The Charge

Don't give a damn about a green back dollar—buy this set.

Opening Statement

There is more to the folk music craze of the early 1960s than Bob Dylan. It really was more like A Mighty Wind, that brilliant Christopher Guest dissection of the era, than people may be willing to admit. When it was discovered that college kids were sick and tired of the same teen heartthrob hokum, and were ready to grow up beyond Elvis and all his hill-rockabilly, the American songbook was there waiting to fill in the pop-culture gaps. Famous "trios" (Chad Mitchell, Kingston) and various "minstrels" (New Christy) took ragged hymns, gospel shout-outs, slave chants, and chestnuts from the musical tradition of this nation—and others—and melded them into a seamless anti-authoritarian stance. Usually, the melodies were sing-along simplistic and the lyrics were nothing more than memories of time, place, and people. But in other cases, the sentiments expressed challenged the conservative status quo, reminding America that the racial/economic/social divides of the past were still standing, stubborn as ever. This is why Dylan was viewed as a radical—ignore the Greenwich Village connection or the undercurrent of drug use. He fused folk to the politics of the time, lighting a bonfire that didn't die out until after Watergate wore off.

In a highly unusual move for a broadcast network, ABC decided that a weekly folk showcase from varying college campuses around the country would be an interesting entertainment experiment. Taking its name from the 1940s musical fund-raising club, Hootenanny first aired in April 1963. Using an intriguing combination of campfire and concert, numerous acts were given an opportunity to pick up their guitars, stand up their basses, and harmonize the homespun hits of the day. Unfortunately, the show's set-up conformed to the belief of many in the conservative advertising field that such a movement was more seditious than straightforward. Important acts like The Weavers and Pete Seeger himself were banned for their "left wing" views, which led to other established chart-toppers like Peter, Paul and Mary and the Kingston Trio staying away from the show. Though the level of talent was exceptionally high anyway, the show's profile was not. Once The Beatles stormed our shores and changed the face of popular music, Hootenanny was doomed. It went off the air in September 1964, and has become a forgotten TV afterthought ever since. Now, thanks to Shout! Factory, we get a chance to see what made this musical showcase so daring—and the reaction to it so surreal.

Facts of the Case

Instead of presenting actual episodes, Shout! Factory plunders the Hootenanny vaults for available kinescope recordings, delivering more than 80 performances. In addition, each installment of the series featured noted comedians of the day, and this collection is no different. We get a chance to see legends like Bill Cosby and Woody Allen, as well as solid performances from Vaughn Meader, Louis Nye, and Jackie Vernon. Disc by disc, here is what you can expect:

Disc One:
1. "Mighty Day," Chad Mitchell Trio
2. "What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor," Mike Settle
3. "Mama Don't Allow," The Rooftop Singers
4. "Froggie Went A-Courtin'," The Rooftop Singers
5. Comedy Skit Vaughn Meader
6. "Stakolee," The Journeymen
7. "Jesus Met The Woman at The Well," Ian & Sylvia
8. "Anathea," Judy Collins
9. "Follow The Drinking Gourd," Theodore Bikel
10. "When I Go Down To Bimini," Theodore Bikel
11. "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine," Judy Collins & Theodore Bikel
12. " Swing Low Sweet Chariot," Clara Ward Gospel Singers
13. "Telling Those Lies About Me," Bob Gibson
14. "Greenwood Sidie-O," Ian & Sylvia" 15. Comedy Skit Woody Allen
16. "Green, Green," The New Christy Minstrels
17. "Browns Ferry Blues," Dian & The Greenbriar Boys
18. "He Was A Friend Of Mine," Dian & The Greenbriar Boys
19. "Jerry," Joe & Eddie
20. "Cindy Jane," Joe & Eddie
21. "Song Of The Cuckoo," Eddy Arnold
22. "Poor Howard," Eddy Arnold
23. "Sing Out," The Serendipity Singers
24. "Haul Away Joe," Mike Settle
25. "Harlem Nocturne," Herbie Mann and His Sextet
26. "Down By The Riverside," Herbie Mann and His Sextet
27. "Sailing Away," The Serendipity Singers
28. "Kumbayah," Southern Methodist University Ensemble

