Folkobit: Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger, American legend and folk singer, has died.

The New York Times obituary explains how he was a one-man timeline of the American left:

He sang for the labor movement in the 1940s and 1950s, for civil rights marches and anti-Vietnam War rallies in the 1960s, and for environmental and antiwar causes in the 1970s and beyond. “We Shall Overcome,” which Mr. Seeger adapted from old spirituals, became a civil rights anthem.

USA Today pointed out his unique double, which hopefully will never be repeated:

Seeger is the only singer in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who was convicted of contempt of Congress. In 1955, he refused to testify about his past membership in the Communist Party. (He later said he quit the party in 1949 and "should have left much earlier. It was stupid of me not to...I thought Stalin was the brave secretary Stalin and had no idea how cruel a leader he was.")

The LA Times captured why folk music attracted the young Seeger:

Seeger fell in love with the old-fashioned five-string banjo. "I liked the rhythms," he said. "I liked the melodies, time-tested by generations of singers." Above all, he said, he liked the words.

"Compared to the trivialities of most popular songs, the words of these songs had all the meat of human life in them," Seeger said. "They sang of heroes, outlaws, murderers, fools. They weren't afraid of being tragic instead of just sentimental.... Above all, they seemed frank, straightforward, honest."

Volksrant remembered that Seeger was passionate to the end:

He continued to write songs, targeting world leaders and environmental pollution, such as in 2010, with a song about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

How did he see his role? The New York Times went for a simple quote:

“My job,” he said in 2009, “is to show folks there’s a lot of good music in this world, and if used right it may help to save the planet.”

USA Today, though, went with one that had a bit more nuance to it:

"Songs won't save the planet," Seeger told his biographer David Dunlap, author of How Can I Keep From Singing? "But, then, neither will books or speeches...Songs are sneaky things. They can slip across borders. Proliferate in prisons." He liked to quote Plato: "Rulers should be careful about what songs are allowed to be sung."

On Sunday night, Stephen Colbert beat Seeger to the Grammy in the best spoken word category.

Seeger was 94; he died from natural causes in New York.

Shelagh McDonald: You can safely call this a comeback

The Herald has a a great story this morning about a singer who vanished from view so completely, people assumed she was dead:

Only in 2005, after a re-release of her work without her knowledge, did [Shelagh] McDonald make herself known to the world again — a "surreal" experience, after reading about herself as if she were dead.

It had been The Independent which killed her off, although she read of her demise when the Scottish edition of the Daily Mail repeated the story.

She wasn't dead; she'd had a bad trip which destroyed her voice and, after stopping singing, she met Gordon Farquhar. Their lives together took a route far away from music; it was only after Gordon's death that she tried to sing again.

It's working for her; she's doing a session on Tuesday for Alive Radio. Although people have preconceptions about her:

"I think people are expecting me to be a miserable old sod, a tragedy, and I'm supposed to be incredibly mysterious.

You cannot be mysterious if you've lived in a tent for six years, it just can't be done."

I think Jabal might argue with that.

It might look like this is a story which is calling for a a description of "a happy ending", but that would imply that 'not being in the public eye' is, of itself, an unhappy state of affairs. McDonald says she has no regrets about the way her life unfolded.

Folkobit: Fred Wedlock

And there you go: Fred Wedlock, singer of The Oldest Swinger In Town, has died.

Fred started singing to the customers of the pub he was born in - earning sixpence at the age of four, according to his official site. Like Jasper Carrott and Billy Connolly, he built his skills by working the circuit of folk clubs, and earned his wider fame thanks to his sharp wit.

Having had something of a portmanteau career, Wedlock tried proper jobs - teaching, most notably - and assembled a three-decade span of doing this and that. He even spent a spell as HTV's answer to David Dickinson, presenting a series of Bargain Hunters.

Fred, who was 67, had been suffering from pneumonia and died yesterday after a heart attack.

Folkobit: Kate McGarrigle

Kate McGarrigle, folk singer, has died.

Kate's journey to folk music was a twisted one - she studied engineering at McGill University, while the sisters were taught music originally by local nuns. McGarrigle married Loudon Wainwright III - a marriage which ended in disappointment. It did, however, bring two children, both who have followed their parents into making unexpected-but-powerful music just off the mainstream.

