Paredon Records was a record label founded in 1969 by Barbara Dane and Irwin Silber to publish recordings of cultural expressions, especially protests, in order to preserve them. Paredon wanted to spread awareness of multiple movements and topics. Dane and Silber were both connected with politically engaged artists and musicians, as well as progressive groups, through their work. Dane formed friendships with artists she met while protesting the Vietnam War and other current events. Her active participation in these movements provided her with the inside knowledge and ear to recognize whose voices would be historically significant. [1] Part of the era's social activism and movements for economic, racial and social justice, as well as national liberation, [2] the label released 50 titles between 1970 and 1985 including songs, poetry and oratory. [3] The label's founders were inspired by Cuba and recorded a lot of protest music, [4] including The People Gonna Rise! with Bev Grant's band Human Condition. [5]
Paredon Records released music from a diverse range of artists, including traditional folk musicians, protest singers, and revolutionary groups from countries such as Chile, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Vietnam. The label's releases covered a wide range of political and social issues, including anti-imperialism, anti-fascism, anti-racism, and workers' rights.
Some of Paredon Records' most notable releases included "Songs of the Spanish Civil War" (1976), which featured recordings of songs from the Spanish Civil War performed by various artists; "El Salvador: The People's Will" (1981), which documented the struggle against the right-wing government in El Salvador; and "Nicaragua vencerá" (1982), a collection of songs in support of the Sandinista government in Nicaragua.
Dane and Silber donated Paredon Records to the Smithsonian Institution in 1991 "to insure the availability of this material to posterity" and their recordings are now part of Smithsonian Folkways. [6] Dane performed in front of large crowds of students and workers across the US and on national television, while Silber addressed meetings of cultural leaders and intellectuals. Bravo planned a conference of international artists participating in global political movements the following year to share their songs and views. The Encuentro de Canción Protesta, which took place at the Casa de las Américas, encouraged Dane and Silber to start a record label in order to make the voices of the people heard.
Nueva canción is a left-wing social movement and musical genre in Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula, characterized by folk-inspired styles and socially committed lyrics. Nueva canción is widely recognized to have played a profound role in the pro-democracy social upheavals in Portugal, Spain and Latin America during the 1970s and 1980s, and was popular amongst socialist organizations in the region.
Anthology of American Folk Music is a three-volume compilation album released in 1952 by Folkways Records. The album was compiled by experimental filmmaker Harry Smith from his own personal collection of 78 rpm records. It consists of eighty-four recordings of American folk, blues and country music made and issued from 1926 to 1933 by a variety of performers, divided into three categories: "Ballads", "Social music", and "Songs."
Barbara Jean Spillman, known professionally as Barbara Dane, was an American folk, blues, and jazz singer, guitarist, record producer, and political activist. She co-founded Paredon Records with Irwin Silber.
Broadside magazine was a small mimeographed publication founded in 1962 by Agnes "Sis" Cunningham and her husband, Gordon Friesen. Hugely influential in the folk-revival, it was often controversial. Issues of what is folk music, what is folk rock, and who is folk were roundly discussed and debated. At the same time, Broadside nurtured and promoted important singers of the era.
Arhoolie Records is an American small independent record label that was run by Chris Strachwitz and is based in El Cerrito, California, United States The label was founded by Strachwitz in 1960 as a way for him to record and produce music by previously obscure "down-home blues" artists such as Lightnin' Hopkins, Snooks Eaglin, and Bill Gaither. Strachwitz despised most commercial music as mouse music. Arhoolie still publishes blues and folk music, Tejano music including Lydia Mendoza, Los Alegres de Terán, Flaco Jiménez, regional Mexican music, cajun, zydeco, and bluegrass.
Irwin Silber was an American Communist, editor, publisher, and political activist. He edited the folk music magazine Sing Out! and was active in far-left politics throughout his life.
Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was founded in 1987 after the family of Moses Asch, founder of Folkways Records, donated the entire Folkways Records label to the Smithsonian. The donation was made on the condition that the Institution continue Asch's policy that each of the more than 2,000 albums of Folkways Records remain in print forever, regardless of sales. Since then, the label has expanded on Asch's vision of documenting the sounds of the world, adding six other record labels to the collection, as well as releasing over 300 new recordings. Some well-known artists have contributed to the Smithsonian Folkways collection, including Pete Seeger, Ella Jenkins, Woody Guthrie, and Lead Belly. Famous songs include "This Land Is Your Land", "Goodnight, Irene", and "Midnight Special". Due to the unique nature of its recordings, which include an extensive collection of traditional American music, children's music, and international music, Smithsonian Folkways has become an important collection to the musical community, especially to ethnomusicologists, who utilize the recordings of "people's music" from all over the world.
Elizabeth Ardis Mitchell is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She began her career performing with Lisa Loeb as the duo Liz and Lisa, then founded the indie rock band Ida in 1991, of which she continues to be a member. As a solo artist, she has been recording and performing music for children since 1998.
Quetzal is a bilingual (Spanish-English) Chicano rock band from East Los Angeles, California.
"Napalm Sticks to Kids" is a protest song that has seen life as both a published track and an informal military cadence. It originates from the Vietnam War, during which napalm—an incendiary gel—saw extensive use.
Rolf Cahn was an American folk musician, martial arts teacher, author, and social activist. Born in Germany, he and his family, who were Jewish, fled from Adolf Hitler's oppression and arrived in the United States in 1937. They settled in Detroit, Michigan. Cahn later moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and thence to Berkeley, California and on to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Chris Kwando Iijima (1948–2005) was an American folksinger, educator and legal scholar. He, Nobuko JoAnne Miyamoto, and Charlie Chin, were the members of the group Yellow Pearl; their 1973 album, A Grain of Sand: Music for the Struggle by Asians in America (originally recorded on Paredon Records now Smithsonian Folkways was an important part of the development of Asian American identity in the early 1970s.
Songs of Life from a Dying British Empire is a 1981 album by British folk singers Leon Rosselson and Roy Bailey. Initially released by Paredon Records, it was later donated to the Smithsonian Folkways archive.
Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.
Moses Asch was an American recording engineer and record executive. He founded Asch Records, which then changed its name to Folkways Records when the label transitioned from 78 RPM recordings to LP records. Asch ran the Folkways label from 1948 until his death in 1986. Folkways was very influential in bringing folk music into the American cultural mainstream. Some of America's greatest folk songs were originally recorded for Asch, including "This Land Is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie and "Goodnight Irene" by Lead Belly. Asch sold many commercial recordings to Verve Records; after his death, Asch's archive of ethnic recordings was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution, and released as Smithsonian Folkways Records.
Suni Paz is an Argentinian singer, songwriter, guitarist, poet, folklorist, translator, and teacher, who has recorded and has been published extensively. Paz is part of the progressive Latin American music movement known as nueva canción.
Protest songs in the United States are a tradition that dates back to the early 18th century and have persisted and evolved as an aspect of American culture through the present day. Many American social movements have inspired protest songs spanning a variety of musical genres including but not limited to rap, folk, rock, and pop music. Though early 18th century songs stemmed from the American colonial period as well as in response to the Revolutionary war, protest songs have and continue to cover a wide variety of subjects. Protest songs typically serve to address some social, political, or economic concern through the means of musical composition. In the 19th century, American protest songs focused heavily on topics including slavery, poverty, and the Civil War while the 20th century saw an increased popularity in songs pertaining to women's rights, economic injustice, and politics/ war. In the 21st century, popular protest songs address police brutality, racism, and more.
Jack Warshaw is an American folksinger, songwriter and musician, best known for his 1976 protest song "If They Come in the Morning," aka "No Time for Love." He moved to England in 1965 to start a career as an architect but stayed because the folk music scene and the Vietnam War intervened.
Bev Grant is an American musician, photographer, filmmaker, and activist based in New York City.
Gazette, Vol. 1 is the fourth studio album by American folk singer Pete Seeger. It was released in 1958 by Folkways Records, and later re-released by Smithsonian Folkways. The album artwork, credited on the album cover to Antonio Frasconi, is by Frasconi's wife Leona Pierce, and the design is by Ronald Clyne.