Music Review: Shel Silverstein: Inside Fold Music (1962)

This is SHel SIlverstein as an early song writer.  I didn't much care for this collection.  The artist, Silverstein, is always trying to be funny, and missing the mark with me.  Bananas would have been fun, if it had been finished.  Boa Constrictor is a fun song and this one I had previously heard n a children's album.  Unicorn is also worth mention.  This songs often have abrupt endings with twists along the theme at the end.  He is also making fun of many different people.

Music Review: Folk Roots: The Sound of Americana

Folk Roots: The Sound of Americana, Perpetual Classics (2007)

Various artists including: Etta Baker, Glenn Yarbrough, Woody Guthrie, Glen Campbell. 

Most of this music missed for the family and I.  (We listened to it in the van while traveling.)  However, their were a coule of songs that I felt had historical note.  The first is about coal mining, and I think the chorus would help describe Isdaac and his working in the coal mine as a child.  

Dark as a Dungeon by: Merle Travis

It's dark as a dungeon and damp as the dew,
Where danger is double and pleasures are few,
Where the rain never falls and the sun never shines
It's dark as a dungeon way down in the mine.

The other which I found interesting has to do with Mormon polygamy.  What is more interesting is the description of the song I found, saying it was not meant to be satirical, but to point out the love of a Mormon polygamist for his wives.  

ZACK, THE MORMON ENGINEER

Old Zack, he came to Utah, way back in seventy three,
A right good Mormon gentleman and a bishop too was he.
He drove a locomotive for the D. and R. G.,
With women he was popular, as popular as could be.

cho: And when he'd whistle ooh! ooh! Mamma'd understand
That Zack was headed homeward on the Denver and Rio Grande.

Old Zack, he claimed to love his wives and love them all the same,
But always little Mabel was the one that Zack would name.
And as he would pass her he'd blow his whistle loud,
And when she'd throw a kiss at him old Zack would look so proud.

Old Zack, he had a wifey in every railroad town.
No matter where he stopped he had a place to lay him down.
And when the his train was coming, well, he wanted her to know,
So as he passed each wifey's home his whistle he would blow.

Now listen everybody, because this story's true,
Old Zack, he had a wife in every town that he passed through.
They tried to make him transfer on to the old U. P.
But Zack said, "No" because his wives were on the D. and R. G.

Tune: Oh Susanna
"This song depicts in comic form life in one type of plural marriage.
It is not intended to be sarcastic. Zack Black was a Mormon bishop
who worked as an engineer for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, and
the tale is told that he had a wife in every town he passed through.
Mormon audiences have always enjoyed the humor of the lyrics, especially
when Zack won't accept a transfer to another railroad line because it
is routed through the wrong towns."(Music of the Mormons, p. 28)
Note: "Plural Marriage" is the LDS term for their form of polygamy,
which was practiced from the late 1840's up to 1896,
when the US Supreme Court upheld a law forbidding it. Mormon clergy
were (and are) laymen, who are not paid for their church service and
therefore work "civilian" jobs to sustain their families.

Music Review: Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen Foster

Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen Foster (2004)

This is a compendium of songs written by Stephen Foster, and performed by a variety of performers.  We all know Stephen Foster songs, but rarely give him credit.  They are considered to be old folk songs, which have always existed.  Stephen Foster published music from 1848 until his death in 1964 at the age of 37.  One of his early song, “Oh Susanna! Became a favorite of the California gold miners.  One of his most popular songs is “Camptown Races” and the version in this CD is well done.  Judith Edelman sings “No One to Love” and her voice gives the song a beautiful haunting quality.  “My Old Kentucky Home (State song of Kentucky) is also a favorite.  He wrote a song for his wife, “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair.”  Another love song is “In the Eye Abides the Heart.”  “Ole Folks at Home” is also included in this collection.  And one of my favorites growing up, which was published after Foster had passed away, “Beautiful Dreamer.” 

Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,
starlight and dewdrops are awaiting thee.
Sounds of the rude world heard in the day,
Led by the moonlight have all passed away.

Beautiful dreamer, queen of my song,
List while I woo the with soft melody.
Gone are the cares of life's busy throng,

Beautiful dreamer awake unto me.
Beautiful dreamer awake unto me!

 

In all he composed over 200 songs.  It was hard to make a living writing songs, as copyright laws were not as strict, and anyone could publish your work.  The versions in the C.D. are interesting, from upbeat to slower songs.  There is banjo, violin and piano and of course guitar.  A couple are instrumental.  For the most part this music is very enjoyable.