Kate And Annie McGarrigle's first, self-titled album, came in 1975 - they'd started making music together in New York, where Kate and Loudon had almost-settled following the birth of Rufus. The sisters performed their hearts out in New York, but it was the songs they started to circulate to other artists which would land them a record deal. Warners were impressed with a track they'd written which had been picked up by Linda Rondstadt and offered a recording contract.

Between 1975 and 1982 the pair released a series of albums, but - never ones obsessed with the demands of the music industry - their workrate slowed a lot after this; each occasional album welcomed and a thing of beauty, but starting another long wait for the follow-up. Their last, The McGarrigle Christmas Hour, came out for the 2005 holidays.

Kate McGarrigle has been living with cancer for a number of years; it finally claimed her life yesterday. Kate McGarrigle was 63.

This is Kate and Annie McGarrigle (and friends) covering Hard Times Come Again No More:

Folkobit: Liam Clancy

Irish folk icon Liam Clancy has died.

Although Irish-born, it was America who made the fortunes of the Clancy Brothers And Tommy Makem. Having already enjoyed success as an actor and producer in his late teens, it was a second burst of fame for Clancy, but what a burst. The singers embraced the The Ed Sullivan Show, performing for JFK and a close friendship with Bob Dylan (Dylan considered Clancy to be the best "ballad singer" in the world).

The Clancy Brothers stumbled onto a trademark by chance - their mother sent them an arran sweater each shortly after they arrived in the US. It gave them a visual image which would be maintained through their career (and, in a large part, lead to the popular image of folk singers being besweatered.)

In 1962, Ciarán MacMathuna reintroduced the band to their home country, and from there it was a short time before they'd become what Gay Byrne would call "the most famous Irish men in the world". The non-Clancy members of the band would slowly drift away, and by the mid-1979s the band dissolved.

Liam struggled to find his feet after the band split, dipping into bankruptcy before being rescued by American TV. A couple of series of a talk-and-music show followed, bringing him back into partnership with Tommy Makem. The pair eventually formed a duo which would endure for thirteen years.

Following the death of his brother Tom, Liam returned to a revived Clancy Brothers in 1990. This version of the band toured for six years before calling time with an elaborate Farewell To Ireland special, after which Liam once again became a solo performer.

Clancy, who was 74, was the last surviving member of the band.

Folkobit: Mike Seeger

Mike Seeger, doomed forever to be thought of as the less-famous half-brother of Pete, has died.

Less famous, but no less significant, though: Seeger's career as a folk archivist and musician stretched across six decades. He was a key figure in the 1950s folk revival - mainly but not exclusively through the New Lost City Ramblers. In 2007, his work helped Robert Plant and Alison Krauss to a Grammy.

Seeger suffered from multiple myeloma. He died on Friday.

This is him in 2007, performing Cumberland Gap at a festival in Wintergreen:

Folkobit: Ronnie Drew

As has been pointed out in the comments, we've fallen behind by not providing an obituary for Ronnie Drew sooner.

Born in 1934, Drew fled Ireland as a teenager - or, rather, he fled the prospect of being locked into a dull job for the length of his life. He arrived in Spain, where in-between waiting jobs, he learned to play flamenco guitar and speak some "arsewards" Spanish; on his return home, he tried acting but settled on music as a career in the late 1950s.

Drew is one of those rare creatures in popular music, a singer who dropped his name from the title of his band rather than adding it in. He founded the band which would go on to be known as the Dubliners as The Ronnie Drew Group in 1962; the change of name was inspired by the James Joyce book. Alongside John Sheahan Barney McKenna, Luke Kelly and Ciarán Bourke, Drew would become a member of the definitive Irish folk group and - besides a touring-bored five year hiatus from 1974 - he'd remain in the group until 1996.

Following his final split with the Dubliners, Drew recorded a number of solo and collaborative works, but in recent years his time was taken up more and more by the results of his failing health - he'd become wracked with cancer of the throat. Earlier this year, a supergroup of his admirers recorded a tribute-cum-benefit single The Ballad Of Ronnie Drew. Amongst those taking part were Bono, Joe Elliot, Christy Moore and Sinead O'Connor. It's a measure of the affection for the man in his home country that the single bounded to the top of the Irish chart.

