VA - Newport Folk Festival 1960 (2 LP) [24-96]

 Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. It was one of the first modern music festivals in America, and remains a focal point in the expanding genre of folk music. The festival was held annually from 1959 to 1969, except in 1961 and 1962, returned to Newport in 1985, and has been held at Fort Adams State Park since then. 

 

 

Pete Seeger - American Favourite Ballads (5 CD, 2009/FLAC)

 

Pete Seeger's life, music, and legacy encapsulate nearly a century of American history and culture. He has immersed himself in folk music and used it, like Johnny Appleseed, to "plant the seeds of a better tomorrow in the homes across our land." The songs in this collection of 139 American Favorite Ballads narrate tales of ordinary people and their extraordinary deeds, and show Pete at the crossroads of the past and the future putting his own stamp on America's folk song heritage while bequeathing it to generations to come. 

 

Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - Cripple Creek (2 CD, 2009/FLAC)

 Four original Folkways 10" LPs complete, plus 9 bonus cuts.

This set collects four albums released on the Folkways label from the 1950's, plus nine tracks from the 1940's. Two of the albums ("Get On Board"--1952 and "Washboard Band-Country Dance Music"--1956) feature both Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, while the remaining two ("Sonny Terry's Washboard Band"--1955 and "Brownie McGhee's Blues"--1955) are solo albums from both artists respectively.

This relatively early music is a combination of folk (listen to Pete Seeger's banjo) and blues styles in the "Carolina" (Piedmont) style. Even though these are post-war recordings, they hark back to an earlier era of country blues with strains of folk music--thanks to Seeger's fine, sensitive playing. These are some of the earlier examples of both Terry's and McGhee's duo and individual styles. Fans of both these performers who want to hear early examples of their style of blues singing /harp playing/guitar style will want to hear these sides.

• Sonny Terry  Harmonica, Trombone, Vocals, Washboard, Washtub Bass
• Brownie McGhee  Guitar, Vocals
• William Edward Cook Washboard
• Coyall McMahan Maracas
• Frank Robertson Guitar (Bass)
• Pete Seeger 5-string Banjo, Engineering Supervisor