By TAPINTO GREATER OLEAN STAFF
May 11, 2021 at 7:16 AM
Dr. Steven P. Garabedian
Dr. Steven P. Garabedian
Credits: Dr. Steven P. Garabedian
Lawrence Gellert
Lawrence Gellert
By TAPINTO GREATER OLEAN STAFF
May 11, 2021 at 7:16 AM
ST. BONAVENTURE, NY Lawrence Gellert, a music collector who worked to introduce white audiences to a tradition of Black musical protest during the 1930s and 1940s, will be the subject of the Jandoli Institute’s next music and social justice online forum.
Dr. Steven P. Garabedian, author of a book about Gellert, will lead the discussion, which is scheduled for May 17 at 7 p.m.
“Musically, I see a parallel between the music Gellert collected and today’s hip hop,” Garabedian, an assistant professor of history at Marist College, said. “Politically, the lesson of Gellert and Black musical protest is one about the value of dominant culture allies to communities in struggle, cross-cultural coalition and its perils, and the stultifying ha
In 1932 Florence Reece, the wife of a Kentucky coal miner, wrote one of the classic topical songs preserved in the folk musical revival. The song, Which Side Are You On?, contrasts the lot of the working class and the bosses, and asks the listener to choose. This politically charged song was performed again during the Civil Rights Movement, with its lyrics appropriate to the 1960s. It was recorded more recently by Billy Bragg. Indeed, the story of this song might serve as a microcosm of the entire history of the folk music revival. Dick Weissman, former member of the Journeymen and a musician still releasing CDs of his original compositions, brings his personal and professional involvement to this definitive history. Which Side Are You On? includes chapters and sections on the Lomaxes, Harry Smith, the little known Lawrence Gellert, Woody Guthrie, Josh White, Leadbelly, Pete Seeger, groups such as the Weavers and the Kingston Trio, Dave Van Ronk, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Paul Simon,
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Annie Lennox, Carly Simon Headline Bardavon’s Carole King Tribute | February 10
For “Albums Revisited,” Poughkeepsie theater the Bardavon’s ongoing all-star tributes to classic albums to classic albums, the spotlight will shine on Carole King’s 1971 bestseller,
Tapestry. The YouTube series returns on February 10 at 8pm with musical appearances by Annie Lennox, Carly Simon, Kate Pierson with the Restless Age, Kat Quinn, Jill Sobule, Dar Williams, Cindy Cashdollar, Jonatha Brooke, Patti Rothberg, Laura Stevenson, Lara Hope and the Ark-Tones, and others. The livestream is free, with a suggested donation for the artists.
AL: African-American culture contains a treasure trove of wonderful music. Yet there is this entire category of song that seems to have disappeared from history. I’m thinking about the song
In Atlanta, Georgia with the line, “I’m gonna get me a pistol and hide behind a tree / shoot everybody been messin’ with me.” This is a lyric with a far different sentiment than “We Shall Overcome,” but I don’t know that many people have ever heard it. What kind of songs did Gellert uniquely bring forward?
SG: Yes, your question called to my mind the book
We Will Shoot Back: Armed Resistance in the Mississippi Freedom Movement by Akinyele Omowale Umoja. And I certainly take your point. The strident I’ll use the term “radical” nature of the some of the lyrics in the Gellert field archive is precisely what raised eyebrows, approvingly and disapprovingly. It seemed new and different. That is, the songs appeared so distinct from a “We Shall Overcome” sentimen