The Almanac Singers, Folk Activism
I had access to an album circa 1941, reissued in 2011 titled “State of Arkansas”. The leftist folk group included at one time or another the likes of Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Sonny Terri and Brownie McGee. Included were these two tracks specifically identified by Moon
First “Hard, Ain’t It Hard” sounds like Seeger picking and Woody singing. A nice lament for love not reciprocated. Then there’s “The Dodger Song”. Not about the baseball team. I’d nominate it for the campaign theme song for Der Mitt.
Lotsa union songs. But you had to temper the leftist activism with songs like “Round and Round Hitler’s Grave.”
Then there’s this little tidbit: Seeger actually coined the phrase “Hootenany” which was picked up as the name of the of the folk music show on ABC in the early sixties. Ironically, Seeger was banned from appearing on the show that he essentially named. Ouch!
Chazz W 