Seasons of the Ukulele

A weekly song challenge for ukulele players - all welcome. Find out more here

Season 760 - Songs from the Great Folk Scare of the Sixties

dr_mitch

Here's one from 1949 which became popular in the great British folk revival of the 1960s. Though it's now more associated with the two Irish groups the Dubliners (1966) and the Pogues (1985).

I present Dirty Old Town. Thanks for hosting Jim.

CanadaJim

I recall SING OUT! magazine having discussions about what was and wasn't Folk Music starting in 1961 (probably before 1961, but that's when I bought my first copy) until Spring of 2014, when they stopped publishing a print edition. They never did come to a final decision/definition, therefore I will accept any reasonable definition, even Big Bill Broonzy's.

-Blues historians quote Big Bill Broonzy as saying, *"I guess all songs is folk songs. I never heard no horse sing 'em."

-The New York Times also quoted Louis Armstrong as saying, "All music is folk music. I ain't never heard no horse sing a song,"

AlanDP

Patrick On the Railroad.

Edwin

I've recently been singing ABBA's "Super Trouper" at open mics and introducing it as a Swedish Folk Song with the justification that Swedish folk wrote it. I'm not sure this helps 🙂.

(I think I understand the intention of the theme though… I will be back with a song soon enough 🙂. It's been way too long since I did some Dylan after all…)

joo

Thanks for hosting, Jim. Love the theme.

I think it might be safe to assume that any song from the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings fit your theme.

Here is my version of Michael Hurley's I Like My Wine from the album First Songs from Folkways Records, 1964.

Fantastic album.

I include a couple of my acrylic improvised paintings.

johnpoole

Thanks Jim! Nice theme. Here's a song from a 70's Oz mini series called ' Against the Wind'. It was set in penal colony Oz. Late 1700's. This song was written to be the kind of Olde Englishe Folkaye song that would have been round back in those days. Written by Jon English and Mario Millo. Pretty sure I've done this before and also our Jon here I think did a good version. ' Six Ribbons"

Aviva

Banks of the Ohio

A classic old American murder ballad--author unknown. I first heard this as a child on an old Joan Baez record my parents had. My family sang together often. I remember on road trips, my parents singing this together and harmonizing.I never thought too deeply about the theme or how misogynistic a story it is…

There are many different versions of the song--some with more graphic details about the murder. So many luminaries have recorded it including: Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Doc Watson--and even Olivia Newton John!

KKimura

Great Theme Jim!

Tom Paxton wrote this one during the Greenwich Village folk revival; The Last Thing On My Mind.

CanadaJim

I just noticed that I left Graham's wonderful version of STREETS OF LONDON off the playlist. That is now corrected, but please let me know if you notice any other ommisions. Thanks.

CanadaJim

Our hootenanny is continuing to grow.
- Wendy has given us a cool version of Eric Bogle's DO YOU KNOW ANY DYLAN. It reminds me of a quote from Ray Wylie Hubbard - ""I went to a Bob Dylan show the other night. I hoped he'd sing Masters Of War, but he didn't . . . or maybe he did and I just didn't recognise it."
- Mitch gave us Ewan MacColl's tribute to his hometown, Salford - DIRTY OLD TOWN.
- Alan did a super performance, as usual, of PATRICK ON THE RAILROAD.
- Joo gave us an art show to go along with Michael Hurley's I LIKE MY WINE.
- John contributed an Australian folk song called SIX RIBBONS.
- Aviva gave us a neat old timey murder ballad with neat harmonies, THE BANKS OF THE OHIO; one i love to do myself,
- KKimura brought us one of my favourite Tom Paxton songs, THE LAST THING ON MY MIND.

Keep 'em comin'!

AlanDP

The tragic tale of "Peter Gray."

dr_mitch

I'm cheating here. This song is from the 1970s, and the artist Lowry died in 1976, so the song couldn't have been written before that (a spoiler for the last verse and final chorus). But other than that the song sounds like it could have come from the 1960s.

Here's Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs which comemorates the life of the artist L.S. Lowry.

jon

thank you for hosting this week Jim!
a song from one of my favourite rekkids,Patrick Sky's self-titled debut LP from 1965
an Appalachian traditional dating from the late 19thcentury, it exists
in many variations(& titles) and different recordings but i always liked Patrick Sky's the most
so i used the same verses he does. can't resist a good ol murder ballad lol
"Reuben"

UkeFoote

"The Early Morning Rain" by Canadian Gordon Lightfoot, for concert ukulele with singing, overdubs of Ashbory bass and secondary vocal. Thanks for hosting from the shores of beautiful Lake Ontario, Jim!

The final show of our summer live concert series will be on September 27, at 6:30 pacific coast usa time. The theme of the show is "Oh Canada!" and will be programmed entirely of music by Canadian artists.

jon

another song from Patrick Sky's 1965 album
the opening song, "Many a Mile" that i had a go at on our
hike today to Pelverata falls, some film of our walk also in the clip

CanadaJim

SEPARATION BLUES - Patrick Sky

Jon sang REUBEN and MANY A MILE for us; songs he learned from Patrick Sky's first LP. I bought that album in the mid-sixties when I was in high school. I still have it and though it has a few dust scratches, every cut is still playable. The 3rd song on side 2 is Separation Blues.
Thanks for the reminder Jon.

CanadaJim

I'll do a replay from 6 years ago that came from that same Patrick Sky LP.
Here's "Rattlesnake Mountain".

DelGriff

Thanks for hosting, Jim! 🙂

Here’s a song from January 1968, described by Wikipedia as a folk-rock song, which hopefully fits the theme.

So, I would have been 16 months old when it was released, and it did reach the top spot in the UK charts - making it probably one of the first songs that became imprinted on my very young brain at the time. Which kinda explains why it has a very strange, slightly spooky, effect on me whenever I hear it. Hard to describe the feeling, but there’s definitely something weird about it. Anyway, I love the song - even though I’m still not quite sure what it’s all about! 😆

Baritone uke with various synth adds, digital wind instrument flute sound, homemade electronic drum track and vocal harmonies almost all the way through.

Mighty Quinn - Manfred Mann cover (SOTU 760)

AlanDP

From a poem by Henry Clay Work.

uke4ia

This is "She Moves Through the Fair", a traditional Irish song. I know it from a 1969 version by Fairport Convention.

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