Muffin Bottoms [not] Just another WordPress weblog

07/21/2014

Little Boxes – Remembering Pete Seeger

Filed under: Mundane Or Sublime,Music and Stuff,Pop Culture — admin @ 2:41 am

Little Boxes – Malvina Reynolds

petemarc


The first time I saw Pete Seeger perform this live
was in Providence Rhode Island. He was doing a tribute
to Malvina Reynolds who he credited for his first hit 
single. It was an evening of folk music that was a who’s
who of “Pete Seeger & Friends.” Each did a song or two
that she’d written, and then they
ended the show with a stage full of people singing
Little Boxes for a very long time. I was in heaven.
Not for the fame around me, but for the mass of people
we were, singing together. It was something I can’t
describe in words. Greater than his banjo playing and
his beautiful voice that to this day remains clearer
than a bell, Pete Seeger’s gift really IS his ability
to get an entire “room” singing together.

 

“Katzberg recalled Seeger as emcee at a tribute to Malvina Reynolds at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in 1993, and singing at the Rhode Island Labor & Ethnic Heritage Festival in Pawtucket in 1996. The latter, she said, perfectly fulfilled a vision she once had about the festival. (Katzberg has a picture of herself on stage with Seeger.)”

http://www.providencejournal.com/writers/andy-smith/20140128-remembering-the-role-pete-seeger-played-in-rhode-island-folk-music-scene.ece

 

The nammys say this about him:

Seeger also encouraged Oneida Nation musician Joanne Shenandoah. She was one of his favorite artists. He shared the stage with her on many occasions including a remarkable set with the late Odetta ten years ago, at Madison Square Garden for his 90th Birthday on May 3, 2009, and in 2012 when he, Shenandoah and Patti Smith sang at Cooper Union Hall in New York City for a human rights event. When asked last year as to which performance he wanted to attend he elected to hear Joanne Shenandoah, standing on the side of the stage for her entire hour long set.

 

companionvid

 

Last night Lincoln Center Out Of Doors put on a ginormous memorial concert remembering Pete Seeger’s legacy through song.

It reminded me so much of that Malvina Reynolds tribute in Providence way back in the day. It had that same feel to it. Heck, at least 15 of last night’s performers were at that show.

Anyhew, they’re streaming that entire concert on a loop at http://watch.lincolncenter.org/pages/live-stream-seeger-memorial?_ga=1.67522065.1040021086.1405935394 for the next 24 hours!

 

Check that out.

07/04/2014

ANNOTATIONS: Marc Frucht’s American Songbag.

Filed under: Academic,Mundane Or Sublime,Music and Stuff,Pop Culture,Tech — admin @ 8:53 am

Here goes some “explication” about the two newest recordings I’ve mastered and edited up. Enjoy.
Recorded live from the soundboard at a Bonfire in Groton, CT.
I noticed while I was organizing these tunes that it kind of serves as the best kind of ethnomusicology lesson you could ever receive for free. Pro Bono, my gift to you. Call now, operators are standing by…

16th Century Greensleeves. (cover of a Ritchie Blackmore arrangement of a very old song)

Old Folksinger – by Merle Kessler, aka “Ian Shoales.”
Need a real audio of my studio version?
http://frucht.org/audioclips.html

Other Side – Orig. Someone I was very sweet on turned to me one night and said, “why don’t you write a song about turquoise and silver and a pebble and a ring.” So I did.

Johnny B. Goode – Standard (played very non-standard)

Oh Boy – written by Sonny West, Bill Tilghman and Norman Petty. Made most famous by Buddy Holly

Hey Mon – Orig.

One Tin Soldier – Coven. Made most famous by the movie “Billy Jack.”

Little Things – Orig.

Wicked Wicked World. – Medley arranged by Marc Frucht. “Wicked World”
by Black Sabbath’s Ozzie Osbourne, “When The Levee Breaks” collected
folk style by Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page. Last verse Original.

Happened Just That Way – Roger Miller

Seminole Wind – John Anderson
Want to hear just a cute cover of it by a little girl named Mary Elizabeth Kirkpatrick? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsN0zk7VojA Neat how sometimes a song can be kept immortal by lots of people giving it some love!

Mary Had a William Goat – I learned this parody from Carl Sandburg’s publication “American Songbag.”

Merry Minuet – I first heard the Kingston Trio version of this song from my mom and dad’s massive record collection. It was written by

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes – from the Movie of the same name.
I’ve actually been asked to sing it a capella at movie premieres and stuff.

Dream On Again – You notice how they sing, “sing with me” and it’s a song written in like Fm7 with a flatted 9th in the bass, and it’s a key that only Bessie Smith can sing but she’s gotta warm up all opera style before she even tries to sing it?

Evil Ways – Carlos Santana

Milli Vanilla – I wrote this as a parody to the Poison song “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”

FUN song – from Sponge Bob Square Pants. Just don’t ask me to sing the Campfire song or “I Ripped My Pants.”

Blister In The Sun – Violent Femmes. Done as a medley together with “American Music” and “Free.” Proof that the Bodeans stole liberally from the Violent Femmes. J/K they’re all friends with each other.

Oh Freedom – medley. My version of Pete Seeger’s version of Odetta’s version of several ancient spirituals

Do Wacka Do – more Roger Miller

FryBread – Orig.

* Recordings engineered in Groton, CT by Andrew Barnes

Listen to the entire thing in two parts at: http://soundcloud.com/atizine/marcofruchtsamericansongbag-part2

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