WACHOLDER - Herr Wirt, so lösche uns're Brände (Amiga Records 8 45 267, 1983)

Anfang 1978 gründeten sechs Studenten des Fachs Bauwesen der Ingenieurhochschule Cottbus die Gruppe Wacholder. Das erste Konzert der Band fand am 27. April 1978 in der Milchbar der Ingenieurhochschule Cottbus statt. Dieser Auftritt war gleichzeitig auch die Einstufung von Wacholder, bei dem die Band ihre Spielerlaubnis erwarb und das sie zum "Volkskunstkollektiv" machte. Schon im ersten Jahr ihres Bestehens gewannen Wacholder den Publikumspreis der 11. Werkstattwoche in Leipzig. Im Herbst des gleichen Jahres stiegen Andrea Schlesewski und Steffen Junghans aus, und Wacholder trat vorübergehend als Quartett auf. Schon im Mai 1979 wuchs die Besetzung wieder auf fünf Musiker an, nachdem Rainer-Christoph Dietrich die Band verstärkte, und mit dem Einstieg von Erik Kross im März 1980 war die Sechserbesetzung wieder vollzählig.

Im Herbst 1981 schlossen die Musiker eine Ausbildung am Konservatorium Cottbus ab. Mit diesem Abschluss erhielten sie auch gleichzeitig ihren Berufsausweis. Die Folk-Band gehörte jetzt zu den professionellen Musikgruppen der DDR. Ebenfalls 1981 veröffentlichte AMIGA die Kopplung "Ein Kessel Rotes". Mit dieser Platte feierte Wacholder ihr Schallplatten-Debüt, denn auf ihr befinden sich die ersten vier Lieder der Band. In den Jahren 1982 und 1983 führten die Musiker von Wacholder zusammen mit Musikern und Künstlern der Formationen "Karls Enkel" (mit Hans-Eckardt Wenzel und Steffen Mensching) und "Beckert und Schulz" die "Hammer-Rehwü" auf, die sehr erfolgreich lief. Die "Hammer-Rehwü" wurde in mehreren Orten live aufgeführt und fand regen Zuspruch. Im Jahre 1983 trat Wacholder mit dem Programm "Ting-Tang-Tellerlein" auf. Das war das erste Heine-Programm der Formation, weitere sollten folgen. Im Herbst des gleichen Jahr veröffentlichte das Plattenlabel AMIGA das Debüt-Album von Wacholder. Die Platte heisst "Herr Wirt, so lösche uns're Brände" und wurde zu einem der bekanntesten und beliebtesten Folk-Alben der DDR-Musikgeschichte.

Nach weiteren personellen Wechseln und erfolgreichen Bühnenprogrammen veröffentlichte Wacholder 1989 als Trio in der Besetzung Scarlett 'O (Seeboldt), Matthias Kiessling und Matthias Wegner ihre zweite LP "Es ist an der Zeit". Dieses Album war gleichzeitig das erste von Wacholder, das auch auf CD veröffentlicht wurde, fand aber aufgrund der politischen Veränderungen in Deutschland kaum Beachtung. In der Wendezeit wurde es um Wacholder - wie auch um viele andere Künstler aus der DDR - etwas ruhiger. Erst im Winter 1991/1992 präsentierte die Band seinem Publikum ein neues Live-Programm, bei dem auch Gründungsmitglied Jörg Kokott, der 1986 bei Wacholder ausgestiegen war, als Gastmusiker mitwirkte. Im Frühjahr 1993 verliess Matthias Wegner die Band und Jörg Kokott stieg wieder als vollwertiges Mitglied ein. Im gleichen Jahr trafen sich die beteiligten Künstler der "Hammer-Rehwü", darunter auch die Wacholder-Mitglieder, und bereiteten eine Wiederaufführung des '82er Programms vor. Ein Jahr später wurde die "Hammer-Rehwü" - wie oben schon erwähnt - erstmals auf CD veröffentlicht.

Bis 2001 entwickelte die Gruppe Wacholder weitere Bühnenprogramme (darunter auch ein Kinderprogramm und ein weiteres Heine-Programm zum 200. Geburtstag des Dichters) und veröffentlichte drei weitere Alben. Im Januar und Februar 2001 ging das Folk-Trio auf seine "Willkommen zum Abschied"-Tournee. Nach 23 erfolgreichen Jahren Bandgeschichte verabschiedeten sich die Musiker dabei von ihrem Publikum und von der Bühne. Nach Abschluss der Tour löste sich die Band auf. Das war aber noch nicht das endgültige Ende, denn schon 2008, pünktlich zum 30. Bandjubiläum, taten sich Kokott, Kiessling und Seeboldt wieder zusammen und gingen in den ersten Monaten des jahres auf "Zu guter Letzt"-Tour. Zwischen dem 14. Januar und dem 1. März spielte das Trio erfolgreich 33 Konzerte und begeisterte damit neue und alte Fans. Diese Tour war aber nur eine Wiedervereinigung auf Zeit, denn mit Abschluss der Tour gingen die Musiker wieder getrennte Wege.

