ghetto boundNegro, and the type of music usually referred to as either Acid Rock or LoveRock is the musical expression of the Hippies, Diggers, Cops, and other SanFrancisco groups.

The insipid lyrics still persist in Rock, just as insipid people persistin life; however new inroads have been made by the Beatles, Donavan, Dylan,Jimi Hehdrix, and a host of lesser knowns. No longer does the songwriter haveto imagine that he is writing for an audience of retarded five-year-olds.Rock music is worthwhile.

It is time that the Campus Folksong Club recognize the dominant Americanfolk music as being Rock. It is also time that something be done about thematter. In the past, the Club has tried to present a well-balanced program ofconcerts, ranging from Indian music to unaccompanies ballad singers. If theClub is to continue to be a force interesting people in indigenous American music,it should not neglect to book a good Acid Rock Group for this season. TheGrateful Dead has been suggested. Though they may prove to be expensive, itis my opinion that the matter warrants serious discussion.

--Rich Charlton*Editor's Note: Rich Charlton is one of the old members, back from severalyears on The Outside. We felt that his opinions, liberated as they are fromthe general rut, would be valuable and provocative both as comment and incentive.

SEPTEMBER 29, 1967--OR--THE DAY WE ALL SAW GREEN

On Friday, September 29, at 8:00 p.m. in 180 Bevier Hall, three good

Irishmen--Kevin Henry, James Fahey, Patrick Henelley--treated us to a musicalrepast quite as warm and Irish as a bit of the fabled juice itself.

Kevin Henry left County Sligo and came to Chicago to make his living in highsteel working (a colorful sub-culture in its own right). But it is delightfully,and perhaps sadly to some of us, clear that his heart and thoughts are still inIreland. Once, a university folkie asked him if folk music had been revived inIreland. Replied himself "Why man, it's never died I"

He began the evening with several astonishing pennywhistle solos. I was

astounded by the range and rapidity of notes Mr. Henry could draw from such a simplewhistle (which he informed us wryly was made in England). I extend my apologies toTommy Makem, who I thought owed much of his virtuosity to the wonders of modernrecording techniques. I was tootled into a state of cock-eyed euphoria. Mr. Henrythen laid aside the tin whistle and took up his concert flute. He explained thatits woody tones were more suited to the "airs". The air is the Irish counterpartof soul music. It is sad and slow, and more than once I admit to losing the melodyline in the mist. Mr. Henry explained that this quality of distance and loneliness

is called "heart", and heart is the root of Irishness.

Last of all, he strapped on the Uillean pipes, the Irish bagpipes. In a con-versational interlude, Mr. Henelley, the maker of the pipes, explained theirintricacies. "Every civilized people in the history of the world has had bagpipes,"he asserted with pride. He counted off the Egyptians, the Greeks, the French andthe Scotch. In answer to a question from the audience he also admitted theBritish Northumbrian pipes to the elite assemblage. "But the Irish," he said,"have improved them."

Improvement or not, the Uillean pipes are a marvel of complexity. The leathern

bag is filled by pumping a bellows under the right arm. The melody is played onthe single chanter and individual notes are accented by quick pressure on the bagby the left arm. This leaves Mr. Henry flapping both elbows and piping, and that's

not all. There are three drone pipes, each fitted with metal brackets. By pushingdown one or more of the dozen or more brackets with the right hand, elbow orforearm, a chord can be sounded on the drones.

If you were not there and have only heard the Scotch warpipes, you are undoubt-

edly envisioning a spectacle akin to a one man ragtime band. But the Irish pipesare reedy and melodic. In the pipe tunes you hear the grandfathers of the penny-whistle jigs. Mr. Henry played several old songs, but unfortunately none of real

antiquity. A contrast might have been of interest to some of our historicallyoriented members.

Now and again Mr. Henry called on James Fahey to sing. I hardly expected so

pleasing a tenor from such an extra-ordinarily ordinary looking fellow. "There's amoral there somewhere.) It reminded me of the Christmas Party in one of JamesJoyce's short stories in Dubliners. Mr. Fahey stood very straight and sang with

sweet non-professionalism of Ireland's freedom fighters and Irish farewells.

The evening never really ended. It just moved from Bevier Hall to the pad ofour beloved president where for several hours more we listened to the flute andpennywhistle, and our own ubiquitous form of bluegrass, and traded Irish humor--the hilarity of which varied inversely as the supply of Guiness.

-- Mimi Rodin

'IDE

Ul 41

I

An excerpt from:

THE CONFESSIONS OF AN ANONYMOUS FOLKIE

This portion of "Confessions is chiefly concerned with the less noblemotivations behind the species: old-timus folki, a mutant outgrowth of the now-dead Post-war Folk Boom. A few figures are in order:

A. Range: Mainly the Northern United States from such distantoutposts of civilization as Flatbush to the important hubs of culturelike Moose's Ass, Alaska.

B. Period of gestation: Until Daddy buys me a banjo like Eric Weissberg's.

C. Haunt: Aging multiversities.

D. Age of learned responses: 17-21.

E. Age at death: Generally 23 or as soon as he discovers MarshallMcLuhen or electricity.

Like most fungi and good things, old-timus folki comes in all kinds of prizepackages, only a few of which shall be opened here. These wrappings fall,generally, into one of two catagories (with various subdivisions): "obnoxious"and "virtuous" (or "not-quite-so-obnoxious.")

1. Immediately, one recognizes the kindly, aging spinster who whips ontoher grammy an immaculate New Lost City Ramblers album which her grandson gave toher so she'd understand his beard. Color her music quaint and tidy and out ofit. We won't stay here long.

2. Then there's the fellow who wants to have his fat Altec speaker systemswell up and expire in one last gasp of avant-garde noise (read: old-time musicif not Trini Lopez) at his next bust.

3. Third is the Packrat (an offshoot of the Historian whom we shall meetlater). "Packy" must conserve every scrap of misinformation he can before itdies. Eventually he wills his estate of worthless trivia to some other poor,bedevilled collector or to his cat. This sub-species is by no means confinedto the old-timey buff; you see him studying the backs of baseball cards, too.

h. Number four is getting much more noxious. He views old-time music asthe mythical place where-it's-at. Unfortunately, it isn't.

