I was born in 1951 right smack dab in the middle of the American Folk Revival. This revival started in the 1940s and ran through the 1960s. It brought rural white and African-African American musicians to audiences everywhere. \

White artists include: Pete Seeger, Doc Watson, Jean Redpath. While African American artist included Leadbelly, as well as Mississppi John Hurt, Odetta, Elizabeth Cotton and Josh White. I wasn’t around for the 1940s and not listening too much music in the 50s.

In the early 1960s I was listening to The Beatles, Stones and the other British invasion bands. Then for several years I was listening to a lot of Motown until the late 1960s. As my world became more political, as a result of the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War, the music I listened to became more folkie. I listened to more and more Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton.

But I’m sure in the years between 1962 and 1967 I was aware of the folk groups that were making it big. One of the ways America was discovering Folk Music was through TV where shows like Hootenanny were on the air….

Hootennnay Showcases Folksingers…..

Hootenanny was a musical variety show that aired on ABC from April 1963 to September 1964.I only have vague memories of the show hey in 1963 I was 12 and in 1964 the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan show and the “British Invasion started.

But until the British Invasion started Hootenanny had help create a new craze. It had created a “the big demand for the folk performers in virtually all areas of show biz (records, concerts, college dates, TV, pix) and creatd a new folk form that appealed to a mass audience.

Artists whose career i have followed through the years like:.Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Pete Seeger and Johnny Cash appearede on the show. Other artosts whose names I knew like : Bob Gibson, Malvina Reynolds, Oscar Brand and Woody Guthrie also made appearances!

A dramatic drop in ratings lead to the creation of both Hullabaloo and Shindig which focused on the British Invasion and the new generation of rock musicians, Yet, somehow the memories of those early folkies stayed with me and lead me a few years later to Tom Rush, Tom Paxton, Eric Andersen and others!,

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A Sixties-Seventies Man Adds to His Vinyl Record Collection

During 2023, as I started looking through old albums at Goodwills throughout Southern New Jersey, I decided I would add albums from the folksingers from the Folk Revival period. So far I’ve added albums from the likes Bob Gibson and Hamilton Camp, Flatt & Scruggs, and even Pete Drake and his  talking guitar Additionally, I’ve added several Ian & Sylvia and Joan Baez albums

Here are several from Oscar Brand and The Weavers that I’ve found…….

Oscar Brand takes a Humorous Walk on the Folk Song Wild Side

From Wikipedia>>>>

Oscar Brand  (February 7, 1920 – September 30, 2016) was a Canadian-born American folk singer-songwriter, radio host, and author. In his career, spanning 70 years, he composed at least 300 songs and released nearly 100 albums, among them Canadian and American patriotic songs. Brand’s music ran the gamut from novelty songs to serious social commentary and spanned a number of genres.e hosted the radio show

Oscar Brand’s Folksong Festival on Saturdays at 10:00 p.m. on WNYC-AM 820 in New York City, which ran into its 70th year. The show ran more or less continuously from its debut on December 10, 1945[8] to September 2016,[9] making it the longest-running radio show with the same host, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Over its run it introduced such talents to the world as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie, Arlo Guthrie, Huddie Ledbetter, Joni Mitchell, Peter, Paul & Mary, Judy Collins, The Kingston Trio, Pete Seeger and the Weavers. In order to make sure that his radio program could not be censored he refused to be paid by WNYC for the next 70 years.

Bawdy Songs and Backroom Ballads was released in 1950. It contains folk songs  Brand  had been collecting for years. Here’s a description of the songs on Side one of the album!

The Kingston Trio and Chad Mitchell Trio are Added to My Vinyl Collection

Finally, I’ve added a handful of Kingston Trio and Chad Mitchell Trio  albums. When I buy Kingston Trio albums I always look for the ones  released when John Stewart was a member of the trio (1961-1967). John had a fine solo career after leaving the group. His album Willard is one of my favorites

Kingston Trio albums I’ve added to my vinyl collection….

A Chad Mitchell Trio

Basically, when I  look for Chad Mitchell Trio albums, I look for  ones, when John Denver was a member of the trio! Actually, the group was called The Mitchell Trio then because Chad had left the Trio. Oh, I also have one Chad Mitchell Trio album with Jim McGuinn was in the Trio. Before he became Roger McGuinn of The Byrds! You can listen to The Chad Mitchell Trio here

The Chad Mitchell Trio was more political than The Kingston Trio. Here is one of their albums I picked up in 2023.

The title The Slightly Irreverent Mitchell Trio may have given the game away! The  album includes two songs that are among my all time favorites. Tom Paxton’s “I Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound” and Phil Och’s “Draft Dodger Rag”. Both were recorded before Paxton and Ochs recorded them! It was daring stuff! Here’s

…..The version of “Draft Dodger Rag,” which appeared almost a year before composer Phil Ochs’ first release, is fantastic and sung with gusto. This was daring stuff indeed for 1964, and it shows that the Mitchell Trio were keeping tabs on new songwriters at the same time as they mined the traditional folk songbooks. Their beautiful cover of Tom Paxton’s “I Can’t Help But Wonder” also came out before the songwriter’s own debut album, and it’s one of the best cuts here.  More at AllMusic

Final Note to Self……

Keep looking for Folk music released during the  1960s Folk Revival. Maybe you’ll find some Dave Van Ronk, Fred Neil, Eric Von Schmidt or some Pete Seeger! Until then you can always listen on Spotify.

And for you folks, here’s a Spotify playlist from the above mentioned folkies I’ll be searching for!