WOLF BIERMANN - Eins in die Fresse, mein Herzblatt (CBS Records 88502,1980)

Writing about Wolf Biermann is a complex task. This German singer, songwriter, and poet can be called the most famous, controversial, loved, and hated artist of post-war Germany, a scathing critic of the "real socialism" which eventually collapsed at the end of the '80s. He may in some way be called the "Bob Dylan of Germany," but with two significant limitations: Unlike Dylan, Biermann never flirted with religious feelings and he never crossed the bridge to rock music, but remained a non-electric solo performer with acoustic guitar. 

Biermann is of Jewish origin, his father, a communist, was killed by the Nazis in the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1943. Full of socialist ideals and new hope for a better Germany, Wolf Biermann left his hometown, Hamburg, and settled in what was then the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the communist eastern part of the divided Germany, in 1953. There he tried to start a career typical for many of the East German young generation by studying socialist economics in East Berlin. Soon, however, he realized that this shoe did not fit him too well and he aborted his studies. Around this time, he had discovered that he was a man of the theater, and as a result, he became assistant stage manager at the renowned Berliner Ensemble in 1957. This theater company had been founded by Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), who had died just one year before Biermann started working there. 

In 1959, however, Biermann decided to quit his theater job and enrolled again for studies in East Berlin, this time philosophy and mathematics. In a struggle to get a play he was directing at the university past the censors, he made the acquaintance of the composer Hanns Eisler (1898-1962), whose music Biermann had come across during his time at the Berliner Ensemble. Eisler had worked with Bertolt Brecht during their exiles in the United States. Eisler realized the genius of the young Wolf Biermann and encouraged him to write poems and songs, and Biermann acknowledged later on that Eisler's composing techniques had a big influence on his own songwriting. It was also Eisler who exposed the young songwriter to the GDR public for the first time, but in a monolithic state, the fate of this newcomer, who in his lyrics radiated sassiness à la Francois Villon (1431-1463) and wit à la Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) based on a dramatic craftsmanship à la Bertolt Brecht, was doomed from the beginning. In the very early songs of Biermann, the cultural bureaucrats could already sense rebellion. 

Bertolt Brecht's credo had always been "to think and write in lively conflicts," and in this sense, Biermann saw himself as a true pupil of Brecht. Sponsored by Hanns Eisler, he decided to transform this motto into action by establishing his own theater, the Berliner Arbeiter- und Studententheater (Berlin workers' and students' theater), in 1961. The first play he wrote and directed was about erecting the Berlin Wall, a crucial historical event which had taken place the same year, and it was the first time Biermann generated a "lively conflict" with the "powers that be" of the GDR. Subsequently, the play's performance was banned and the theater eventually closed down in 1963. After the forced closure of his theater company, Wolf Biermann refrained from theater stage production and focused on his career as a writer and singer/songwriter. His first poem anthology, Liebesgedichte, had already been published in 1962. In the same year, his application for membership in the East German communist party was declined and probably contributed to his first serious disillusionment with the ruling communist ideology. 1963 also marked the beginning of his friendship with Robert Havemann, a professor of chemistry in East Berlin and one of the leading dissidents of the GDR. All in all, the tone of his lyrics became more and more critical towards the ruling regime, and a clash between the two sides was inevitable. Without the strong support of Hanns Eisler, who had died in late 1962, things turned out to become much more difficult in the constant struggle against the self-appointed cultural bureaucrats of the GDR. 

In 1964-1965, the conflict between the artist and the authorities eventually escalated; Biermann gave his first performances in West Germany and earned his first critical acclaim there. His first record release, "Wolf Biermann (Ost) zu Gast bei Wolfgang Neuss (West)" (1965), a collaboration with the West German political satirist Wolfgang Neuss (1923-1989), and his next poem anthology (Die Drahtharfe) were only published in West Germany. In the GDR, Wolf Biermann was finally banned from performing and publishing; his poetry and songs were classified as obscene and a betrayal of communist ideals. Biermann, however, could not be intimidated. In West Germany, he published his next book (Mit Marx- und Engelszungen, 1968) and released his first solo record "Chausseestraße 131" (1969, with the album title referring to the address of his residence in East Berlin). This debut was a passionate accusation against the totalitarian state which refused him any public appearances as an artist. 

After a relatively long period of forced silence, Biermann was finally allowed to perform in public again in 1976. The authorities also accepted an application for a tour through the West and Biermann left for the other part of Germany. This was, however, only part of a nasty plan: during the course of Biermann's tour, the GDR authorities decided to refuse him re-entry into East Germany and thus expelled him from his country of residence. This decision generated an uproar in both parts of Germany and marked the beginning of a continuous exodus of critical artists from the GDR. The Cologne concert which had led to Wolf Biermann's expulsion was released in 1977 as the double-set "Das geht sein'  sozialistischen Gang". Biermann started his new life in the West with extensive touring through Western Europe and regularly releasing records, such as an album with childrens' songs ("Der Friedensclown", 1977). "Trotz Alledem" (1978) featured the first songs Biermann had written after his expulsion, and on "Hälfte des Lebens" (1979), he presented lyrics of other poets: Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843), Heinrich Heine, or Bertolt Brecht, among others, with his own music. On "Eins in die Fresse, mein Herzblatt" (1980) he commented the first time on West German topics. 