5. I almost forgot the guy who's running from the authorities or his girlfor personal reasons, and who decides to lose himself in the relative anonymityof the Folksong Club. But, like the fraternity jock who joins the Club tofulfill his activity requirement, he rarely listens to anything.

6. Of course, there are many who perform gut-music because they can't hackit on the PP&M circuit (no voice, no taste, and so on). They soon discoverold-time music to be their natural medium.

7. Finally, we side-step the little boys and get to the real Freudiancharacters. Who doesn't know the Gamemaker (my apologies to Dr. Eric Berne whoPlays People's Games) who creates an opponentless ploy intended to elevate hisown ego. He is the one who can fling inocuous streams of names and dates, whichnever really existed in the first place, at an audience. No one (except theCounter-Gamemaker below) even cares. The Gamemaker is also likely to veneratethe great deities of old-time folk music. Curiously enough, though, these hoaryancients are not so much the big-name performers as they are the professionals--the adult record collectors, folklorists, and published writers--with whom ourboy assumes himself to share a warm, mystical, soul communion. Gamemaker wouldeven go so far as to tack up on his trophy board a subscription solicitationfrom Sing Out : (or better yet, an old Little Sandy Review) if it had Paul Nelson'ssignature in red ink on it.

8. I don't know whether to list Counter-Gamemaker among the good guys orthe bad guys. He can be lots of fun. This fellow can meet Gamemaker after astring of obviously exaggerated, sensationalized trivia with a half-hearted "oh"or an obviously succulent "so what !" The Counter-Gamemaker loves his businessand many times has been a Gamemaker himself in the distant past, so he knowsexactly where the pressure points are.

9. Similar to Gamemaker is the Banjo Bore or the Guitar Grub. He is theone who joins the great legion of old-time heads because of the abundance ofdupes who will inquire about his 1923 gold-plated, top-tension Masterstone withthe Don Reno inlays. Or if he has no such banjo, then he plays "just like

Charlie Poole." He's the one everyone tries not to see walking into the folklore

center, fingerpicks already in place, and digits a-twitter. This boy's conquests

net him very few friends.

10. Before we turn to the white hats, there is one more pesky type who is

so obvious, he is usually forgotten--the Lady Killer (that curious species of

Man-Mountain). He is more of a nuisance than the hit of party with his Mel Bayhome study course. Most of the time when he tells his prey, "Ruthann, honey,

I'ma gonna pick a little number I learned offa the wall of a side-wheeler," shedigs his routine more than his platform. She won't be around him when the next

showman blows into town.

* * * * * * * ** * * **

1. Now for the good guys. This list won't include the many (I'm sure)obscure reasons legitimate folk scholars do what they do. Neither will it include

anyone born into a culture of old-time music. However, the first type may includeeither the folklorist or native. He is the Historian. This person likes to take

apart and put together the past and watch it change and grow with new innovations.For him, the music does not stand still but represents, rather, a fusion between

culture flux past and culture flux present. Old-time music is a chronicle as wellas an implement of social change.

2. "I watched every episode of Wagon Train on television at least three

times. I didn't even get a job one summer so I could watch the Wagon Train reruns

at 3:00 every afternoon. Ya know, old-time music sorta reminds me of Wagon Trainand the Old West."

3. Escape: This reason does not have to be odious. "For a while I candress like, act like, and be Buffalo Bill...and smoke Marlboro's, too. EventuallyI can carry some of this back to my antiseptic, modern concrete-and-steelexistence." This is one reason for the sincere campus non-conformist (as opposedto those who are just groupy or grubby, arty or screwed-up).

4. The fourth positive reason for getting hung up on old-timey music issimply that our subject hasn't fallen in love with Buffy Ste. Marie yet.

5. Perhaps a person's musical taste is aberrant to that of society ingeneral (or perhaps society's taste is the atypical one, if you want to look atit that way).

6. Finally, maybe there aren't any reasons for a person's particulartaste in music. Maybe it's just there sticking up out of the ground like Devil'sTower.

Anyway, probably the worst folkie is the writer who must try to pull allthese pieces together and exonerate himself from the guilt when he may very wellbe confessing his own past. Have you caught sight of anyone you know yet?

--Bob Sayers

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FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH: THE BLUES BAND

A Blues Band usually has at least four musicians including the singer.Electric bass and drums are the rhythmic core of all city blues bands. Theonly exception to this that I have heard are some very early Muddy Watersrecordings with acoustic bass and sometimes without drums. Electric guitar,amplified harmonica, piano, organ and saxophones are used in lead or rhythmcapacities.

The guitar is the most often used lead instrument. It provides a melodiccounterpoint for the vocal, or participates as a second voice in call and responsesituations. A good blues guitarist can control the dynamics, tone, intonationand phrasing better than any other lead instrument in a blues band. For example,B.B. King, who plays lead guitar as well as sings, often gets more of an audienceresponse from his eloquent guitar phrases than from the vocals which they punctuate.

Amplified harmonica is the next most popular lead instrument. Very oftenthe singer will also play the harp, providing both the vocal call and instrumentalresponse. Like the guitar, the harmonic can bend notes and produce vibrato effects.Almost all of the older city blues bands use a harp, but it is used much lessextensively by the more commercial groups.

The organ is used primarily as a rhythm instrument. Its ability to sustaintones and control volume makes it a good alternative to a rhythm guitar. Thepiano is also used as a rhythm instrument, but it is usually played more per-culsively. Instead of sustaining the chords the way blues organ commonly does,the piano will play repeated rhythm riffs.

The saxophone is used by more of the older city blues bands as well as thecommercially oriented urban groups. Its ability to sustain tones and to controldynamics, volume and intonation make it a more versatile choice than rhythmguitar. Usually saxophones are used in pairs: two tenors, or a tenor and abaritone.

BAND LEAD RHYTHUM HARP PIANO ORGAN SAXGUITAR GUITAR

Muddy Waters 1 1 1 1 2Wolf 1 1 1 2Butterfield 1 1 1 1B.B. King 1 1 2 & TRUMPETOtis Rush 1 1 1 1Jr. Wells 1 1B. Bland 1 1 1 2

All of the above use electric bass and drum.

