http://www.thevillager.com/villager_347/timeschange.html
All-star CD pays tribute to 1960s Village music scene
BY RICHARD ANTONE
The Village of today is a place of chain stores, condos and
apartments with sky-high rents. This was once the place where as
documented in Bob Dylan's "Tangled Up in Blue" there was "music in
the cafes at night and revolution in the air."
In the 1960s, there existed a multitude of clubs where folk artists
were becoming breakout stars. Peter, Paul and Mary were covering Bob
Dylan songs at The Bitter End. Inspired by Woody Guthrie, Odetta and
others, Bob Dylan was playing his own songs at Gerdes Folk City (Joan
Baez would soon tour with him, exposing his songs to her audience).
Richie Havens was playing the scene when he wasn't painting portraits
to pay his bills. David Crosby checked out jazz saxophonist John
Coltrane at the Village Vanguard. There was live jazz and much more
at the Village Gate.
"The Village" (released in November by 429 Records) is a tribute to
the folk singers, songs and songwriters who passed through the
Village scene and launched a powerful, enduring genre. Dylan's shadow
looms large on the disc, with covers by Rickie Lee Jones, The Duhks,
Lucinda Williams, Shelby Lynne and Rocco DeLuca. Bruce Hornsby's
dexterous piano solo soothes on John Sebastian's "Darlin' Be Home
Soon." Mary Chapin-Carpenter mines the emotional depth of Eric
Anderson's "Violets of Dawn." Rachael Yamagata turns in a very
sensitive version of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now." Cowboy Junkies
bring a somber tone to Tim Buckley's "Once I Was."
As these songs were originally conceived, recorded and released, the
musicians playing the Village scene were getting a musical education
along with the audience. Dylan shared bills with blues icon John Lee
Hooker and bluegrass band The Greenbriar Boys. Blues and country
musicians who played area folk festivals were reaching new audiences.
Fueled by increasingly vocal movements working for civil rights,
women's rights, gay rights and peace, people were developing an
increasing awareness of important issues. It was a climactic,
turbulent decade, full of triumph and tragedy.
Nearly a half century later, The Bitter End and the Village Vanguard
are still here. Joe's Pub is a cozy space to hear eclectic sounds.
Tompkins Square Park, Union Square Park and Washington Square Park
are still home to free concerts and fiery rallies. As always, the
music is there to inspire.
Keeping the changing times in perspective is graphic artist and
activist Suze Rotolo (www.suzerotolo.com) who still lives in the
Village. Author of "A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich
Village in the Sixties," she wrote the liner notes for the CD. The
husky-voiced Rotolo has clear images of Washington Square Park in the
60's. "Musicians of all kinds gathered to play around the
fountain...a wide spectrum of political newspapers were offered for
sale or given away. Religious fanatics predicted the end of the world
was nigh and everything blended together nicely. Gerdes Restaruant
and Bar, before it was renamed Folk City...was on the bar circuit for
traveling blues and gospel musicians. During the 30s and 40s, when
these musicians were beginning their careers, they encountered their
elders from the 20s. Victoria Spivey and Lonnie Johnson, who had gigs
at Gerdes, had played with Louis Armstrong. Big Joe Williams and John
Lee Hooker were also regulars at Gerdes. When folk musicians who
played at local Village coffeehouses for tips began looking for gigs
at Gerdes, there was inevitable cross-pollination. Traditional
folksingers, gospel groups, bluegrass bands, urban and country blues
players could be heard there any night of the week."
Rotolo laments that "Greenwich Village today is economically out of
bounds for artists starting out, but it is very important that the
neighborhood itself...be landmarked as a historic area. Developers
must not have their way and alter the very character of the Village.
The spirit of the Village will never disappear. Greenwich Village is
a calling and artists will always find a place to hang out and a way
to survive."
The Villager recently spoke with John Oates (who covers "He Was a
Friend of Mine"). Oates flashed back to his earliest memories of
Village life as a part of superstar duo Daryl Hall and John Oates.
"We moved to the city in 1971, got separate apartments. I lived in
the Village from 1971 to 1982. As the Village has always been, it was
a counterculture neighborhood, with people not cut out for uptown. It
felt more like a town. You had all the music. We were a part of that
singer-songwriter movement. Later we began to take on a harder edge.
We went to see Television and Patti Smith and were friends with all
these people. In the 80's we were recording at Electric Lady Studios.
It was something we wove into our sounds. We were very aware of the
legacy of what has come before us. We listened to everything."
This included trips to the Philadelphia Folk Festival, hanging out
with Mississippi John Hurt and Doc Watson, and soaking up doo-wop.
Oates is associated with Philadelphia because of his time spent
growing up in nearby North Wales, playing on Philly R&B sessions and
attending Temple University. "Philly has a very unique R&B tradition
and folk tradition," Oates says. Yet he has vivid memories of his Big
Apple birthplace. "New York City is more influential in the sound of
Hall and Oates than Philadelphia was...I brought the acoustic
(sound). Daryl brought the urban R&B."
Talking about his covered of the traditional "He Was A Friend Of
Mine," Oates notes it is a song linked to Dave Van Ronk. "I was a big
Dave Van Ronk fan...I'd seen him play the Main Point (in Philly and
The Bitter End." Recording this track and his recent solo album,
Oates says, "I've gotten back to my roots." He's recorded and played
live with Nashville's dobro dojo Jerry Douglas and Irish folk
songstress Maura O'Connell. "I'll go from playing with Daryl (to
doing) something with these guys."
East L.A.'s Los Lobos has turned in a resonant version of Jose
Marti's classic "Guantanamera." The band's saxophonist and
co-producer Steve Berlin reflects on the song's legacy. "It's a song
we've been playing for as long as the band had existed," he says.
Like "La Bamba, "It's a song that always works. It features our
bassist Conrad Lozano, who doesn't get to sing many songs. It was
kind of a no-brainer for us. The hard part was finding a day to go
into the studio (as) we were touring non-stop." Berlin thinks it was
worth the wait and looks forward to more tribute albums. "We have so
many antecedents that we truly honor that I doubt we will see an end
to the concept anytime soon. I have no worries someone will come to
us with an angle we've never considered."
Stu Fine, a VP of A&R for Savoy who helped put the project together,
says he's proud of the label's concept CDs. "Great music is great
music. It's very rewarding to remind people of this wonderful era."
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