In the beginning of the '80s, Biermann lived temporarily in Paris and became father of twins. He celebrated this joyful period in his life with songs he released on "Wir müssen vor Hoffnung verrückt sein" (1982). On "Im Hamburger Federbett", released in 1983, he sang bitterly about his final reckoning with communism and the 1982 coup d'état in Poland. At the end of the '80s, he admitted that he did not feel very satisfied either with his life in the western part of Germany, still dreamt about a human and democratic socialism, and seemed to be "tired from all these attempts to save mankind" (Biermann about Biermann). His looking back into the past was accompanied by the record "VEBiermann" (1988) which featured songs he had written before he was ostracized in 1965. 

Then came the breakdown of communism in Eastern Europe and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and matters completely changed. Biermann who had believed that the GDR regime would last longer than himself was eventually able to perform again in the eastern part of Germany. On December 1, 1989, he staged a phenomenal comeback performance in Leipzig where the collapse of the regime had been initiated. The new songs he performed at this historical concert were released as studio versions on the album "Gut Kirschenessen. DDR - Ca Ira" (1990). Apart from further releasing records and books, he became actively involved in politics by writing newspaper articles, essays, and giving interviews. He had no interest in being a myth or aligning himself to some political party, therefore he constantly sparked controversy throughout Germany with his songs, opinions, and public appearances. The title of his 1991 release, "Nur wer sich ändert,  bleibt sich treu", which further explored the subject of German reunification, nicely summed up his philosophical credo: only if you change you remain true to yourself. 

After a break of five years, he released an album with new songs, "Süßes Leben - Saures Leben" (1996) and the live set "Brecht - Deine Nachgeborenen" (1998), a homage to Bertolt Brecht. At the end of the '90s, he decided to move temporarily to Berlin, where he had lived throughout the '60s and '70s. "Paradies uff Erden. Ein Berliner Bilderbogen", the result of these Berlin impressions, was released in 1999. Through the old and new German capital, Biermann observes his unified home country with lyrics that sometimes sound like a reincarnation of the poetic mind of Heinrich Heine, the famous German poet who also was expelled from Germany and had his difficulties with the German state of mind. Throughout his career, Biermann received a lot of awards and also held temporary academic positions. In 1983, he was invited as a visiting lecturer to Ohio State University, and from 1993 through 1995, he was visiting professor at Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, Germany.

THE HOPKINS BROTHERS - Joel, Lightning & John Henry

(Arhoolie Records CD-3401964, 1991 - Original Recordings from 1964/1965)

A once-in-a-lifetime meeting of the three Hopkins brothers in Waxahatchie, TX in 1964 produced this marvelous brace of field recordings. The oldest brother was considered the best songster in the family, and certainly his performances here are throwbacks to a more archaic style, although he's an amazingly energetic performer. Middle brother Joel is the crudest of the three, surprising since he's the one of the three who spent the most time around mentor Blind Lemon Jefferson. These are loose, conversational recordings made with a single microphone. They capture three brothers enjoying each other's company immensely. Sam Hopkins was a Texas country bluesman of the highest caliber whose career began in the 1920s and stretched all the way into the 1980s. Along the way, Hopkins watched the genre change remarkably, but he never appreciably altered his mournful Lone Star sound, which translated onto both acoustic and electric guitar. Hopkins' nimble dexterity made intricate boogie riffs seem easy, and his fascinating penchant for improvising lyrics to fit whatever situation might arise made him a beloved blues troubadour.

Hopkins' brothers John Henry and Joel were also talented bluesmen, but it was Sam who became a star. In 1920, he met the legendary Blind Lemon Jefferson at a social function, and even got a chance to play with him. Later, Hopkins served as Jefferson's guide. In his teens, Hopkins began working with another pre-war great, singer Texas Alexander, who was his cousin. A mid-'30s stretch in Houston's County Prison Farm for the young guitarist interrupted their partnership for a time, but when he was freed, Hopkins hooked back up with the older bluesman. The pair was dishing out their lowdown brand of blues in Houston's Third Ward in 1946 when talent scout Lola Anne Cullum came across them. She had already engineered a pact with Los Angeles-based Aladdin Records for another of her charges, pianist Amos Milburn, and Cullum saw the same sort of opportunity within Hopkins' dusty country blues. Alexander wasn't part of the deal; instead, Cullum paired Hopkins with pianist Wilson "Thunder" Smith, sensibly re-christened the guitarist "Lightnin'," and presto! Hopkins was very soon an Aladdin recording artist.

