In May 1994 I flew to New York for the third time to stay with my cousin and her husband. In later years whenever a trip to the Big Apple was looming, I'd pre-book tickets for gigs or other events of interest online, but in those pre-internet days she would mail me a copy of The Village Voice listings guide a couple of weeks before I travelled, then order any tickets I required and I would settle up with her when I arrived. It was all very analogue back then, but that was how I found out about an concert entitled 'In Their Own Words - A Bunch of Songwriters Sittin' Around Singin''. It was one of a series of similar events at The Bottom Line, a small venue on West 4th Street, taking place bang in the middle of my stay and a show I definitely didn't want to miss. For $18 I got to spend a couple of hours in the company of Ted Hawkins, Roger McGuinn, Pete Seeger and Joe South as they sat in a semi-circle on the stage talking about their lives and playing music acoustically, together and individually, in a very informal setting.
I'd seen Ted Hawkins live in Norwich in 1986, on his first wave of success following radio exposure from Andy Kershaw, but he'd fallen off the radar again quite soon after. By 1994, however, he'd been re-discovered and chatted enthusiastically on stage about his new album on the major label, Geffen, and played us a few songs from it. Tragically, Ted's life was to end seven months later as the result of a stroke, aged just 58.
In spite of Hawkins' considerable contribution to the evening, the majority of the New York audience were there for McGuinn, Seeger and South, all of whom played their best known material interspersed with anecdotes and memories. Inevitably, given the location and the parties involved, Bob Dylan loomed large in several of the conversations. Roger recounted the 'give this to McGuinn' story regarding the opening line to 'Ballad of Easy Rider', Pete Seeger gave his version of the mythical axe incident from the day Dylan went electric at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 and, perhaps most fascinating of all, Joe South spoke a little about the Nashville 'Blonde on Blonde' recording sessions in 1966. It was an unforgettable evening.
We lost Joe South in September 2012, by coincidence the same month that Pete Seeger, at the age of 93, released what he claimed was the first album of all original music he'd ever recorded. 'A More Perfect Union' was written and performed in conjunction with Seeger's long-time friend Lorre Wyatt. Guests on the album included Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris. Though I have immense respect for his achievements, I can't claim to be a scholar of Pete's music, but 'Fields of Harmony', sung by Seeger alone, is a remarkable performance. The vocal, by this stage little more than an abrasive whisper, is extremely moving.
Pete Seeger passed away 11 years ago today.
'When my days have been consumed, like smoke
I will lay me down to sleep, in peace
Over fields of harmony, I'll fly.'
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2 comments:
Quite a line-up, would have liked to have been there. There was a bit of a trend for those singing circles back then. The starriest I was at was in about 2001 at Hammersmith: Nanci Griffith, John Prine, Elvis Costello, Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris
I was the same; the Village Voice was a bible when visiting NYC.
I saw Pete Seeger on the same bill as Tony Benn and Benjamin Zephania as part of a BBC Radio 4 'Start the Week' they did live from Nottingham Playhouse in, I think, 1988.
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