‘Anthems of the American underground’By Roxane Geraci | |
 St. Marie
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One of the great treasure houses of American folk music, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, recently celebrated its newly produced boxed set of five folk CDs, The Best of Broadside 1962-1988. Co-produced by Ron Cohen, IU Northwest history professor, the 89-
track collection brings together “anthems of the American underground” that made their debut in the influential folk journal, Broadside magazine.
It also pays tribute to the magazine founders and publishers, Agnes “Sis” Cunningham and Gordon Friesen, veterans of the radical, political and folk music movement begun in the 1940s. “They (Cunningham and Friesen) were connected and served as resources while being in the center of so much music and politics,” said Cohen, who also wrote the historical essay included in the collection. The Best of Broadside CD set includes versions of t he songs made in Cunningham and Friesen’s apartment, as well as other sessions cut at the studio. “There is a good selection of songs in the collection representing 25 years of major historical events of the country,” said Cohen. Folk artists performing in the collection include Tom Paxton, Pete Seeger, Buffy St. Marie, Janis Ian, Arlo Guthrie, Peggy Seeger, Phil Ochs, Mark Spoelstra, Peter La Farge, Malvina Reynolds and Bob Dylan, who recorded under the pseudonym, Blind Boy Grunt. There are several tracks on the set that were never before released. Along with Cohen, Jeff Place, Smithsonian archivist, co-produced the collection. Place is a two-time Grammy Award winner for Smithsonian Folkways’ 1997 re-issue of Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music. A personal friend of Sis Cunningham for nearly a decade, Cohen also edited the recently released book, Red Dust and Broadsides: A Joint Autobiography, from manuscripts and writings of Cunningham and Friesen. Cunningham is 91; Friesen died in 1996. “After giving me the basic manuscript to edit, she (Cunningham) kept adding more essays,” said Cohen, explaining that in the book title, “red dust” represents the earlier part of the couple’s life while growing up in poverty in Oklahoma. “Broadsides” embo dies the couple’s political activism through music, writing and magazine publishing. Both were among those blacklisted for their political views during the McCarthy era. The five-CD, 89-track collection was released last month and Cohen’s book, Red Dust and Broadsides, was published last year. Go to this Smithsonian Folkways Recordings site for more information and to hear cuts from the collection: http://www.bestofbroadside.com/ |
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Publication date: September 29, 2000
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