O.K., how should you listen to a contemporary city blues band? What doesa blues musician listen for? I'm a blues musican, I play mainly lead guitar,but also electric bass, harp, and piano. When I listen to music, I choose eitherany type of blues or contemporary rock and roll. When playing, a blues or rockmusician (myself, anyway) does not really listen. He knows (or damn will ought

to know) what is going to happen musically. When he plays, he is experiencing,and also participating in the experience. To think while playing is a mistake,whether the thoughts are of words, ideas, or music phrases. It detracts fromexperiencing and participating, and the musican will mess up. When listeningas a non-participant, however, here's how to get inside the music.

Listen first to the bass. Dig the patterns he's making. Note how thesesymmetrical patterns mesh with those produced by the drummer. The sounds ofthe other rhythm instruments will also fit together to form a total pulsatingrhythm pattern. This pattern may change as the song evolves, but it will remainconsistent with the original theme. The rhythm section is creating a symmetrical,syncopated mendala in sound, pulsating and evolving as you listen. This willbe the canvas on which the lead instruments and vocal will paint for you anauditory picture. As you hear this picture being created, be aware of the waythat the lead and vocal fit, be complement or contrast, the rhythm patterns onwhich they are being created.

Now let's listen to the vocal and lead instruments. Do not pay any attentionto the lyrics yet. As English literature they're not too impressive; what we'reinterested in is digging the sounds, not interpreting them. As we notice howthe vocal is being shaped on our rhythm canvas we will see why the rhythmpatterns are constructed as they are; to best support and enhance the vocal.Listen to the vocal as it blends with the rhythm background and forms thecomplete musical picture.

Now listen to the lead instrument. It delivers no message (as does thevocal), nor is it necessary to support the vocal (as the rhythm section must besupported). The lead instrument is an embellishment. It's function is to accent,paraphrase and answer the vocal. The lead participates in a dialogue with thevocal, or comments on it. The lead cannot use the English language; it must usethe musical language of the blues.

Now that we have the picture, let's see how it works on stage. For example,let's look at "How Blue Can You Get" as performed by B.B. King.

Introduction by lead guitar. The first bar is "pretty", the rest of theintroduction is "funky", creating a tension. The audience reacts with anticipatiorsome people recognize the song:

"I've been downhearted, babe, ever since the day we met"(Audience reaction is audible; they all recognize the song now,and approve.) Lead guitar plays response phrase with drumsholding slow triplets throughout bass, walking a patterncharacterized by triplets before each accented beat.

"Yes, I've been downhearted, babe, ever since the day we met."(This phrase is sung harder than the first. The audience reactsaccordingly.) Lead phrase answers, increasing tension also.

"You know our love ain't nothin' but the blues; babe, how blue'can you get"Lead answers and moves into the second verse. It is structuredlike the first:

"You are evil when I'm with you, ari you are jealous when we're apart,"Lead guitar responds."Yes, you're so evil when I'm with you, and you are jealous, baby,when we're apart."Lead responds:

"How blue can you get, babe, The answer's right here in my heart."The lead guitar responds and brings in the last verse. The rhythmchanges for the first four bars of this verse. While the vocal is singingthe band is silent. Then the whole band responds:

Band: da Da da Da"I bought you a brand new Ford."Band: da Da da Da"You said 'I want a Cadillac'" (The audience responds.)Band: da Da da Da"I bought you a ten dollar dinner."Band: da Da da Da"You said, 'thanks for the snack'" (Audience louder)Band: da Da da Da"I let you live in my penthouse."Band: da Da da Da"You said it was just a shack." (Audience even louder)Band: da Da da Da"I gave you seven children and now you want to give 'em back ."'(Audience riots; their noise nearly drowns out the band.)"Yes, I've been downhearted, ever since the day we met."No lead guitar response this time. (The audience is emotionallydrained; they are quieting down.)"Our love is nothin' but the blues; babe, how blue can you get."Band Finale.

--Jin Siemans

r

HOW TO MAKE AN APPALACHIAN DULCIMERor

WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR SPARE TIME AND MONEY

To begin with, if you really want to make an Appalachian dulcimer you willread some of the better material on the subject, such as this article and notesin Jean Ritchie's book on the dulcimer (Oak Publications). The best single sourcefor acquiring general knowledge about this kind of thing is in Howie Mitchell'sbook and record combination called "The Mountain Dulcimer--How to Make and PlayIt (after a fashion)." This is a marvelous Folk Legacy production which is worthits weight in walnut to the prospective dulcimer builder. However, if you don'tlike Howie Mitchell (ridiculous I everyone likes Howie Mitchell) or his book (alsoridiculous) or if you simply don't have the bread to get Howie's work, read on.

First get some paper and a pencil and doodle for three or four weeks. Look

at pictures of dulcimers and see if you like square one, pear-shaped ones, tradi-tional double-curved ones, trapezoidal ones best. Or try to come up with a newand original design. The nice thing about dulcimers is that you cannot--I repeat,

cannot produce a dulcimer that sounds truly bad. Some are louder than others, and

some are prettier than others. Some get better bass tone, and some play easier

than others. But all of them sound nice.

After you have decided on a general shape, decide what sort of wood you want

to use. To a large extent, your choice of wood is governed by looks and by wood-working qualities. For the sides and ends of the dulcimer, a hard (but notbrittle wood seems to be the thing. I have used walnut and cherry very success-

fully. For the top, the only thing you should use is musical instrument qualityspruce, which is available in sheets 1/8 inch thick from Craftsman Wood Service

in Chicago. Of ten the bottom is also spruce, but it can be something harder,

like maple or even walnut.

Now the fun begins. See that you have access to some sort of woodworking

shop, or at least a bandsaw. Sketch out your peghead design (the peghead is the

part of the dulcimer which has the tuning pegs in it) onto a hunk of wood which

you have figured out is the right size and cut it out. If you want a fancy

scroll peghead, somewhat like that found on a fiddle, you have a problem. I

once tried to find out just how fancy scrolls were made traditionally so I asked

Edna Ritchie. It seems that if you want a fiddle-type peghead you just "set athome and whittle it of a winter's eve." Fine.

PEGHEAD ..-- ,

In the same type of homey way cut out the tailpiece on a bandsaw.

TAILPIECE

Now get two long thin strips of hardwood for the sides, and make themflexible by sawing notches in the inside part. These notches should be about1/4 inch apart and should go almost all the way through the side. You only needdo this in the sections of the side that curve. Now, glue together the fourpieces you have made to form a sort of frame with relatively flexible sides anda peghead and a tailpiece at opposite ends.

