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.