Saturday, December 5, 2009

V.A. Hootenanny Special (1965)


In memory of Liam Clancy's passing, I'd like to offer a piece of my childhood. While we never owned this Zenith Collector's Item, the songs of Pete Seeger and the Clancys filled my early days. We didn't really need it anyways, in my house we sang the songs ourselves, the hacked-up records were just for rainy days.



This set, which the liner notes call a "doozer", really contains all of the contradictions of the early sixties folk boom. In fact, by '65 this collection must've already been a bit of a curio. The set puts together thirties survivor Pete Seeger, New York actors (and Irish emigrants) the Clancy Brothers, collegiate folkies the Brothers Four, easy-listening act New Christy Minstrels and the Village Stompers who aspired to be the Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass of folk. Then Bob Dylan, with two old songs, ends both the album and the quaint era of the Hooteanny.


  

4 comments:

  1. Liam will be remembered for a long time because of his contribution to the music industry.Thank you for his
    music. Condolences to his family and loved ones.

    ReplyDelete
  2. PMC
    Amen, amen and amen. Liam was a great man and will be missed by a lot of people

    ReplyDelete
  3. an interesting collection- thanks for creating such a fascinating blog...
    all the best,
    d

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dugg
    It's a strange collection for sure - thanks for the good words.

    ReplyDelete

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