SIDES ..- .;: -

Top view of curved woodoutside inside showing cuts

Now glue this frame onto a flat piece of something-or-other and file andsand down the edges so that you have a box with the top open. A long, flat,curvy, funny-shaped box.

Next, do the same kind of thing for the top--glue it on the file and sand itto fit. Now you have a completely closed box. At this point you can drill holes

in the top and then carefully file out the final shapes of the holes (round, or

heart-shaped, or diamond shaped, or four leaf clovers, or whisky-bottle shaped

or whatever pleases you). You should also cut out three rectangular holes right

down the center of the top. These will ultimately be covered by the fretboard,

but they are important--they provide a communication between the fret boards

sounding chamber and the main soundbox of the dulcimer proper.

HOLES

TOP -- BOTTOM

Now get a piece of the same wood you used for the sides and ends and make a

fretboard out of it. It really shouldn't be narrower than 1 1/4 inches. If it

is you will have to play your dulcimer with a Tom Adler patented dulcimer chord

maker (a brilliant device which I madeled after the Arthur Godfrey ukelele chord

maker. It allows the most incompetent player to sound like Igor Oistrakh. Un-

fortunately not yet available.) And the piking end, i.e., the tailpiece end you

should sand out a depression about two and one half inches long and to half the

depth of the fretboard. This gives you a space in which to pick the strings.

Now set up your power saw (a traditional tool) to rout out a groove which is

almost as wide as the fretboard and almost as deep and goes almost down to the

picking space you just laboriously sanded. If this sounds complicated, it is.

See the accompanying diagrams.

FRETBOARD TO? ---------

SIDE -.....

END -- STRINGS \ r. : ). ... ! o,^•,•,I

PEGS * or i'" . -.

Then glue down the fretboard and make some bridges (a bridge and a nut, forthose who are given to pedantry) and glue them in too. You now have a completedulcimer, all glued together--except that it does not have any frets or strings.

The fretting on a dulcimer is not chromatic, like on a guitar or banjo. Toexplain it in detail takes many many pages, but in essence you will have only anF major scale plus an additional fret at the minor seventh position. If you donot understand this, buy Howie's book. Or ask me (but my replies cost twenty-fivecents a word).

When you have fretted the dulcimer, you have nothing left to fret about.(Sorry). Now, to finish the dulcimer you must finish the dulcimer. Use somegood wood-finishing product such as Deft or semi-gloss varnish or oil (do notoil spruce !) or peanut butter. Semi-gloss varnishes look quite good. Oilcannot be used alone on soft woods like spruce, but looks very good on walnutor cherry. Peanut butter looks terrible on a dulcimer, but if you ever get hungryand don't have any money....

Now put strings on it. You now have a finished dulcimer.

To learn to play your dulcimer I suggest that you get Howie Mitchell's bookand record. Or wait for another article on the subject. Or, if you want to learnto play it really well, do not look at anything. Just tune it to a major chordand start playing. The best dulcimer player I have ever met did not read any ofthe books on the subject until well after he had become a virtuoso on theinstrument. For the hell of it, and because he didn't know any better, he startedby playing bluegrass on the dulcimer. Try that, and if (when) you can't do it,do it some more. This is known as the Adler patent-pending process for learningfolk instruments.

AUTHOR FRONT SIDE BACK

.-' -Tom Adler

Approximate Statistics of a Traditional Appalachian Dulcimer

Overall length: 32 inches Fretboard length: 28 inchesThickness of top and bottom: 1/8 inch Thickness of sides: 1 1/2 inchesThickness of fretboard: 1/2 inchesWidth of body: A. At wide curve: 7 inches

B. At narrow curve: 6 inchesThickness of sides: 1/8 inch Width of fretboard: 1 1/2 inchesType of frets: Wire staplesType of strings: 1. Banjo 1st

2. Banjo 2nd3. Banjo 4th

Cost: Approximately $5 to $10Pegs: Hand carved ebony

REVIEWS

CLIFTON CHENIER, ARCHOOLIE RECORDS, F-1024

A "new" sound gaining popularity on the folk scene is Cajun music. Cajunbands have performed at the Newport and Chicago folk festivals, among others.At Chicago, which I attended, they were extremely popular. A problem exists,however, in getting any good records of these groups. The bigger labels havenot yet taken to Cajun music, so its recording has fallen to smaller companies,notably Archoolie Records in Berkeley. Owner Chris Strachwitz has includedseveral Cajun numbers in his expanding catalogue. While many of these leavea little to be desired, one stands out. This is the first album on Archoolieby a group led by Clifton Chenier, a Louisiana-born Negro now living in Texas.

Mr. Chenier, who wrote all eleven songs on the album, plays accordian onmost cuts, but switches to a very capable harmonica, ala Jimmy Reed and SonnyBoy Williamson. The album is structured so that the second side containsstraight Cajun music with the exception of the last song, "Louisiana Blues".The group plays drums, piano,guitar, and bass; Chenier is heard on accordianand harp.

The first side is perhaps the most interesting one. It contains six bluescuts rank well, even among established Chicago-style bluesmen. Blues accordianmay seem a bit much, but Chenier plays it like organ, harp, piano, guitar--youname it--and is always wailing. His harp playing, not used enough, make thecuts employing it would like something fresh from Theresa's or Pepper's Lounge.The side men also are nothing to be disappointed about. The drummer is good,while the piano player is first class. The whole sound is different and good.

I might add that if you've never heard Chicago blues sung in Cajun French,you should definitely hear this album. Not all cuts are in the so-called"Frenglish" dialect, and many have both French and English words. Chenier usesCajun for the Cajun numbers, obviously, and uses it only a couple of times onthe blues cuts. Don't worry about it though; it sounds cool backed by anR&B band.

So, if you like Cajun music, this is some of the best. If you like bluestoo, groovy. Pick this one up.

--Lee Kaufmann

WESTERN SWING, Old Timey, LP-10O

Historic Recordings by Bob Wills, Lightcrust Doughboys, Bill Boyd, MiltonBrown, Hackberry Ramblers, Harry Choats.

