Something to Sing About (album)

Last updated

Something to Sing About!
Something to Sing About (album).jpg
Compilation album by
Various artists
Released1968 (1968)
Recorded1968 (1968)
Genre Traditional folk
Producer Milt Okun

Something to Sing About! is a compilation album including specially recorded songs by American singer-songwriters John Denver and Tom Paxton. It was produced by Milt Okun and released in 1968.

Track listing

  1. Josh White – "St. James Infirmary"
  2. Ian and Sylvia – "Four Strong Winds"
  3. Odetta Holmes – "John Henry"
  4. Mississippi John Hurt – "Candy Man Blues"
  5. John Denver – "The Wagoner Lad"
  6. The Rooftop Singers – "Walk Right In"
  7. Arlo Guthrie – "The Motorcycle Song"
  8. Judy Collins – "The Cruel Mother"
  9. Joan Baez & Bob Gibson – "The Virgin Mary Had One Son"
  10. The Weavers – "When the Saints Go Marching In"
  11. The Weavers – "Wimoweh"
  12. Mary Travers – "Motherless Child (Without a Country)"
  13. Peter Yarrow – "I Don't Want Your Millions Mister & East Virginia"
  14. Noel Paul Stookey – "Minstrel Boy"
  15. Ian and Sylvia – "When First Unto This Country"
  16. Joan Baez – "All My Trials"
  17. Tom Paxton – "Little Mohee"
  18. Tom Paxton – "The Marvelous Toy"
  19. The Smothers Brothers – "The Fox"
  20. Milton Okun – "Hush, Little Baby"
  21. Jean Ritchie – "March Down to Old Tennessee"
  22. John Denver – "Old MacDonald Had a Farm"
  23. Phil Ochs – "The Power and the Glory"
  24. Ramblin' Jack Elliott – "More Pretty Girls Than One"
  25. The Chad Mitchell Trio – "The Virgin Mary"
  26. The Chad Mitchell Trio – "Forest Lawn"
  27. The Chad Mitchell Trio – "The Bonnie Streets of Fyvie-O"
  28. The Chad Mitchell Trio – "The Battle Hymn of the Republic Brought Down to Date" (written by Mark Twain)
  29. Theodore Bikel – "Peat Bog Soldiers"
  30. Glenn Yarbrough – "Johnny, I Hardly Knew You"
  31. Jean Ritchie – "The Day Is Past and Gone"
  32. Ronnie Gilbert – "Go From My Window"
  33. Tom Paxton – "Spanish is the Loving Tongue"
  34. Tom Paxton – "Danville Girl"
  35. Tom Paxton – "Shenandoah"
  36. Jean Ritchie – "Pretty Polly"
  37. Jean Ritchie – "Dear Companion"
  38. John Denver – "The Great Selkie of Sule Skerry"

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felix Pappalardi</span> American music producer and musician (1939–1983)

Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bassist. He is best known as the bassist and co-lead vocalist of the band Mountain, whose song "Mississippi Queen" peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has become a classic rock radio staple. Originating in the eclectic music scene in New York's Greenwich Village, he became closely attached to the British power trio Cream, writing, arranging, and producing for their second album Disraeli Gears. As a producer for Atlantic Records, he worked on several projects with guitarist Leslie West; in 1969 their partnership evolved into the band Mountain. The band lasted less than five years, but their work influenced the first generation of heavy metal and hard rock music. Pappalardi continued to work as a producer, session musician, and songwriter until he was shot and killed by his wife Gail Collins in 1983.

"Hush, Little Baby" is a traditional lullaby, thought to have been written in the Southern United States. The lyrics are from the point of view of a parent trying to appease a crying child by promising to give it a gift. Sensing the child's apprehension, the parent has planned a series of contingencies in case their gifts don't work out. The simple structure allows more verses to be added ad lib. It has a Roud number of 470.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newport Folk Festival</span> Annual American music festival in Rhode Island

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. The festival was founded by music promoter and Jazz Festival founder George Wein, music manager Albert Grossman, and folk singers Pete Seeger, Theodore Bikel, and Oscar Brand. 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 in Newport annually from 1959 to 1969, except in 1961 and 1962, first at Freebody Park and then at Festival Field. In 1985, Wein revived the festival in Newport, where it has been held at Fort Adams State Park ever since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanguard Records</span> American record label

Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal jazz, folk, and blues musicians. The Bach Guild was a subsidiary label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Paxton</span> American folk singer and singer-songwriter

Thomas Richard Paxton is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than sixty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a music educator as well as an advocate for folk singers to combine traditional songs with new compositions.