"Katie May," cut on November 9, 1946, in L.A. with Smith lending a hand on the 88s, was Lightnin' Hopkins' first regional seller of note. He recorded prolifically for Aladdin in both L.A. and Houston into 1948, scoring a national R&B hit for the firm with his "Shotgun Blues." "Short Haired Woman," "Abilene," and "Big Mama Jump," among many Aladdin gems, were evocative Texas blues rooted in an earlier era. A load of other labels recorded the wily Hopkins after that, both in a solo context and with a small rhythm section: Modern/RPM (his uncompromising "Tim Moore's Farm" was an R&B hit in 1949); Gold Star (where he hit with "T-Model Blues" that same year); Sittin' in With ("Give Me Central 209" and "Coffee Blues" were national chart entries in 1952) and its Jax subsidiary; the major labels Mercury and Decca; and, in 1954, a remarkable batch of sides for Herald where Hopkins played blistering electric guitar on a series of blasting rockers ("Lightnin's Boogie," "Lightnin's Special," and the amazing "Hopkins' Sky Hop") in front of drummer Ben Turner and bassist Donald Cooks (who must have had bleeding fingers, so torrid were some of the tempos).

But Hopkins' style was apparently too rustic and old-fashioned for the new generation of rock & roll enthusiasts (they should have checked out "Hopkins' Sky Hop"). He was back on the Houston scene by 1959, largely forgotten. Fortunately, folklorist Mack McCormick rediscovered the guitarist, who was dusted off and presented as a folk-blues artist; a role that Hopkins was born to play. Pioneering musicologist Sam Charters produced Hopkins in a solo context for Folkways Records that same year, cutting an entire LP in Hopkins' tiny apartment (on a borrowed guitar). The results helped introduced his music to an entirely new audience. Lightnin' Hopkins went from gigging at back-alley gin joints to starring at collegiate coffeehouses, appearing on TV programs, and touring Europe to boot. His once-flagging recording career went right through the roof, with albums for World Pacific; Vee-Jay; Bluesville; Bobby Robinson's Fire label (where he cut his classic "Mojo Hand" in 1960); Candid; Arhoolie; Prestige; Verve; and, in 1965, the first of several LPs for Stan Lewis' Shreveport-based Jewel logo.

Hopkins generally demanded full payment before he'd deign to sit down and record, and seldom indulged a producer's desire for more than one take of any song. His singular sense of country time befuddled more than a few unseasoned musicians; from the 1960s on, his solo work is usually preferable to band-backed material. Filmmaker Les Blank captured the Texas troubadour's informal lifestyle most vividly in his acclaimed 1967 documentary, "The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins". As one of the last great country bluesmen, Hopkins was a fascinating figure who bridged the gap between rural and urban styles.

CHRIS REA - The Return Of The Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes

(Jazzee Blue / Ear Books 978-3-940064-50-5, 2008)

"The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes" is the twenty-second studio album by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea, released in 2008 by his own record label, Jazzee Blue. It comprises three CDs and double 10" Vinyl records in an 80-page hardback book. It is the second album of his project, the Hofner Blue Notes (2003). The project narrates the history of The Delmonts, an imaginary guitar instrumental band from the late 1950s, who in early 1960s evolved into blues band The Hofner Bluenotes. It also gives a brief history of the Hofner guitar, and its importance in the development of music in Britain. The book is lavishly illustrated with period photos and mocked up posters and newspaper cuttings about the band, together with some of Rea's paintings, and photos of Hofner guitars. The music was recorded by Rea (guitars), Colin Hodgkinson (bass) and Martin Ditcham (drums), who feature in the book, together with Niel Drinkwater and Robert Ahwai.

After the album was released, Rea started a European tour, including a show at London's Royal Albert Hall and Newcastle City Hall. He and his band would perform as a quintet The Fabulous Hofner Blue Notes. The concerts were divided in three sections: in the first, they would play only songs from Delmonts (CD1), then some blues songs from Fabulous Hofner Blue Notes (CD2), and in the third part Rea's greatest hits. In The Independent review was rated 3/5 stars. Alexander Cordas writing for laut.de gave it the same score, stating that The Delmonts music from the first CD is not for everyone because the homage "is entertaining, but rather in the sense of a winking glance towards the past", while The Hofners sometimes does not convince because it has "every now and then cliché-drenched" tracks which "sound neither dirty in the bluesy sense, nor exciting in their compositional aspect", concluding that "the overall package of the Hofner Bluenotes appeals with its appealing exterior".

Artist and painter, blues aficionado and self-confessed motoring nut, filmmaker and Italian-influenced classical music composer, eclectic and maverick are two terms that hardly come close to describing a man who has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide for just being himself. Recent years have seen Rea publicly celebrating many of his passions – including Santo Spirito, a release containing two feature-length films on DVD (written and directed by Rea), two accompanying CDs of the soundtracks, and one regular CD of studio album songs, Blue Guitars, an eleven CD collection of 137 blues inspired tracks with his own paintings as album covers, and La Passione – a deluxe box set featuring Rea’s extraordinary soundtrack to his own short films about the legendary motor racing driver Wolfgang Von Tripps (together with a documentary made up of Von Tripp’s personal cine film archive and a 70 page coffee table book including Rea’s photographs and paintings) – but 2017 sees Rea return to what he’s best known for: an album of gorgeous rock ballads which showcases Rea’s unique voice and a songwriting skill at the top of his game. The album is called Road Songs For Lovers and it is possibly his finest record to date.