I was rather frightened by this record when I received it. Obviously aspecialty album, it is, to my knowledge, one of the first western swingreissues (circa. 1935-45). The music on these two sides falls into a limbosomewhere between old-time folk and modern country and western, a situationguaranteed to provoke mixed feelings in both camps. It's hard to dispel imagesof Gene Autry singing "Back in the Saddle Again" backed by a pedal steel, two

saxes, a clarinet, and Sid Sherman on violin. Much of this disc is the muckyou might expect ("The Eyes of Texas are Upon You"), but the rest of it isgenerally good. If you're interested in tracing styles, you can hear barrel-house piano (Knocky Parker on "Knocky, Knocky"), hot Eddie Vanuti violin,Jimmie Rodgers ("Never No More Blues" and "Never No More Hard Times"), bluesvery reminiscent of Leroy Carr ("Swing Blues Number 1"), jazz, swing, and countryall rolled into one. "Where You Been So Long, Corrine" by Milton Brown'sBrownies is one of the best "Corrina's" I've heard. The really outstandingcut, however, is "You've Got to Hi De Hi" by the Hackberry Ramblers. LennisSonnier's vocal is so marvelous, you'll have to buy the album just for that.

--Bob Sayers

JESSE FULLER, FRISCO BOUND, Archoolie R-2009

This one is quite a surprise to me. Never having been much of a JesseFuller fan, I was ready for a poor man's one-man-band much like Jesse's singleof "San Francisco Bay Blues" on Good Time Jazz. Yet this time I encounteredJesse wearing a different hat. "Leavin' Memphis, Frisco Bound" is a narrativeeasily as creative as Mississippi John Hurt's "Talkin' Casey," and everyoneknows Mississippi John could do no wrong. Also parts of this album sound likeBlind Willie McTell; most of it is pure Jesse Fuller, however. Not only doeshe play some solid ragtime (mostly sans fotdella, thankfully), but he playsslide guitar too ("As Long as I can Feel the Spirit"). Again, though, thereis one stand-off performance which alone makes the record worth having. Jessecranks his guitar down into an open tuning and wends his way through two of themost haunting pieces I have ever heard ("Amazing Grace" and "Hark From theTomb"). The only think I've come across which even approaches the mood ofthese two is an old record of Blind Willie Johnson humming along with his guitaron "Dark is the Night." "Has Jesse been turned on to North Indian ragas, orhas he simply been turned on?" remarked a friend. The album jacket is tastefullyuncluttered, too.

All Old-Timey, Archoolie, and Blues Classics records are available for $5.00from: P.O. Box 9195, Berkeley, California 94719.

--Bob Sayers

J.E. MAINER'S MOUNTAINEERS, Vol. 1, Old Timey, LP-106

The following is a different sort of review. Halleck B. Brenden, a great,

bearded, bear of a man, a carpenter and one-time logger, when given the J.E.

Mainer record to write about, decided to get inside the mood of the music itself.

Being a Montana fiddler and old-timey lover, he shares a comaradere with the

people of the land. Taking snatches from the music and punctuating them with

his own observations, this is the end result:(B.S.)

All I can say is they're a great sounding bunch, a veritabletonal trip but don't hold Mainer and the boys responsible forthis Crazy Mountaineer Collage

When the whipporwill calls on a hill far awayWe'd sing love's song, and she would sayMy love for you shall never dieWe bid farewell and a sad goodbye

In the Blue Ridge Mountains in a one room log cabin in between twomountains where the sun didn't shine but six hours a dayMe and him had gotten to playing for square dancesjust fiddle and banjo-and by the wayWhy do you bob your hair girlsIt is an awful wrong. God meant it as your glory and you shouldwear it long.I was doffing in a mill and Boy ! I sure was wet with sweatJust over in the Gloryland we'll join that happy angel bandGabriel was playing horn just blowing his mindAnd Peter was fiddlingshowing J.E. some nice shufflesAnd someone somewhere was stringing staccato-bright pebblenotes ona mandolin in the amber fragrance of yellow pine.I'm a travelin' man I've beenFrom town to town

Blue yodel in the moonlight over the roar of the freightIn that home back in the mountainMother's not so far away...Guess I had ramblin' on my mindPlease don't wait until tomorrow RepentYe Sinners I Repent ye of hardened heartthe story in the Bible told by prophets long ago He'llcome again for me swee-,, Jesus and a sad goodbyeThere was a man standing at the railroad trackthat went by the cafeand he was leaned up against a telephone poleplaying a fiddle. He had been drinking, and playedthe number "The Drunkard's Hiccoughs" I never will forget it.When he got done playing he started across the tracksand Number Ninehithim and killed him.One evening just at dusk caught a freight train out of SouthCarolina and went to Knoxville, Tennessee.and a blue yodel in the moonlight,the fragrance of yellow pine

and the dim blue ridges going by the night.

--Halleck B. Brenden

COUNTY 508 FILLS A VOID

Little is available today to indicate the nature of American folk music inthe Colonial period, or even the first half of the 19th century. A very signi-ficant fraction of what we do have for examination is that which was preservedin written form by the singing-school books (Sacred Harp, Southern Harmony, etc.)which utilized folk hymns along with other popular sacred songs. This body offolksong, so admirably retrieved by George Pullen Jackson, shows us empiricallywhat common sense would indicate: the normal vehicle for a folk text, even atext of religious motivation and use, is a folk tune.

Folk hymnody did not stop with the 1854 edition of the Southern Harmony;however, I think it might be argued that the 20th century editions of theSacred Harp are decreasingly folky in overall content. The new material tendstoward the fuguing tunes (18th century pop, not folk). For the real Americanfolk hymn we need to turn our attention elsewhere. County Records has now donethis in "Mountain Sacred Songs."

A great deal of the repertoire of the Carter Family, Pop Stoneman, UncleDave Macon, and their peers consisted of just this sort of music. That itreflects a fundamentalist brand of Christianity shared by few in the moderncampus audience makes it no less a main current in the traditional musicalculture; on the contrary, it is a "survival" not very different from the survivalsof paganism found in so many of the Child ballads. County 508 exposes thelistener to an otherwise almost unavailable realm of folksong, possibly lessimportant than the Blues, but certainly ahead of Cowboy or Lumberjack songs(there have always been more fundamentalists than cowboys).

Discarding for the moment my mantle as executive officer of the Society forthe Suppression in Folklorists of the Tendency to Classify Everything by Types(S.S.F.T.C.E.T.), I shall draw a few parallels between the Sacred Harp andCounty 508.

