Back when yours truly was a college student, if you wanted to establish your politically progressive cred, you had to own at least one Vanguard Records platter. The New York-based record company was one of the first to challenge the entertainment industry's black list in the fifties (putting out new releases by then political pariahs like Paul Robeson and the Weavers) and was home to a host of bluesfolk (Mississippi John Hurt, Big Mama Thornton, Buddy Guy, et al) and uppity folk singers (Joan Baez, Buffy St. Marie, Rambling Jack Elliot, etc.) in the sixties. And though Vanguard didn't get into rock as firmly as fellow folk label Elektra Records would, it was the home of Country Joe & the Fish Cheer – decidedly a counter-cultural touchstone all by itself.
The label was bought up by Welk Music Group (of Lawrence Welk fame) back in the 80's and has since soldiered on, but for most folk & blues buffs, Vanguard's peak period would have to be the 1960s. In part to remind folks of those glory days, the label has started issuing a series of budget retrospectives entitled "Vanguard Visionaries," ten-track CD sets devoted to all of their company's big acts. Been listening to several of these little discs recently, so let's take a look back at some of the background music I remember from too many late-nite undergraduate political argument sessions back in 1969...
My first choice would have to be the guy whose original Vanguard long-players took up the most space on my dorm room record shelf: Jim Kweskin. Of all the artists on Vanguard's roster, Kweskin was the least sternly political – his primary medium was a jug band, fergawdsakes – though his career would later take a decidedly strange turn into counter-cultural cultishness. Jug Bands enjoyed a brief vogue in the folk community in the sixties and were a proving ground for rock artists like Jerry Garcia and John Sebastian, but the only one to have an extensive recording legacy was Kweskin's group. The loose-knit Boston-based collective released three albums on Vanguard – and a fourth on Warner Bros. – before disbanding. Kweskin himself put out three more solo albums for the label.
Article comments
1 - Anthony DeFazio
Joan Baez is hardly an uppoty folk singer.
2 - Bill Sherman
Joan Baez is hardly an uppoty folk singer.
She was definitely considered one back in the day . . .
3 - Al Crisalli
What's the point of throwing in the negative word "uppity" when describing folksingers? They weren't uppity or anything other than folksingers. Your review of the Jug Band is just fine without slipping into subtle and unnecessary sarcasm. I'd have enjoyed the review and respected the "critic" had he not done what so many critics feel compelled to do - "clever" sarcasm. Too bad....I'm so weary of it.
4 - Mark Stevens
Yes, by some, Joan Baez was considered uppity. But by the vast majority her stunning voice was loved. I was there, "back in the day" and I remember the impact she had. She stills commands the respect of millions around the world...including many world leaders and those other "uppity" people who work tirelessly to make this world a better place.
5 - JC Mosquito
"Uppity" in this case perhaps refers to folksingers who were seen as adopting a "holier than thou, mainstream consumer of Western culture" stance in the 60s. Not that I'm saying they did, but their concern for all things dealing with ecology or civil liberties could be seen in that light by the average citizen.
Ummm..... I gotta ask - if a critic is referred to as "uppity," is that clever sarcasm or a statement of fact? Hey - was that clever enough to qualify as uppity in and of itself? I saw something like this on Star Trek once....
6 - Bill Sherman
For the record, I don't consider "uppity" a pejorative any more than blues group Saffire does when they bill themselves as "the uppity blues women."
7 - Christopher Richard
I guess one would have to say what do you expect from the Lawrence Welk organization, but clearly Vanguard is not what Vanguard was. The series title " Vanguard Visionaries " implies that this is an artist of more than passing interest as a bootie shaker, but a significant contributor to American music. Jim Kweskin is definitely that, and these are great cuts. Now nearing 70 he still radiates charm, humor and sophistication, as well as talent. This is a musician, who along with band mates, monster talents on their own right, deserve study as well as listening, but this budget CD has no liner notes. There is no mention of the original albums from which the cuts are taken and, most grievously, no mention of the other players on the various tracks. Geoff and Maria Muldaur, Bill Keith, and Fritz Richmond deserve better than that and so does the listening audience.