"The Cherry-Tree Carol" is a ballad with the rare distinction of being both a Christmas carol and one of the Child Ballads. The song itself is very old, reportedly sung in some form at the Feast of Corpus Christi in the early 15th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Chad Mitchell Trio</span> North American vocal group

The Chad Mitchell Trio, later known as The Mitchell Trio, were an American vocal group who became known during the 1960s. They performed traditional folk songs and some of John Denver's early compositions. They were particularly notable for performing satirical songs that criticized current events during the time of the Cold War, the civil rights movement, and the Vietnam War.

"Four Strong Winds" is a song written by Ian Tyson and recorded by Canadian folk duo Ian and Sylvia. Tyson has noted that he composed the song in about 20 minutes in his then manager Albert Grossman's New York apartment in 1962. A significant composition of the early 1960s folk revival, the song is a melancholy reflection on a failing romantic relationship. The singer expresses a desire for a possible reunion in a new place in the future but acknowledges the likelihood that the relationship is over.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milt Okun</span> American singer and record producer

Milton Theodore Okun was an American arranger, record producer, conductor, singer and founder of Cherry Lane Music Publishing Company, Inc. Okun transformed the careers of a dozen or more major U.S. artists who under Okun's tutelage became some of the most successful musical acts of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. A special on PBS alludes to Okun as one of the most influential music producers in history. His career lasted over 50 years, from the folk revival to the twenty-first century.

<i>Hootenanny</i> (TV series) American musical variety television show

Hootenanny was an American musical variety television show broadcast on ABC from April 1963 to September 1964. The program was hosted by Jack Linkletter. It primarily featured pop-oriented folk music acts, including The Journeymen, The Limeliters, the Chad Mitchell Trio, The New Christy Minstrels, The Brothers Four, Ian & Sylvia, The Big 3, Hoyt Axton, Judy Collins, Johnny Cash, The Carter Family, Flatt & Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys, The Tarriers, Bud & Travis, and the Smothers Brothers. Although both popular and influential, the program is primarily remembered today for the controversy created when the producers blacklisted certain folk music acts, which then led to a boycott by others.

Carolyn Sue Hester is an American folk singer and songwriter. She was a figure in the early 1960s folk music revival.

Troubadours of Folk is a five volume series of compact discs released by Rhino Records in 1992. The series documents several decades worth of "contemporary" folk music. The first three volumes focus on the American "folk revival" of the 1960s while the final two volumes focus on singer-songwriter music of the 1970s and 1980s. Because of "licensing restrictions" no songs by Bob Dylan could be included in the anthology. The series tends to focus on American folk music although not exclusively. Rhino later released a series of volumes titled Troubadours of British Folk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American folk music revival</span> 20th-century American musical movement

The American folk music revival began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Richard Dyer-Bennet, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie, John Jacob Niles, Susan Reed, Paul Robeson, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey and Cisco Houston had enjoyed a limited general popularity in the 1930s and 1940s. The revival brought forward styles of American folk music that had in earlier times contributed to the development of country and western, blues, jazz, and rock and roll music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Bitter End</span>

The Bitter End is a 230-person capacity nightclub, coffeehouse and folk music venue in New York City's Greenwich Village. It opened in 1961 at 147 Bleecker Street under the auspices of owner Fred Weintraub. The club changed its name to The Other End in June 1975. However, after a few years the owners changed the club's name back to the more recognizable The Bitter End. It remains open under new ownership.

"The Last Thing on My Mind" is a song written by American musician and singer-songwriter Tom Paxton in the early 1960s and recorded first by Paxton in 1964. It is based on the traditional lament song "The Leaving of Liverpool". The song was released on Paxton's 1964 album Ramblin' Boy, which was his first album released on Elektra Records.

<i>Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall</i> 1960 live album by Harry Belafonte

Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall is a live double album by Harry Belafonte. It is the second of two Belafonte Carnegie Hall albums, and was recorded May 2, 1960. It peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Pop albums charts.

"Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies" is an American folk music ballad, originating from the Appalachian region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Paxton discography</span>

Tom Paxton is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He is noteworthy as a music educator as well as an advocate for folk singers to combine traditional songs with new compositions.

The World Folk Music Association is a non-profit organization formed in 1983 by folk singer/songwriter Tom Paxton and Dick Cerri, a radio host from Washington D. C. The first chairman of the board was Paxton and Cerri served as president.

References