The folk can, if they choose, make something lively out of the most prosaicstandard piece. In the Sacred Harp this may be illustrated by "Old Hundred," theusual harmonic structure of which is replaced by a more typical (here) settingemploying parallel thirds and running parts in one or two voices. On County 508the string band treatment of "Are You Washed in the Blood" and the Pop Stonemanversion of "We are Going Down the Valley" demonstrate the same knack; the latterpiece might be classified as a Cheerful Dirge.

Another standard practice is to borrow a pop tune and use it for the Lord'swork; "Sweet Home" ("Home Sweet Home") and "Plenary" ("Auld Lang Syne")illustrate this technique on successive pages of the Sacred Harp. The tuneborrowed for the County 508 cut, "Row us Over the Tide," is not of the world,but in it: "Wonderful Words of Life," by P. P. Bliss.

Most of the other songs on the record fall into the category Dr. Jacksoncalled "revival spiritual songs," characterized by meager text, much repetition,and an extensive chorus. A fine example in the Sacred Harp is "Resurrected."The record offers many of these (which, by the way, lend themselves to groupsinging even among the sober), ranging from the primitive "Called to the ForeignField" to the almost modern "No Drunkard can Enter There," by the Delmore Brothers.

General laudatory remarks to conclude: the liner notes are by an anonymousbut well-informed folklorist, the fidelity is as good as one might expect fromold discs, and the instrumental backgrounds are remarkably varied (would youbelieve a bottleneck style banjo?).

-- Richard Hulan

During the last decade students have become interested in old-timemusic; however, the religious folksong tradition has been overlooked. Con-sequently, Mountain Sacred Songs (County 508) is a valuable addition to anyrecord Collection. One of this album's strongest number is sung by Alfred G.Karnes from Cobin, Kentucky. Karnes' piece is typical of the itinerantpreacher of missionary's parting song and can be compared to one collected byVance Randolph: Ozark Folksongs, Vol. h, pp. 79-80, "The Missionary's Farewell."

CALLED TO THE FOREIGN FIELD

In the foreign, heathen country where the people know not God,I am going there to preach His precious word.Where they bow to worship idols, I am going there to stay,Where I'11 labor in the vineyard of the Lord.

I'll soon be with my loved ones in my happy, heavenly home.Even now the thought my soul with rapture thrills.So good-by my friends and brethren, for the time has come to go.I must leave you all, my dear old battlefield.

I am called to bear the message to the heathen far away,And forever there a stranger I may roam.Just to tell about a Savior, one who died to save them all,That's the reason why I leave my native home.

Chorus

Many days I'll climb the hillside in sunshine and the rain,Many days will be in hunger and in thirst,Just to tell them that Our Lord is coming back to earth againWith His gifts and blessings always at the first.

Chorus

I will stand the trials and hardships just to tell them precious truthsThat the Gospel of Our Saviour does contain.And if they will but obey them and be faithful 'til the endUp in heaven we will meet you all again.

Chorus

We'll not all be foreign laborers, but the time will soon arriveWhen our mission we have faithfully fulfilled.When our message is delivered and 'tis said of us "Well done,"In triumph we'll leave the dear old battlefield.

Chorus

--Margaret Tucker

The song above is transcribed by Club member Margaret Tucker. Thepreceding review of County 508 is by guest reviewer Richard Hulan, a graduateof Vanderbilt University's Divinty School. Mr. Hulan is currently the Directorof Belle Meade Mansion, a Tennessee historical site west of Nashville.

THE YOUNG TRADITION (VSD 79246)--A REVIEW AND EDITORIALCOMPLETE WITH WITTICISMS AND GARBAGE

To my mind this is the finest record of the year, or at least the finest Ihave heard. The Young Tradition is (are?) an English group. I first overcame myalmost instinctive fear of foreign groups in England and Scotland last year. (Iseparate the two, like the Scots--the English do not.) I met and heard The YoungTradition in London, and was fortunate enough to be able to stay with Royston, thebass. He lived with Peter (melody) and Heather (high harmony) in a delightful slumof a house in Islington. Islington is to London as Gary is to Chicago.

Now, I fully realize that too many new groups are lauded and applauded a bittoo highly for their accomplishments. So I will simply say that The Young Traditiondeserve to be heard more than anyone else that has been recorded recently.

Their music is strictly unaccompanied, and therein lies their true value.Almost anyone can sing unaccompanied--that in itself is no measure of merit. Noris the choice of material the crucial thing in determining whether or not a groupmakes it. Nor is it the skill with which the members of a group sing.

These generalizations are not to be taken without some examples. We've allseen the barefoot girl at the local coffee-house who brushes back her carefullycoifed hair and announces, pushing aside her nylon-stringed guitar, "An unaccompaniecballad." And we've all winced through it. She doesn't make it somehow, eventhough Almeda Riddle, whose voice isn't nearly as good, sends us all into quietecstasy. And even though her rendition of such a sophisticated ballad as "BoLamkin" is nice, it can't compare with Frank Proffitt singing a more-or-less insipidlullaby. The difference here has something to do with what bluesmen and jazzmencall soul. Speaking very vaguely (I find it difficult to speak otherwise), theaverage coffee-house type singer doesn't give a crock of ... that is, a pile of ...I mean she doesn't care at all about Bo Lamkin the ax-murderer and stonemason.She sings it because a) she makes money, b) she wants to be looked at, but isn'tpretty enough to be a model, and c) no one knows the song, and so everyone willconsider her an intellectual and a careful connossieur of esoteric balladry. FrankProffitt sings it because he digs it. Somewhere in the difference between thesetwo is the element of "soul" as well.

Getting back to the point of all this--The Young Tradition have soul, and theydig their music. They do not care that The Hungry Child is not a traditional ballad--they glory in the fact that they have put down a lot of people with it, neo-pseudo-tradition people, and they positively wallow in their love for the song it-self, which is, after all, their only reason for singing it. I agree entirely--TheHungry Child is a groovy song, which would gas the hell out of Tony Glover and DocWatson and Ray Charles. (Probably not Richard Dyer-Burnett however).