Born in Middlesborough in 1951, Rea released his debut album, Whatever Happened To Benny Santini – the title is a nod to the stage name, Benjamin Santini, Rea sarcastically created to appease his record label – in 1978 and promptly had a huge US hit with the first track to be lifted off the record, Fool If You Think It’s Over. Whatever and Rea’s follow up Deltics were produced by Elton John’s main-man, Gus Dudgeon, and it was no doubt the sound that Rea and Dudgeon created together that led to Rea being widely regarded as an artist in the style of Elton John and Billy Joel. Naturally, Rea was unhappy with the misdiagnosis but he could do very little to prevent his next two albums, Tennis and Chris Rea failing to produce any hit singles. In 1983, Rea’s fifth studio album Water Sign sold over half a million copies after I Can Hear Your Heartbeat, a single lifted from the record, became a Top 20 hit all over Europe. Rea’s follow up, Wired To The Moon was also a huge success and attendant tours of Europe would ensure that Rea commandeered a significant fan-base. In 1985, Rea released Shamrock Diaries and two songs herein, Stainsby Girls (about an abandoned hamlet near Middlesboro and the school named after it) and Josephine, suddenly connected with British audiences: subsequent releases, On The Beach and Dancing With Strangers went platinum, the latter marooned at No.2 behind Michael Jackson’s Bad. Rea’s next two albums The Road To Hell and Auberge would become his first No. 1 albums in the UK whilst God’s Great Banana Skin and Espresso Logic quickly went Top 10.

1998 saw the release of the Top 10 album, The Blue Café, and the following year, Rea released an electronica album called The Road To Hell Part 2. In 2000, Rea’s, King Of The Beach reached the Top 30 but his well-documented illness meant that he took a brief sabbatical from recording before returning to his blues roots with Dancing Down The Stony Road in 2002. Rea then set up his own independent label, Jazzee Blue, and further blues-tinged releases included Blue Street (Five Guitars) and Hofner Blue Notes in 2003 and The Blue Jukebox in 2004. A year later he released the groundbreaking Blue Guitars album. In February 2008, for the release of The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Blue Notes (comprising 38 new tracks on three CDs and two vinyl copies plus a hardback book of his paintings) Rea dreamed up a band – a pastiche instrumental group from the late 1950 called The Delmonts – and toured the UK (including the Albert Hall) introducing his band as The Delmonts. A year later, Still So Far To Go, a best-of compilation reached No.8, turning gold in the process, before Santo Spirito Blues cemented Rea’s place in the pantheon of musicians that follow their own artistic vision – think Elvis Costello’s Almost Blue/Imperial Bedroom period – at the expense of commercial concerns. A stunningly repackaged version of La Passione (initially released in 1996) would appear in 2016 accompanied by an exhibition of Rea’s hugely expansive paintings (inspired by the project) at the RAC in London.

It’s been quite some time since Rea released anything “mainstream” or non blues-oriented and the rather good news is that Road Songs For Lovers is Rea’s best record to date. Recorded with Rea’s own band at Metropolis Studios in London – in contrast to recent albums which have been self-produced in his home studio – the record continues Rea’s obsession with travel and motion; songs like The Road Ahead (the first single off the album), Happy On The Road, Last Train and title track, Road Songs For Lovers ostensibly suggest that we are constantly going somewhere in our lives and no doubt require a musical soundtrack to document this movement. Rea’s uniquely warm and distinctive sound is abundantly present and correct throughout the recording and on Angel Of Love he approaches greatness: “I’m the king of the highway code/I need a slow song so I can dance in your heart/ everybody got their tales of woe/everybody got their cross to bear/I’m a restless soul in a traveller’s tale” he gently opines and you are reminded just how beautiful Rea’s voice can be at times. The song is one of the most moving on Road Songs For Lovers but its heartbreaking nature is not out of place on an album that regularly tugs at the heartstrings: Breaking Point is a poignant tale of love gone awry – “Last time we saw him, he had nothing much to say/Now I guess we’ll never know – the breaking point” – whilst Beautiful is utterly compelling, piano and sax hugging Rea’s desolate though delicately nuanced vocal delivery. And we defy anyone to not be moved by these sentiments: “Beautiful that’s what you are to me/no matter what they say, it’s what you’ll always be/ love calls your name and I must follow where it goes/ Because you’re beautiful is all that I can see, although there is no chance for love and we must set each free/I’ll always hold you deep inside me, you’ll always be …Beautiful".

Chris Rea is not alone in the company of musicians who found fame later in life – think Jarvis Cocker, Leonard Cohen – and indeed it is interesting to note that he didn’t achieve UK Top Ten single status until the release of The Road To Hell (pt2), a record that was actually his eighteenth chart entry. Perhaps it is this fact that makes Rea such a breath of fresh air and a man effortlessly in control of his own faculties as a singer songwriter. “I was never a rock star or pop star and all the illness has been my chance to do what I’d always wanted to do with music,” he says. “The best change for my music has been concentrating on stuff which really interests me.“ He is obviously referring to his love of motor racing, painting and the blues but if Road Songs For Lovers proves one thing it is this: you can add beautiful, poignant rock ‘n’ roll love songs to that pantheon of passions.