Disc Two:
1. "Midnight Special," The Limeliters
2. "Done Laid Around," The Limeliters
3. "C.C. Rider," Ian & Sylvia
4. "Ole Blue," Ian & Sylvia
5. "Charming Betsy," Richard & Jim
6. "I'm Going To Leave Old Texas Now," The Limeliters
7. "Hello Susan Brown," Chad Mitchell Trio
8. "The John Birch Society," Chad Mitchell Trio
9. "Let Your Light From The Lighthouse Shine On Me," The Travelers Three
10. "Cottonfields," The Travelers Three
11. "Fair And Tender Ladies," The Carter Family
12. "Winkin' Blinkin'," The Simon Sisters
13. "Turn Turn Turn," The Simon Sisters
14. "Umqokozo," Miriam Makeba
15. "Love Tastes Like Strawberries," Miriam Makeba
16. Comedy Skit, Louis Nye
17. "Five Hundred Miles," The Brothers Four
18. "Reuben's Train," The Dillards
19. "Rocks And Gravel," Leon Bibb
20. "I'm On My Way," The Rooftop Singers
21. "I've Been Working On The Railroad," The Rooftop Singers
22. "Packin' Up," Marion Williams & Stars of Faith
23. "I've Got To Live The Life I Sing About In My Song," Marion Williams & Stars of Faith
24. "I'll Tell Me Ma," The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem
25. "Will Ye Go, Lassie?," The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem
26. "Saturday Night," The New Christy Minstrels
27. "Denver," The New Christy Minstrels
28. "Reilly's Daughter," The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem
29. "Michael Row The Boat Ashore," The New Christy Minstrels
30. "Hot Corn, Cold Corn," Flatt & Scruggs
31. "Reuben," Flatt & Scruggs
32. "Deep River Blues," Doc Watson
33. "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands," The University of Pittsburgh Ensemble.

Disc Three:
1. "Hootenanny Saturday Night," The Travelers Three
2. "Bowling Green," The Travelers Three
3. "Good Morning Captain," The Travelers Three
4. "Water Boy," Jimmie Rodgers
5. "If I Had My Way," Jimmie Rodgers
6. "The Ox Driver's Song," The Brothers Four
7. "Hard Travelin'," The Brothers Four
8. "Angelico," Bud & Travis
9. "Lonesome Traveler," Trini Lopez
10. "If I Had A Hammer," Trini Lopez
11. "Four Strong Winds," The Brothers Four
12. Comedy Skit, Bill Cosby
13. "Little Tyke," The Coventry Singers
14. "To Morrow," Bob Gibson
15. "There's A Meetin' Here Tonight," Bob Gibson
16. "Busted," Johnny Cash
17. "Five Feet High And Rising," Johnny Cash
18. "Adieu Madras," Leon Bibb
19. "Little Boxes," Leon Bibb
20. "Delia's Gone," Josh White, Jr.
21. "Maid of Constant Sorrow," Beverly White
22. "One More Round," Hoyt Axton
23. "Trombone Charlie," Hoyt Axton
24. "Wayfarin' Stranger," Jimmie Rodgers
25. "Midnight Special," Jimmie Rodgers
26. "Pick A Bale Of Cotton," The Tarriers
27. "Wimoweh," The Tarriers
28. "Good News, The Chariot's Coming," Bob Gibson
29. Comedy Skit, Jackie Vernon
30. "Marching To Pretoria," University Of Florida Ensemble.

The Evidence

The first thing you recognize watching Hootenanny—in fact, it's something that most musical programs from the '50s and '60s share—is that something like this could not survive in our post-millennial media. The concept of having several competing acts jockeying for position and recognition on one show, each one required to get by on their talent and tenacity alone, would be paramount to cold career suicide. Without carefully-planned staging, a substantial solo shot of winning over the youthful audience (many groups only got one or two songs per show on Hootenanny), or the ability to name their co-stars, there was a constant threat of having one band—say, the amazing New Christy Minstrels—dominate the proceedings. Besides, fans are so used to the MTV-oriented approach—little disposable and easily-digestible video tidbits—that to sit through an entire performance of live playing would seem like sonic sacrilege. No, what Hootenanny represents is the earliest stages of music-business bravado. Realizing they were dealing with a socially unacceptable form of expression, the suits took the tunes to the campuses, creating a kind of conspicuous underground style movement. Unlike today, where music sits side by side with and, in some cases, far above the other mainstream media, folk (like rock) was an insubordinate scene. Using the small screen as a missive statement was shrewd and tenuous at best.

The next thing you notice is the easy racial mixing between the acts. For its time, Hootenanny was notorious for allowing blacks and whites on the same stage—sometimes within the same group—in an era which still supported anti-miscegenation in practice and philosophy. All throughout the performance, Caucasian artists are seen supported by African-American talent, while minority performers shared equal space with the majority. Granted, the audiences were mostly as lily-fied as the valley could have them, and the ratio of white to black was heavily skewed toward the Anglo-Saxon set, but the novelty of seeing Bob Gibson, the Clara Ward Gospel Singers, and Herbie Mann alongside their puffy pink brethren makes this a deliciously divergent set.

Similarly, there are a lot of soon-to-be legends popping up throughout the performances. A very young Carly plays troubadour with her sibling as part of The Simon Sisters act, while a drug-addicted and razor-thin Johnny Cash makes a memorable appearance. His spouse to be, June, proves why The Carter Family are considered country music legends, and other recognizable faces—Judy Collins, Eddy Arnold, Hoyt Axton—increase the eyebrow-raising reality of such a collection. When you add in the comics—especially Allen and Vernon doing some of their most daring, non-narrative driven material—you end up with the start of a substantial shift in American cultural consideration. Hootenanny's short-lived tenure on television still represents a major leap forward in the cause of civil rights and expanded artistic expression.

