Johnny Cash på Österåker

Johnny Cash på Österåker is available thanks to Uncle Gil.

Me and Bobby McGhee

Johnny Cash, "Accidental" Plagiarist

When you first hear that Johnny Cash had "borrowed" the words and music to one of his most famous songs, you might think he might have taken it from an old bluesman with a name something like "Seven-Fingers" McGee. In truth, huge chunks of "Folsom Prison Blues" were lifted from a big band arranger/easy-listening composer named Gordon Jenkins in his 1953 recording "Seven Dreams".

Compare:

Jenkins' Crescent City Blues:

If I owned that lonesome whistle

If that railroad train was mine

I'll bet I'd find a man a little farther down the line

Far from Crescent City is where I'd like to stay

And I'd let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away.

and now Folsom Prison Blues:


Well, if they freed me from this prison

If that railroad train was mine

I'd bet I'd move on over a little farther down the line

Far from Folsom Prison that's where I want to stay

And I'd let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away.

Learn more about this interesting sidebar in music history here and here (don't bother trying the links on this one, just read the story).

You can get the original "Crescent City Blues" here.

The Hasil Adkins Rejection Letters

"This week marks the arrival (April 29, 1937) and unfortunately the departure (April 25, 2005) of The Wildest One Man Band Hunch Machine that ever stalked the planet. ...
... Early on, he'd mail out his home-recorded concoctions to the country music stars of the day, hoping to place a song or grab a plum spot on a traveling package show. Like the rest of the world, Nashville would have to wait a few decades to get hep to Hasil's chicken walk-inspired genius."

" ... and my advice to you would be stay where you are and keep working at your singing and playing and maybe one day you will be able to come to Nashville.

Good luck to you

Sincerely,
Ernest Tubb"

Loser!

The Hasil Adkins Rejection Letters at WFMU's Beware of the Blog!.

On a Rainbow Quest

Pete Seeger hosted a regional tv show in the US mid 60s called 'Rainbow Quest'. 38 episodes were produced. Folk- and country music legends were guests at the show discussing music and jamming some songs.

All the clips here under go to YouTube clips.

Rainbow Quest Episode 3:

-Rosa Valentin and Rafael Martinez
-Pete Seeger - Guantanamera
-Elizabeth Cotten - Mama, Your Papa Loves You
-Elizabeth Cotten - Wilson Rag
-Elizabeth Cotten - Freight Train


Elizabeth Cotten and Pete Seeger.

Rainbow Quest Episode 5:

-Pete Seeger, Bernice Reagon, and Jean Ritchie - O Mary, Don't You Weep
-Bernice Johnson Reagon - Come and Go with Me to that Land
-Bernice Johnson Reagon - Will the Circle Be Unbroken
-Bernice Johnson Reagon - Titanic Blues
-Jean Ritchie & Pete Seeger - Jenny Jenkins
-Jean Ritchie - Shady Grove
-Jean Ritchie - Skip to my Lou

Rainbow Quest Episode 6:

-Malvina Reynolds - No Hole in My Head
-Malvina Reynolds - The Little Red Hen
-Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Pete Seeger, & Malvina Reynolds - Woody's Rag
-Ramblin' Jack Elliott - Talking Merchant Marine

Rainbow Quest Episode 7:

-Bessie Jones and Children from the Downtown Community School - I'm gonna lay down my life for my Lord
-Bessie Jones and Children from the Downtown Community School - Little Johnny Brown
-More with Bessie Jones and Children from the Downtown Community School
-More with Bessie Jones and Children from the Downtown Community School

Rainbow Quest Episode 9:

-The Beers Family - The Connaughtman's Rambles
-The Beers Family - Dumbarton's Drums
-The Beers Family - In My Garden Grew Plenty of Thyme
-The Beers Family - Lamplighter's Hornpipe
-The Beers Family - Walkie in the Parlor

Rainbow Quest Episode 12:

-Pete Seeger, Doc Watson, Clint Howard, and Fred Price - Careless Love
-Doc Watson, Clint Howard, and Fred Price - Cackling Hen

Rainbow Quest Episode 16:

-Mimi and Richard Fariña - Bold Marauder
-Mimi and Richard Fariña - House Un-American Blues Activity Dream
-Mimi and Richard Fariña - Pack Up Your Sorrows
-Mimi and Richard Farinã - Joy 'Round My Brain

Rainbow Quest Episode 17:

-Roscoe Holcomb - Graveyard Blues
-Roscoe Holcomb - Little Birdie
-Roscoe Holcomb - Little Gray Mule


Pete and Roscoe Holcomb

Rainbow Quest Episode 18:

-Cousin Emmy - You Are My Sunshine
-Dr. Ralph Stanley - The Clinch Mountain Backstep
-Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys

Rainbow Quest Episode 19:

-Sonia Malkine

Rainbow Quest Episode 21:

-Patrick Sky, Separation Blues
-The Pennywhistlers
-The Pennywhistlers - Portland Town
-Pete Seeger, Pat Sky, and the Pennywhistlers - No Sir No

Rainbow Quest Episode 23:

-Reverend Gary Davis - Oh Glory, How Happy I Am
-Reverend Gary Davis - Children of Zion
-Donovan and Shawn Phillips - Guinevere

Rainbow Quest Episode 25:

-Pete Seeger shows how to play "Skip to my Lou" on the banjo
-Mamou Cajun Band
-More with the The Cajun Band

Rainbow Quest Episode 34:

-Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - Down by the Riverside
-Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - Key to the Highway
-Pete Seeger with Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - Cindy / Rock Island Line
-Pete Seeger with Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - In the Evening
-Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - Easy Rider
-Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - I Couldn't Believe My Eyes
-Pete Seeger with Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - Hootin' the Blues / When the Saints Go Marchin' In

Rainbow Quest Episode 36:

-Mississippi John Hurt - John Henry
-Mississippi John Hurt - Goodnight Irene
-Mississippi John Hurt - Lonesome Valley Blues

Rainbow Quest Episode 37:

-Kim Loy Wong and the Hi-Landers Steel Band
-Herbert Levy

Rainbow Quest Episode 38:

-Buffy Sainte-Marie - Welcome, Welcome Emigrante
-Buffy Sainte-Marie - My Country 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying
-Buffy Sainte-Marie - Little Wheel Spin and Spin
-Buffy Sainte-Marie demonstrates the mouth bow
-Buffy Sainte-Marie & Pete Seeger - Cindy

Almost all the clips above labelled with correct episode number was uploaded by peglegsam. Nice Work.

Clips from episodes:

-Pete Seeger - Had I a Golden Thread
-June Carter and Johnny Cash with Pete Seeger -It Takes a Worried Man
-Johnny Cash - I am a Pilgrim
-Johnny Cash with June Carter and Pete Seeger -As Long as the Grass Shall Grow
-June Carter with Johnny Cash and Pete Seeger - I Am Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes


Johnny Cash's boots.

-Tom Paxton and Pete Seeger -Ramblin' Boy
-Tom Paxton - Buy A Gun For Your Son
-Tom Paxton - Beau John

-Judy Collins - Bob Dylans Dream
-Judy Collins - Turn Turn Turn
-Judy Collins - Russian Love Song
-Judy Collins - Will You Go Lassie Go
-Judy Collins - Daddy You've Been On My Mind

Clip added by BanjoMatthew

-Stanley Brothers - Single Girl, Married Girl (the embedded video above)

House on the Lake

Rosanne Cash - House on the Lake:

Video added by devilboy77 (via Sonic)

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