Vanguard: roots Of Folk (2002)

Product Summary Label: Vanguard Records UPC: 00015707020329 Release Date: 8/13/2002 Buy.com Sku: 60564117 Item#: MFLGVW Format:  CD Song Listing Disc 1 Song Title Sample 1. Joe Hillk - Paul Robeson ~ Various Artists 2. Irene - Leon Bibb ~ Various Artists 3. Kumbaya - The Weavers ~ Various Artists 4. This Land is Your Land - Cisco Houston ~ Various Artists 5. Roll On Buddy - Ramblin' Jack Elliott ~ Various Artists 6. Another Man Done Gone - Odetta ~ Various Artists 7. Turn, Turn, Turn - Judy Collins ~ Various Artists 8. If I Had a Hammer - The Weavers ~ Various Artists 9. Donna Donna - Joan Baez ~ Various Artists 10. Battle, The - Jimmie Driftwood ~ Various Artists 11. Amazing Grace - Clarence Ashley/Doc Watson ~ Various Artists 12. It Takes a Worried Man - Maybelle Carter ~ Various Artists 13. Little Maggie - Sandy Bull ~ Various Artists 14. Freight Train - Elizabeth Cotten ~ Various Artists 15. Tom Dooley - Doc Watson ~ Various Artists Disc 2 Song Title Sample 1. Universal Soldier, The - Buffy Sainte-Marie ~ Various Artists 2. Violets of Dawn - Eric Andersen ~ Various Artists 3. M.T.a. - The Kingston Trio ~ Various Artists 4. Walk Right In - The Rooftop Singers ~ Various Artists 5. Catch the Wind - Donovan/Joan Baez ~ Various Artists 6. Pack Up Your Sorrows - Mimi/Richard Farina ~ Various Artists 7. It Ain't Me Babe - Joan Baez/Bob Dylan ~ Various Artists 8. People Get Ready - The Chambers Brothers ~ Various Artists 9. I Ain't Marchin' Anymore - Phil Ochs ~ Various Artists 10. Ramblin' Boy - Tom Paxton ~ Various Artists 11. Mr. Bojangles - Jerry Jeff Walker ~ Various Artists 12. Many a Mile - Patrick Sky ~ Various Artists 13. Early Morning Rain - Sylvia ~ Various Artists 14. Jug Band Music - Geoff Muldaur/Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band ~ Various Artists 15. Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag - Country Joe/The Fish ~ Various Artists Disc 3 Song Title Sample 1. Candy Man - Mississippi John Hurt ~ Various Artists 2. I'm So Glad - Skip James ~ Various Artists 3. Seventh Son - John Hammond ~ Various Artists 4. Rambling Round Your City - Odetta ~ Various Artists 5. Samson and Delilah - Reverend Gary Davis ~ Various Artists 6. Cocaine - Dave Van Ronk ~ Various Artists 7. Empire State Express - Son House ~ Various Artists 8. San Francisco Bay Blues - Jesse Fuller ~ Various Artists 9. Baby Please Don't Go - Lightnin' Hopkins ~ Various Artists 10. See See Rider - The Chambers Brothers ~ Various Artists 11. Walkin' Blues - Muddy Waters ~ Various Artists 12. Drink Muddy Water - Sonny Terry/Brownie McGhee ~ Various Artists 13. Great Fire of Natachez - John Lee Hooker ~ Various Artists 14. Midnight Special - Lafayette Leake/Pete Seeger/Willie Dixon ~ Various Artists 15. Blues With a Feeling - Paul Butterfield Blues Band ~ Various Artists   Album Notes and Credits Notes & Personnel Info Vanguard was one of the leading folk labels of the 1960s, due both to its own studio releases and its anthologies of performances from the Newport Folk Festivals. This is a three-CD set of Vanguard material from that era, encompassing live and studio tracks by many of the major icons of the time. The list is pretty amazing, in fact: the Weavers, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Doc Watson, Elizabeth Cotten, Buffy Sainte-Marie, the Kingston Trio, Mimi and Richard Fari¤a, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, Jerry Jeff Walker, Ian & Sylvia, Mississippi John Hurt, Dave Van Ronk, Skip James, Reverend Gary Davis, Son House, and John Lee Hooker make up only a portion of the lineup. It's divided into thematic discs that make sense and make the package more listenable, with "Roots of Folk" concentrating on the more traditional folk revivalists; "Singers & Songwriters" on the more contemporary folk-based performers, including a little folk-rock and even teetering on the edge of psychedelia with Country Joe & the Fish's "Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag"; and "Folk Blues," focusing on acoustic blues for the most part, though there are also some electric tracks by the likes of the Chambers Brothers and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band (and an odd collaboration between Pete Seeger, Willie Dixon, and Lafayette Leake on "Midnight Special"). A few of the selections are quite well-known classics, like Judy Collins' version of "Turn, Turn, Turn" (a live one, not the Elektra studio recording), Buffy Sainte-Marie's "The Universal Soldier," Mimi and Richard Fari¤a's "Pack up Your Sorrow," Elizabeth Cotten's "Freight Train," the Weavers' "If I Had a Hammer," Eric Andersen's "Violets of Dawn," the Rooftop Singers' number one single "Walk Right In," Donovan's "Catch the Wind" (a live duet with Joan Baez), Tom Paxton's "Ramblin' Boy," Mississippi John Hurt's "Candy Man," and Skip James' "I'm So Glad." There's also room for some interesting lesser-known names and performances, like Sandy Bull's "Little Maggie" and the Chambers Brothers' live covers of "People Get Ready" and "See Rider," though Joan Baez and Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" demonstrates that their live duets were more cultural events than musical milestones. The big drawback to this set? Unbelievably, the annotation provides no original release or recording dates, which is especially vexing given that a bunch of these are live. That leaves even experts to guess as to when and even possibly where much of this was recorded, though it's safe to say that most or all of the live cuts are from the Newport Folk Festivals. ~ Richie Unterberger Producer: Tom Vickers (Compilation)   Technical Info Release Date : 08/13/2002 Original Release Date : 2002 Catalog ID : 203/05-2 Label : Vanguard Records (USA) Number of Discs : 3 Studio/Live : Mixed Mono/Stereo : Mono SPAR Code : n/a UPC : 00015707020329