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Classic Protest Songs From Smithsonian Folkways

(Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40197, 2009)

War, social injustice, personal plaints, and calls for action have long fueled musical creation and performance. In Classic Protest Songs, Mark Gustafson and Jeff Place tapped the historic Smithsonian audio collections to compile 22 songs favored by leaders of antiwar, civil rights, industrial labor, farm worker, and other struggles to air their grievances. Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Janis Ian, Big Bill Broonzy, Pete Seeger, Barbara Dane, Guy Carawan, Phil Ochs, and other marquee artists let their voices ring out with calls for peace and justice.
From the booklet: "Over the years, Folkways Records (now Smithsonian Folkways) has produced and distributed high-quality recordings of American folk music. Moses Asch, founder of Folkways, made a commitment to artists that their Folkways recordings would never go out of print. The Smithsonian keeps that tradition alive. This recording is intended as an introduction to many of these recordings, a chance for listeners to experience them, perhaps again, perhaps for the first time. The Smithsonian has subsequently acquired other fine small labels, and this disc includes recordings from the Monitor and Paredon labels. The songs presented here come mainly from the 1940s to the 1960s.

Many people mistakenly believe that "protest songs" originated with guitar-playing folk singers in the 1960s. It is highly likely that some form of protest lyrics have existed as far back as humans have made music. Songs have been associated with almost every human conflict in history. In the British Isles, ballads about the latest current events and issues were printed on pages of paper and sold for a few pennies, and these publications were called broadsides. Many songs and rhymes we all know well began as topical or protest songs, their original meaning now lost. "Froggy Went-a Courtin’" has been traced back to the 16th century and discusses a royal romance. "Little Jack Horner" is about a disreputable tax collector in the days of Henry VIII. In the United States, many complaints of the American colonists about the British were accompanied by associated songs. Since the invention of audio recording, many songs of protest have been recorded. Many of the early country and blues recording artists worked as sharecroppers or in factories. Support for labor struggles and feelings of anger were put into words and performed. There are songs of the sharecroppers, songs of the textile workers, songs of the railroad workers, songs of the miners—and the list goes on. Collections of these songs have been published, and many of these old 78s have been reissued on compact discs.

The 1930s found a group of academics, composers, journalists, and musicians in New York at the beginning of the great "folksong revival." These individuals came from the far left politically and championed the folklore and music of the people. Among this musical world were great popular songwriters, such as Earl Robinson, Yip Harburg ("Somewhere over the Rainbow," "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime"), and Lewis Allan (see track 12), and their lyrics frequently dealt with social issues. It was out of this environment that Folkways Records emerged. Some artists active in New York in the early 1940s were Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Josh White, and Lead Belly. In this environment, through Asch and then later Disc Records, they expressed themselves politically, and Moses Asch always felt that his records were a vehicle for his artists to speak. One of the great singing groups of the time was the Almanac Singers (Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Bess and Butch Hawes, Sis Cunningham, Millard Lampell, Lee Hays, and others), whose repertory consisted of songs for the common people´s struggle.

Asch’s studio always involved a racially mixed group of musicians, and some of the black musicians present found it safe to express themselves openly in their lyrics in ways they could not in their places of origin. An integral part of the civil-rights movement was its use of song. As long as Africans had been in the United States, they have used song to communicate their response to their situation. When white owners banned drums because they felt the slaves might be able to communicate with each other by drumming, the slaves adopted Christian hymns, such as "Oh let my people go!" in which the images of imprisoned Jews became metaphors for their condition. The song "Follow the Drinking Gourd" was a veiled reference to the North Star and the path northward, to freedom. Worksongs and shouts included commentaries on bosses and owners. Country bluesmen included references in their songs to the problems they had living in the South. Charley Patton sang of the evil sheriff Tom Rushen. The civil-rights movement adapted a body of black traditional music and hymns to new uses (Bernice Reagon, notes to SFW 40084).

In the late 1950s, the folksong revival reached its apex. Folksongs became the most popular music in the United States until the great "British Invasion" of 1964 brought rock and roll back to the top. Students across the country took up guitars and banjos. Many of them built their careers on the work of the folksingers that had proceeded them, important figures such as Guthrie and Seeger. As the politically repressive times of the McCarthy years waned, the political left felt that it could express itself again, and many of these statements took the form of folksongs. Sis Cunningham and Gordon Friesen started Broadside magazine in 1962 to publish newly created "songs of conscience." Broadside was the first magazine that published songs by Janis Ian, Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs, Eric Andersen, and others. The appearance of Bob Dylan on the music scene changed the musical approach of almost every current musician; many started writing and trying to sound like him, even though he had based his own persona on Guthrie. It’s the image of Dylan with a harmonica rack and a guitar that became the caricature of the "protest folksinger." As quickly as he had arrived, he moved on to other musical endeavors. Besides Broadside were individuals who published and supported topical music. The great bible of the folksong movement, Sing Out! magazine, published new and old protest songs (and still does). Former Sing Out! editor Irwin Silber and his wife, activist and singer Barbara Dane, opened Paredon Records in New York in 1970 to document the music of social political movements worldwide.

