Somewheres in the midst of Festival, Murray Lerner's stunning 1967 distillation of the essence a the Newport Folk Festival, somewheres between Bob Dylan tearing ragged howlin flesh off a the limbs of "Maggie's Farm" and Son House shudderin' his way through some unfathomable torment or other, somewheres in the pauses tween the sneers in Johnny Cash's performance of "I Walk The Line", somewhere in there it's possible for a fella to catch a glimpse of Little Baby Punk Rock, possible to see the hint of a fetus dartin' cross Odetta's anguished eyes, a rumor of an umbilical cord winding along those camp-sites filled wi' bearded politicized beat-spoutin' draft-dodgin' transient youngsters.
With Donovan yackin' on about "The BBC wouldn't let me sing this song" before tootin' the harp in the direction of a number concerning Vietnam, with the roars of approval from the audience, with the folks on the sidelines batterin' the undersides a saucepans an blowing into empty jugs, that community spirit you always hear folks bangin' on about, that sense that this is our music, dammit, and ain't no reason why we can't do this too, feet fit to walk that line, where they'll end up is with Joe Strummer screamin' about a "White Man In Hammersmith Palais" to a crowd of Anti-Nazi protesters.
But ahead of ourselves, we're getting, look at us there, traipsing through the mire a 1976, mother a fuck, get back a decade, say, right the hell back to that field captured in the monochrome intimacy a Murray Lerner's frames.
Eagle Rock Entertainment have gone ahead and released Festival on DVD, possibly on account of all the brouhaha surrounding No Direction Home, Scorsese's awe-inspiring Dylan doc, itself featuring a fair amount of material from Lerner's flick, and so praise the brides a Buddha, a man gets the opportunity for to bask in the glow of these incredible performances, these stunning renditions a songs fit to suck the spine out the arse, and all around, every which way, a whole cavalcade of eccentric mania; songs about lynching nestled right alongside a troupe a tap-dancing accountants, looks like, folk music like what you used to find in the far corners a English villages high on the National Front, hijacked, taken back to the bosom of the mamma done spawned it, the mamma pissed as hell and ain't a damn bit shy of letting folks know.
Three years-worth of the Newport Folk Festival are captured herein, 1963, 64 and 65, the crowds getting progressively larger, the performances getting progressively edgier, Joan Baez and Peter Yarrow half-improvising their way through a semi-stand-up performance at one end, Dylan glaring out the darkness wi the snarl a the damned rising around him at the other, "Maggie's Farm" piercing the night-time an the guts a half the audience in ways ain't no folk singer supposed to be piercing.
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
folks over at amazon have been bitching & moaning about the lack of full-length tunes (not that i'm gonna listen to 'em)...but the fact that there's not a lot of gushing commentary really makes me wanta check this out.
nice work man....little baby punk rock indeed.
2 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
Mark, I see no reason why you wouldn't dig the hell outta this, although i was kinda miffed also by the absence of not just the full performances, but of ANY extras whatsoever. but still, what a damn film, regardless.
3 - Mark Saleski
i like watching Son House...tho he scares the crap outa me with his intensity.
4 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
i second that, for sure. him and Odetta, two of the most intense performers i ever did see.
5 - Mark Saleski
yes, those two...and John Mayer.
;-)
6 - DJRadiohead
Son House, the man who inspired both Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson. "Hellhound on my Trail" is a walk in the park compared to Son.
And Saleski... stop the Mayer references! :)
7 - DJRadiohead
Fucking review you have here, Duke. My favorite live album of all times is of a Newport variety. Muddy Waters at the Newport Jazz Festival 1960. The Chess remaster is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.
8 - Mark Saleski
i'll stop with the Mayer references soon. i'll have to pick somebody else next week. maybe Hansen or somethin'
Muddy Waters: favorite record -> Muddy Waters, Folk Singer. killer.
9 - DJRadiohead
Amen to that, Mark- the Muddy Waters bit. That is absolutely my favorite Muddy Waters album.
I have always enjoyed Muddy more as a blues singer than guitarist (although he knew what to do with a slide and guitar). "Folk Singer" gives such room for Muddy's big, beautiful voice. Buddy Guy is great on 2nd guitar and Willie Dixon keeping it together on bass. One of my favorite albums ever.
10 - Mark Saleski
me & a buddy spent nearly a year attempting to get that album on 180gram vinyl.
it was a beautiful evening when that record finally arrived in the mail.
11 - DJRadiohead
I want to buy the SACD version of it. I have the regular remastered CD.
12 - Mark Saleski
elusive disc claims to have one sacd copy left (it's apparently out of print).
don't know if i believe 'em or not.
13 - DJRadiohead
Thanks, Mark. I have a bead on it elsewhere. This conversation has made me think I should jump on it tomorrow when we get paid.
I had to queue up "Folk Singer" on my iPod. Just finished listening to the album proper (now listening to the 4 bonus cuts on the Chess remaster).
14 - Joanie
I've been looking forward to this one! Dick Waterman, legendary blues promoter and photographer, has written about it many times. As well, some of my favorite images were taken there.
15 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
DJ and Joanie, sorry i missed you, thanks for chippin in!
Looks like i'm gonna have to hunt me down that Muddy Waters record, then...
16 - DJRadiohead
Duke, you definitely want to do that. It's acoustic blues and it is brilliant!
17 - DJRadiohead
Actually, you want to hunt down "Folk Singer" and the "Newport Jazz" disc as well. Both are well worth your time.
18 - Mark Saleski
a duke review of Muddy Waters - Folk Singer would be freakin' sublime.
19 - Bennett
Frankly, when Dylan decides to power up for Maggie's Farm, the bun went into the oven.
Wha? Just now there's a story on Public Radio about Bonnie Rait, briefly starting out with Sun House... What do you folks know about that?
Great review Duke, I enjoyed it all the way through. Fantastic scrawlings indeed.
20 - DJRadiohead
Finally, something for me and Saleski to agree upon. Duke... bring us the goods, sir.
21 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
well hells bells, i doth smell a quest! and thanks for the tip on the other CD, DJ, i'll look into that!
Bennett, thanks for the kind words, man. i dunno about that Bonnie Rait business... maybe Sir Saleski could reveal something about it all?