Many of the other songs on the album are traditional. The Young Tradition havebrought many of these songs to life--NOT by changing the words so folky teeny-boppers can understand them--NOT by adding a Viennese waltz band and the MormanTabernacle Choir as background--and NOT by trying to mimic every inflection, grunt,groan and belch emitted by the sources of their songs.

The Young Tradition album represents the best close-harmony singing I have everheard. They sing with the skill of the best madrigal singers and the love of thosepeople in the traditions who have kept singing with no hope of getting on the EdSullivan show. Try this record as a hangover cure. It may not take away the buzzsaws, but it will certainly make them sound friendly.

--Tom Adler

A RECORD REVIEW

AUSTRALIAN TRADITIONAL SINGERS AND MUSICIANS IN VICTORIA. (21 page brochure)"Being the words and music of seventeen songs transcribed from field recordingscollected by Norman O'Connor, Maryjean Officer and other members of the Folk LoreSociety of Victoria with commentaries by Edgar Waters." Map. 12" LP: WattleArchive Series 2. 1963.

Academic attention to traditional music in Australia has centered almostexclusively on that produced by the aborigines. Australian scholars have paidrelatively little heed to the music brought in and created by white settlers,and the continent is distant enough from the United States and the British Islesthat despite their common tradition and often similar frontier history,professional concern failed to cross the oceans. It has been left mostly todedicated and spirited amateurs to develop an interest in Australian traditionalmusic, to seek it out in its everyday context or in the memory of the old-timers,and to attempt to make their new-found treasures known to the rest of the world(a pattern familiar to us from some areas, some campuses in this country).

Recordings of Australian folk music sung by Australians have been so fewthat it took John Greenway just one paragraph to survey them in 1958, and acouple of pages in 1960 (JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLKLORE, Vol. 7h, 1961, p. hh6;WESTERN FOLKLORE, Vol 19, 1960, pp. 296-298). A recent addition to Greenway'slists is AUSTRALIAN TRADITIONAL SINGERS AND MUSICIANS IN VICTORIA (henceforth,ATSMV), an ambitious project which grew out of the work of the Folk Lore Societyof Victoria, in conjunction with Wattle Recordings, and with a financial boostfrom the Commonwealth Literary Fund. Although the result looks like-an LPaccompanied by an elaborate brochure, with texts, tunes, biographies. notes, amap, and an introduction, it was apparently designed the other way around, as aprinted collection accompanied by a phonograph record. The songs were chosenby Norman O'Connor, President, and Maryjean Officer, a former Secretary of theSociety, in consultation with Peter Hamilton of Wattle Recordings. Thecommentaries, perhaps the best feature of this production (along with the musicper se), were written by Edgar Waters. The LP was edited and prepared by0'Connor and Hamilton.

Side A of the record features Simon McDonald exclusively: "Bungaree,""The Old Man Kangaroo," "Billy Brink," "Ginny of the Moor," "The Lost Sailor,""The Golden Vanity," and "The Banks of Claudy." McDonald also plays fourfiddle tunes, "Jack's the Lad," "Napoleon's March," "Father O'Flynn," and"Rakes of Kildare," which are not, however, transcribed in the brochure. OnSide B we hear the following: Dick Evans, "The Wild Rover;" Tom Newbound,"Gentle Annie," "The Banks of Riverine," "The Dying Shearer," "Johnny Sands,"and with his sister, Mrs. Montgomery, "Spanish Merchant's Daughter;" CaptainH. R. Watson, "According to the Act," and "Leave Her, Jollies, Leave Her."

These are mostly British or Irish imports, or native Australian songs aboutthe Australian scene, often built on British of Irish text-tune models. Thistype of material is fortunately supplemented by comments in the biographies aboutother musical or folkloristic interests of the singers. For instance: "SimonMcDonald began playing in his father's band--on the tin whistle--at the age ofseven; he is still in some demand as a fiddler at dances. He is regardes as sosomething of a 'character' in the district, and his singing and recitations arealso greatly appreciated...He is quite ready to sing the latest songs he haslearnt from the wireless in order to entertain others. Most of the balladswhich he recites he has made himself, and most of them are about his ownexperiences. They are in the style made popular by the 'bush balladists' suchas Paterson and Lawson." "Dick Evans is a gifted spinner of bush yarns...

The songs in his repertory come mainly from the music halls, above all the senti-mental songs so beloved of the larrikins of his youth." "/Tom Newbound7 pickedup a. large repertory of songs, from his mother, from men with whom he worked indifferent places, from the troupes of professional entertainers who sang in theconcert halls of the goldfield towns in their thriving days." Hopefully theFolk Lore Society of Victoria will find it possible to document for the publicat large some of these other song types--instrumental music, recitations,narratives--among the younger generations as well as the old-timers.

The Society's laudable aim is "to record the material which exists in oraltradition, and make it available; the scholars can then argue over definitions."The notes are similarly open-minded (and engagingly written). References rangefrom the expected Paterson, Dean-Smith, Laws, et al, to discussions of hillbillymusic in Australia and its influence on Australian traditional singers (creditis given to the late John Edwards for much of this information). The bibliographyis more complete in Australian titles than in English or American, but then, towhat extent do we consult Australian writings when we compile notes for albumsof American music? Since the history of the continent and the intricacies ofAustralian English are not that familiar to many of us, it is to our benefit thatthe notes are detailed and slanted as they are. Indeed, sources are used whichwould be inaccessible or quite unknown to us.

There is one criticism which must be made of ATSNV, though: the preciserelationship of brochure to LP is not clear. The Introduction states that "thesongs printed here have been transcribed from tape recordings made between 1957and 1963...A record is enclosed on which may be heard the original field recordingsfrom which the songs in this collection have been transcribed." Yet in mostcases the songs on the record do not correspond to the songs in the brochure,in either text or melody, usually both. The stakes vary from substitution oatsingle words to addition, omission, and/or rearrangement of entire stanzas. Ioffer one of the more disturbing examples, Tom Newbound's "Dying Shearer":

text from the brochure

.1 A shearer lad lay dying in a hut in New South Wales,As the pale moon shone through the open door,And his comrades stood beside him as he told them pleasant talesOf home and friends he'd never seen no more.

2. I hope they will forgive me for the reckless life I've led,And I'm sorry that I ever went away,And as for little Nelly, it will surely break her heart,The little girl I left in grief and pain.