Although anxious in the face of death, he drew comfort from his philosophy of life, as recorded in the Irish Times:

"The way I looked at it was that you can't always wait for the green man to cross the road. Sometimes you have to go when it's red - to get to the other side."

Drew - who died on the 16th - was buried today in Greystones, County Wicklow. 3,000 mourners attended, overfilling not just the small church but also the official overspill area in the village hall.

Here is a YouTube clip of one of the dozens of collaborations Ronnie recorded during his career both with and after his Dubliners years: with Christy Moore on RTE's Late Late Show in 1987, singing Black Velvet Band:



And, from much, much earlier - this is the Ronnie Drew Band before they changed their name to The Dubliners, on a programme called Ballad Sheet. This is The Leaving Of Liverpool:

Folkobit: Artie Traum

Artie Traum, a key player in the New York Folk scene of the 1960s, has died.

Traum formed a Woodstock-based duo with his brother, the spectacularly named Happy Traum. Represented by Albert Grossman, whose stable also included Peter Paul And Mary. A trio of successful albums followed, before the brothers went their separate musical ways in 1977. They continued to work together, however, presenting a radio show together before reuniting on record in 1994.

During the 1970s and 80s, Artie was a key member and producer for the Woodstock Mountains Revue, a loose grouping of upstate New Yorkers; in the late 90s he reworked his style radically and released a jazz album.

He is survived by his wife, Beverly, and his brother. It's believed his death was caused by lung cancer.

Not fair, cry Fairport Convention

Fairport Convention and other bands who played last year's Isle Of Wight Folk and Blues festival claim they've not been paid yet. So, they've done exactly what you or I would do. No, I mean exactly. They complained to You and Yours. Dave Pegg told the programme:

"We did a concert there which was sold out. I personally travelled all the way from France where I was on holiday and took three days out of my life.

"The audience were great. We had a really good night. We may appear to be a big name but this is our livelihood and we really do need to get paid."

Rather missing the point, the organiser admits she hasn't yet sent out any cheques but has paid other musicians:

Geri Ward, who organises the Folk and Blues festival and the Isle of Wight International Jazz Festival, says performers will get their appearance fees.

"The jazz festival musicians from last year have been paid. The majority of this year's are already paid," she said.

"The folk and blues festival is a big problem to us because we do have to find reinvestment and find sponsors.

Perhaps the idea of not paying the blues performers was that, at least, they'd be able to get some more songs out of their predicament, but we're not quite sure that saying you've paid off the jazz guys is all that reassuring. It's like Peaches Geldof saying 'yes, but I paid for the shoes, didn't I?" and hoping that will be an end of the matter.

Landes in London

Dawn Landes is playing a trio of London gigs in the next few days:

25th Jan - Water Rats Kings Cross
27th - Bardens Boudoir Dalston
1st Feb - Windmill, Brixton

If you haven't come across her yet, this is what she does - recorded by RKST

Folkobit: John Stewart

The death has been announced of John Stewart, songwriter and member of the Kingston Trio.

Born in 1939, Stewart's earliest musical performances were driven by the-then young and vibrant rock music, leading his own band (called, with only slight derivativeness, Johnny Stewart and the Furies) before eventually turning folkier and winding up in The Cumberland Trio alongside Gil Robbins (father of Tim).

In 1961, Stewart was invited to join the Kingston Trio, who had just separated from Dave Guard. The band had briefly considered offering the job to Roger McGuinn, but Stewart's skills (and an ability to look good wearing the band's trademarks striped shirts, apparently) got him the gig.

He remained with the group for six years, during which they continued to be a regular chart presence - although never quite achieving the heights of their Guard-era Tom Dooley. By 1967, though, the Trio decided their future lay as three solo artists instead, and went their separate ways.

Retained by Capitol Records, Stewart started to write songs - most notably, Daydream Believer for The Monkees, although his work has been recorded by artists including Nanci Griffith and John Baez. In total, he wrote over 600 songs; although his fan base wasn't large enough to propel him to the charts, it was dedicated and he continued to record and play up until his final year.

In recent years, Stewart had been suffering from health problems - a series of ministrokes, and a diagnosis of the onset of Alzheimer's. It's believed that he suffered an aneurysm or major stroke; he died in the same hospital he was born in. He is survived by a wife, Buffy, and four children.