African-American folksinger Jimmy Collier pointed out that if you want to get your message across, it’s best to use the music of the community that you wish to communicate with. Collier found that the urban black community did not respond to new words to American folksongs, but it did respond to new words to rhythm-and-blues songs (personal communication, 2000). As the folk revival ended, hard-edged new songs began to be written using folk-rock and rock music. Punk rock exploded on the scene in the late 70s with the Sex Pistols and their attacks on Margaret Thatcher’s administration with "God save the queen and her fascist regime." Protest lyrics are easily found in rap and hiphop. The early 21st-century war in Iraq has led to a new round of antiwar songs. Much as Broadside and Paredon Records became an outlet for writers of political song, national networks of such writers still exist; there are newsletters, websites, house concerts, and self-produced cassettes. Seattle resident Jim Page is an example of this: he plays on the street and produces recordings that illustrate his feelings. Billy Bragg adapted Lead Belly’s "Bourgeois Blues" into "Bush War Blues" and distributed it through the internet.

In 1987, Ralph Rinzler, folk musician, record producer, and talent scout for the Newport Folk Festival, and then Assistant Secretary for Public Service at the Smithsonian Institution, negotiated the donation of the Folkways label to the museum; the following year, the Smithsonian Folkways record label was founded. Rinzler had been involved in earlier Folkways albums, and he knew the value of the collection. Smithsonian Folkways has always set out to reissue material from its archives with expanded liner notes and updated sound. It has since acquired other smaller, like-minded record companies: Cook, Paredon, Dyer-Bennet, Fast Folk Musical Magazine, Monitor, Collector, and M.O.R.E. These labels comprise what is called the Smithsonian Folkways Collection, and they include folk recordings in their catalog. More than three thousand titles are available through Smithsonian Folkways via on-demand compact disc and on-line digital download. This recording hardly breaks the surface of the repertory of songs that are out there. Some "classic" protest songs are not on this disc because this collection draws exclusively, as do all of the releases in this series, from the body of material in the Smithsonian Folkways Collection. This collection is meant to be a series of doors to lead listeners into full recordings by these artists. If you enjoy it, many more great recordings are out there".

BERND WITTHÜSER - Lieder von Vampiren, Nonnen und Toten

(Ohr Records OMM 56002, 1970)

"If I’d perform in front of miners and sing about how we’d sweat because of the exhausting mining-work the miners they’d laugh about me, since I haven’t gone to work for more than two years". Bernd Witthüser refused to be received as a political folk-singer for the working class. From 1964 up to 1969 the folk-festival at Burg Waldeck (in the Hunsrück mountains) played an important role for the development of a musical underground in post-WW-II-Germany. The music performed there offered an alternative to the German Schlager and was influenced by the American and French folk music, but even more important than that musical references was a very strong Marxist tradition that the new generation connected with (Bertolt Brecht functioned as an important role model). Not unlike Pete Seeger in the U.S., folk music was considered to be not only the voice of the people but something to educate people with, raise people’s consciousness, teach them about society etc. "We shall overcome".

That highly political (and arrogant at times) approach often led to controversial events. Not unlike Pete Seeger attacking Dylan’s amplification with an axe, there were similar incidents at Burg Waldeck. For example there was the time Rolf Schwendter disturbed Reinhard May’s concert with a snare drum, because May’s songs weren’t political enough for Schwendter’s taste. As a result to the politicised/political climate during the late 1960’s the festival turned out to be dominated by discussions and teach-ins and all these incidents/discussions during these years were as necessary as self-centered: On the one hand the festival and its music/musicians worked as an instrument to politicise people – on the other hand the privileged middle-class kids had to learn that the “revolutionary subject” (i.e. the working class) they were talking about/looking for was somewhere else: at work, and not at a hippie-festival in the Hunsrück mountains. As a consequence in 1969 the preaching to the converted came to an end (the festival was put on hold until 1973) and the folk-music-scene disbanded and headed off to different shores.

Some of the folk musicians referred to the psychedelic music as a druggy escape-route from a reality that needed to be changed (and because of drug-use remained unchanged), some referred to the psychedelic aesthetics as a way to enter the doors of perception, as a first step towards a new society. The crucial point (still): s smoking pot revolutionary or counter-revolutionary behaviour ? By 1968 Bernd Witthüser had already had some local success as a protest-singer, but he didn’t want to sing about mining when his everyday life was more about smoking pot and reading poetry. It seemed ridiculous to him.

Instead of performing the working class hero he chose to sing about vampires, nuns and the dead. Influenced by medieval and romantic poetry (like Novalis and Heinrich Heine) he recorded a gothic-folk or folk-noir record for Rolf Ulrich Kaisers Ohr-label (with whom he had also worked before when he managed the “Essener Songtage” in 1968). But it wouldn’t be a Witthüser (& Westrupp is on board already, too) record without a good measure of goofy jokes included: The last song on the record is an adaption of the theme tune from the TV-series 'Flipper' and until that last song a lot of - more or less - funny wordplays and gags come with a lot of the songs on "Lieder von Vampiren, Nonnen und Toten". But the all in all frivolous approach is a good thing, actually. Otherwise "Lieder von Vampiren, Nonnen und Toten" would be an unbearable proto neo folk disaster. But Bernd and Walter had a reefer once in a while and their daily dose of Marihuana kept them away from turning into morbid youngsters longing for death.