3. Take back this ring she gave me as a token of true love,Tell her that I loved her to the last;You can tell my eldest brother for to always take her part,For she'll never see her shearer lad again.

h. There's just one request, my comrades, I must ask you ere I die,Take a message to my poor old mother dear,Tell my sisters and my brothers that I bid them all farewell,For their loving voice I never more will hear.

$. You can take my horses, ,comredes, for I never more will need,Likewise my shears and Turkish stone,Give them to my father for he'll need them that I'm sure,They're a present from his own dear loving son.

6. You can bury me dear comrades down by the river shore,Down where those stately bushes grow,You can bring my little sister when you come next year to shear,And pick a flower from a lonely shearer's grave.

text from the LP

1. A shearer youth lay dying in a hut in New South WalesAs the pale blue moon shone through the open door.And his comrade stood beside him as he told him pleasant talesOf home and friends he'd never see no more.

2. Oh there's one request, dear comrade, I may ask you ere I die,Take this message to my poor old mother dear,Tell my sisters and my brothers that I wish them all farewell,For their loving voice I never more will hear.

3. And I hope 'n' they'll forgive me for the reckless life I've led,And I'm sorry that I ever went away.And that as for little Nelly, it will surely break her heart,The little girl I left in grief and pain.You can tell my eldest brother for to always take her part,For she'll never see her shearer lad again.

4. And take back this ring she gave me as a token of true love,And tell her that I loved her till the last.You can tell her that my only hope's to meet her up aboveWhen the weary days upon this earth is past.

5. You can take my horses, comrade, for I never more will need,Likewise my (?) hobble shears and Turkish stone.You can give them to my father for he'll need them, that I'm sure,It's a present from his own dear dying son.

6. You can bury me, dear comrade, down by the Lochland river shore,Down where those stately redgumn suckers grow,You can bring my little sister when you come next year to shear,Pick a flower from her brother's lonely grave.

(The two melodies follow this article.)

Such discrepancies raise certain sets of questions. First, concerningwhat is on the record: Are these in fact the "original field recordings"? TheIntroduction indicates that these tapes were made between 1957 and 1963. Thedates of collection assigned to the songs in the brochure, however, are neverlater than 1960 (five songs from 1957; six from 1959; six from 1960). Were thesongs on the LP recorded later (up to 1963) under more favorable, studio conditions?

A couple of comments from SINGABOUT, magazine of the Bush Music Club inSydney, New South Wales, also point to different recording times. Tom Newbound's"Dying Shearer" appeared in Vol. 3, No. 4 of SINGABOUT (n.d. but ?1959-1960;pp. 10-11), with a note that "chev has forgotten the order of some of the verses(in fact he never sings it the same twice). The melody is a rough variant of'The Little Old Log Cabin in the Dell,' and was recorded by Kath and ArthurLumsden in March, 1959." The verses in SINGABOUT are word for word the sameas in the brochure, except that the order of stanzas is 1, 4, 2, 3, 5, 6.Brochure credit is to "Kath and Arthur Lumsden, 1959."

The other point concerns Simon McDonald. Several of his songs appearedin Vol. 4, No. 2 (May, 1961) of SINGABOUT, almost exactly as they are printedin the ATSMV brochureb In the SINGABOUT introduction we read: "When firstrecorded, Simon played an introduction to each song on the fiddle and usuallyaccompanied himself throughout. Sometimes he would stop playing in the lastfew verses. Now--at our request--he sings unaccompanied as we found it hardto pick up the words the other way. He will often give himself an introductionto a song (p.5)." In the brochure we read: "In some of the recordings made ofSimon McDonald, he played a kind of accompaniment to his own singing on thefiddle. In most cases of this kind, he played over the melody of the song beforebeginning to sing it, and then continued to play the melody behind his singingfor a few verses. He did not attempt to introduce any fiddle passages betweenverses of the song, and often abandoned the fiddle after the first verse ortwo (p.3)." On the LP, there is a one-phrase fiddle introduction to a singlesong, "The Banks of Claudy," but it is in a different key from the song proper,and sounds as though it was spliced on from a different take. The recordingsof Simon McDonald would thus appear to date from later in his contact with theFolk Lore Society of Victoria.

If we may assume that at least some of the items on the record are not"the original field recordings from which the songs in this collection have beentranscribed," the next question is Where did the transcriptions in this collectioncome from? Were these particular variants actually sung, and on the datesindicated? Were transcriptions of the first recordings of these songs used forconvenience (as apparently they were distributed to SINGABOUT, and to JohnLahey, who edited AUSTRALIAN FAVORITE BALLADS cOak, 1965$), without rememberingthat the "same" song might assume quite another shape at a different time,under different circumstances? Or were these texts written out by the singersat the request of the collectors, or copied from MS ballad collections (such asMrs. Peatey's)? Have these texts and tunes been polished or "improved", and ifso, by whom, to what extent, and by what standards? SINGABOUT (Vol. 5, No. 1,January, 1963) reported on a seminar on the presentation and preservation oftraditional material, part of a Folk Song Weekend held in Sydney in July of1962; the session was led by Peter Hamilton of Wattle Recordings, and amongthe topics discussed was "the need for professional editing of folk lorematerial so that it could be presented in palatable fashion (pp. 10-11)." Wasthere any "professional editing" of ATSMV? In other words, can we be sure thatthe printed songs are authentic? Can the scholar as well as the folksongdevotee use them?

I offer these questions and criticisms not because I enjoy sounding severe,but in the hopes of provoking a response from the Folk Lore Society ofVictoria, say, in the form of an explanatory flyer which could be distributedto purchasers of ATSMV, or a revision of the brochure when it is eventuallyreprinted. A few sentences added to the Introduction might do it. Similaruncertainties might be avoided on future publications by closer or morecentralized editing. Where academic activity is not extensive, the enthusiasticamateur groups exist who are willing to spend their own time and resources topursue pleasure and curiosity, then they should be encouraged, not just by oneanother, but also by those of use in the out-group. Although I would rather nothave to speculate on certain details, I welcome this music from Victoria, andlook forward to more of it.

--Judith McCulloh

This LP was originally sent for review to Blue Yodel, the publication of theIndiana University Folksong Club. Unfortunately, Blue Yodel was unable to printthe review at the time it was written. Autoharp is happy to bring ATSMV to theattention of its readers.

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