The final fascinating aspect of this presentation is the many heretofore unknown musical moments we are privy to. Anyone familiar with Theodore Bikel and his tenure as an actor will marvel at his weird presence (and song selection) here. Aside from the fact that he makes for a compelling, complex folkie, his dedication to European and Israeli styles is really intriguing. Similarly, the Chad Mitchell Trio and The New Christy Minstrels are straight out of a real-life Christopher Guest parody. Minstrel's lead singer Barry McGuire—who would later go onto anti-war fame as a soloist with "Eve of Destruction"—is so over the top and animated that you instantly recognize the act's overall appeal. Similarly, the Trio takes standard fare and finesses it into something strangely compelling. Their song "John Birch Society" is a symbol of why folk was so frowned upon by the majority of the citizenry. Its lyrical content plays like outtakes from an episodes of The Simpsons. Some artists win us over with their wholesome openness. Jimmie Rodgers, Trini Lopez, and Mike Settle transform simple tunes into a kind of personal profile, explaining more about who they are than what the music represents. Oh course, there are a few clunkers (Ian and Sylvia just need to go away, as do The Rooftop Singers and The Tarriers) and there are a few individuals (Flat and Scruggs???, Doc Watson?) who seem beamed in from a completely different planet. Yet, overall, the total talent on display helps to overcome some of the show's more insignificant segments.

Along with the college locales, the flat-faced earnestness of Art's son Jack Linkletter, and a non-stop parade of aural Americana, you've got something both unusually fascinating and eccentrically entertaining. Even without a 24-hour cable channel dedicated to featuring expensive visual promo pieces (or, in fact, several dozen of said outlets), it's difficult to imagine a show like Hootenanny making it on the air today. Even when MTV used its brand name to feature artists performing "Unplugged," the novelty wore off quickly and quietly. Indeed, the musical landscape has shifted. Fans no longer care about instrumentation and performance chops. As long as it's got a hook and a series of seismic beats, all's good in the pop-chart kingdom. But 40-plus years ago, people still had to prove their sonic acumen. They couldn't get away with pure looks and phony faked skills—well, they could in the '50s, but that's another story for another day. Hootenanny, unlike American Bandstand or Hullabaloo, avoided the lip-synced shilling of the hit parade to argue for music as an art form—and it almost always succeeded. Looked at through the jaundiced eye of a few fractured decades, its noble intentions now seem more naïve than knowing. In fact, such a show was probably deemed a failure right up front. When the Beatles came and stole the auditory spotlight, leaving folk to fanatics like Dylan and his acolytes, the needs of the business were reallocated. Something as righteous as this still glorified and glitzy weekly concert didn't stand a chance. Perhaps now it can find its proper place in the history of media-based music.

Shout! Factory deserves mixed kudos for delivering this dazzling display of early '60s music making. The negatives are negligible, but well worth mentioning. First up, this is not a series of complete episodes. There is a little mixing and matching going on, and we never really see a complete installment of Hootenanny from start to finish. Secondly, these are unclear, murky kinescopes, not original video feeds. You can tell by the way the image flickers and flares when certain sequences play out. This does not mean the 1.33:1 full-screen image is awful—not by a long shot. It simply indicates that there will be a level of analog interference that many DVD aficionados will find faulty. Then there's the sonic reproduction. The three-disc set was not given a sonic revamp, multi-channel mixes taking the place of the standard mono drone. Interestingly enough, the flat, featureless presentation helps highlight the amazing musical skill of many of these performers. Even with the help of separation, equalized treble/bass, or fleshed-out aural ambience, many of these tunes still sound spectacular. It's a credit to these acts understanding of acoustic music that, instead of overplaying their moment, they treat the auditory approach with expertise and restraint. Unfortunately, aside from a nice pamphlet (included with Disc 1) that offers up some testimonials and essays on the show, there are no other added features to be found. Again, a simple documentary would do, giving media and music scholars a chance to discuss the show's impact and import. Leaving this as merely a song showcase is not enough.

Closing Statement

While it's easy to dismiss this review as the ranting of a middle-aged misanthrope who pines for the days when music actually mattered and bands could recreate their sound—or at least, their significance—as part of a live performance in front of a crowd of delighted devotees, the fact is that there is something rather majestic about a show like Hootenanny. Granted, it wore its illustrious motives on the end of its rolled-up journeyman sleeves, and it never really examined the breadth or depth of this rising youth movement. Instead, it was a trial in acceptability, a chance to see if the suburbanized U.S. citizenry was ready for a look back—with anger—at a time when men kept slaves, workers were undervalued and exploited, and the people felt the strident hand of its self-righteous leadership all around them. Using the traditions of a nation against itself is one of the easiest forms of dissent. It proves your point without utilizing a stauncher social sledgehammer. Hootenanny, in general, is a hospitable show that offered those outside the Greenwich coffeehouse scene a window into an ever-changing cultural landscape. While the British may have divided and conquered, folk still symbolizes an odd moment in the whole people/power dynamic. Look beyond the basics and you too will see it here, locked away inside each energetic, sincere performance.

The Verdict

Not guilty. A good set of an under-appreciated time in American music. Case closed.

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