It’s quite difficult to write about the music on "Lieder von Vampiren, Nonnen und Toten" without thinking of the lyrics all the time. And being a native speaker of the German language I wonder how the record is received if you don’t get the lyrics (which is - the other way round - in 99,9% the case for all the Anglo-American music Krauts listen to). "Lieder von Vampiren, Nonnen und Toten" is a lovely, unadorned folk music record garnished with a lot of humour and a slightly psychedelic vibe. Mostly guitar and voice, with a bit of percussion, a flute, a trombone and stuff like that here and there. Imagine Cheech & Chong singing Current 93.

After "Lieder von Vampiren, Nonnen und Toten", Witthüser & Westrupp went on to perform and record as a duo and they released three studio-records ("Trips und Träume", "Der Jesuspilz" and "Bauer Plath") and a live-record ("Live ’68-’73"). It’s all about smoking pot, making fun of authorities, daydreaming and enjoying life, basically. Not sure, if this can be considered as a revolutionary agenda, but for a few years it seemed to work - and they both remain swinging until this day.

COLDWATER ARMY - Peace (Agape Records AS 2600, 1971)

Singer/guitarist Bobby Golden and his older brother/bassist Kenny Golden grew up outside of Macon, Georgia. While in their teens, they started forming and playing in local bans such as The Golden Boys and The Golden Arcade. By 1969 they'd expanded their repertoire beyond top-40 covers and soul revue, to include original material as the Coldwater Army.  I'm guessing the name was inspired by the American temperance movement, though it was interesting name choice for a band that was formed near Warner Robbins Air Force Base.

1971 found Coldwater Army signed to the Nashville-based Starday-King affiliated Agape label. With a line-up consisting of singer Bob Garrett, lead guitarist Bobby Golden, bassist Kenny Golden, drummer Richard Hughes, trumpet player Nick Jones, sax player Dale Miller, and keyboardist Bob Spearman, the band went into the studios with producer Bobby Smith.  Allowing an unknown band to record an album of original material seemingly reflected one of two things- Agape had significant faith in the band's commercial potential or, 2.) Agape had no interest in the band. Having listened to Coldwtaer Army dozens of times over the years, my guess is the latter category.

Not that you're going to find a lot of on-line reviews for this obscurity, but the ones you'll stumble across routinely tag this one as Southern rock. On tracks like "Dreams" and "Today, Tomorrow, Yesterday" there were clearly Southern rock influences, but don't be mislead, this really wasn't a Southern rock album. Remember that when the album was recorded, the majority of the band members were still in their late teens. They had come out of bands that focused on top-40 and soul covers so originality wasn't something they'd necessarily gotten around to. That made much of this album one of those fun, spot-the-influences collections.  It's all here - Blood, Sweat and Tears horn charts, Chicago blues-rock ("Away"), even Paul Revere and the Raiders top-40 ("Smiling Faces").  

"Dreams" starts with a funky little guitar riff, "Dreams" found the band dipping their collective toes into the blues-rock arena - imagine a hybrid of The Allman Brothers and The Atlanta Rhythm Section, awesome track. "To Pamela" is a hyper-sensitive ballad that included a touch of Cream influence in the middle of the song. The bouncy, blue-eyed soul-ish "Hey People" is most commercially feasible song. Imagine The Young Rascals had they grown up in Macon, Georgia rather than New Jersey. I'm not a big fan for social relevancy, but I'll make an exception for this one. The lyrics may not have been the most subtle you've ever heard, but kudos to an early '70s  Southern band being willing to taken on the subject of equality. Always liked Golden's melodic solo on this one.

"Today, Tomorrow, Yesterday" was a nice baseline for another sound of spot the influences - My answer was Spooky Tooth's "Evil Woman" meets The Dixie Dregs. Again, not particularly original, but I liked Garrett's growling vocals and the song's jamming flavor. "Smiling Faces" was a radio-friendly pop ballad that could have easily slotted on a Paul Revere and the Raiders album. Seriously, the lead vocal actually reminded me of Mark Lindsay. Very catchy refrain. Penned by drummer Hughes, "In Thought" was another Bobby Golden and Bill Spearman-powered rocker. Complete with lots of church organ, the lyrics also seemed inspired by the loss of their friend David Allen.

Powered by some of Spearman's prettiest keyboards and Golden's sustained fuzz guitar, "Time For Reason" probably came the closest to showing off the band's true musical orientation. With a haunting, slightly lysergic edge, once again, Dale Miller's jazzy, discordant sax solo was at odds with the rest of the song, but it was such a strange juxtaposition that it was kind of neat. Shame the song faded out so early. With little promotional support from their record label, shortly after the album was released, the band split up.