I L L I NO I SUNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

PRODUCTION NOTE

University of Illinois atUrbana-Champaign Library

Large-scale Digitization Project, 2007.

4 h, Number 4 (whole issue 19)

DOC VWATSON TO PEFRPCOVA/CERT fMAKCH- RCLt

e man many have called "the finest.ional guitar picker in the country")e the featured artist at Campusmng Club's first public concert of)ring Semester.

)c" Watson, the blind musician)eep Gab, North Carolina, will beited in Lincoln Hall Theater at.m. on Friday, March 20. Ticketssale at the Illini Union Box

Sor from members of the Executivetee of the Campus Folksong Club.

,son represents a tremendous,unity for afficionados of old-music; in a single concert healmost every feature of the

.chian musical complex, includ-

.ues, lyrics, spirituals, una-ded and accompanied ballads, dance-s and, perhaps best of all, the.ng instrumental pieces with orig-Sbrought him the fame he nowon the college campuses and amongn people.

.nd since birth, "Doc" Watson

.to music out of instinct, ne-y and the strong tradition ofmily and native region. His

TICK E F5 ON SA L

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March 16, 1964

H EPR

wizardy on the guitar is so strikingthat it becomes apparent immediatelyeven to those unfamiliar with the com-plexity and difficulty of the instru-ment. For guitar-playing collegestudents interested in mastering tra-ditional style, Watson has becomealmost the sole fount of knowledge andability. In our own Club he representsa source of music probably not exceed-ed by sny other musician whose workcan be heard on records, and many ofour best guitar players spend consid-erable amounts of time trying to masterthe technique and virtuousity thatWatson has demonstrated. His guitaraccompaniment for Clarence Ashley's"Coo-coo Bird" has become a classic inits own time.

First seen in this part of the countr:two years ago at the University of Chi-cago Folk Festival, Watson has gone onto gain greater fame on the collegecircuit with his concerts at Wisconsin,his engagement at Los Angeles' Ash Grove,his numerous apperances in New York andhis recordings on the Folkways label (OlcTime Music at Clarence Ashley's; TheWatson Family). His appearance heremarks a major event in the cultural lifeof the University of Illinois.

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review by Eleanor Crandall which appeared in the Champaign-Urbana Courierof February 22:

'SING' PROVIDES REAL FUNFolksong Club Performs for Packed House

For sheer enthusiasm and joy in their hobby, for appreciationof the skills and talent they find in each other, for camaraderieand fun and just plain entertainment--nothing can come closeto the Campus Folksong Club.

The uniqueness of this group and the reasons they enjoy them-selves and their meetings more than any other organization atthe University of Illinois were proved beyond question attheir third anniversary celebration at Gregory Hall TheaterFriday night.

If you think of a folksinger as a bearded campus eccentricwho spends most of his time moodily plucking a guitar in thedark dungeons of some coffee house, you couldn't be more wrong.

The folksingers who appeared on the Friday night sing (anddon't call it a hootenanny) ranged from clean-cut collegestudents who knew as much about the origin of their songs asthey did about picking their guitars to country music specialistsand gospel singers who haven't seen the lean side of a campusfor a good many years.

Three-Hour Concert

And each individual and group was as enthusiastically acceptedand applauded as the one before it. It was a real treat to beswept away by the spirit of the overflow crowd that clamberedfor seats at the free concert, which went on for three full hours.

It is impossible to pick out groups that made the biggesthit with the audience.

One favorite certainly was Mrs. Stelle Elam, a 62-year oldwidow from Brownstown who brought down the house with herexpert country fiddle music. After four lively numbers, shewas brought back for a well-deserved encore.

And Club member Sue Levin, who opened the second half of theprogram, also had many well-deserved fans. Her marvelousstage presence, her deep, full-bodied voice, her facilitywith the guitar combined to make her performance enchanting.

A singer in the currently popular folksong tradition, sheshowed real talent and the possibility of going places witha lively and rhythmic number she wrote herself.

Mayfields Sing

Music with roots deep in the Illinois countryside was wellrepresented by Lyle and Doris Mayfield, who sang severalnumbers Mayfield had learned as a child from his mother.

Mayfield played a guitalin he made himself, and his jolly,relaxed style was a pleasant contrast to the sober, clearsinging of his wife.

And the gospel singing of the Reynolds Family of Urbana,aided by Pat Burton and Johnny Hartford, country musiciansfrom Clinton, and Herschel Ball, amply added to the concert.

A number of stringed instruments were used to accompany thesingers, including banjos, mandolins and guitars. The mostunusual was the autoharp, expertly played by Doyle Moore ofthe U. of I. art faculty.

This reviewer, hardly an expert of folk music but always anenvious sideliner, will have to admit to being won overcompletely by one of the most enjoyable evenings I've spentin a long, long time. Maybe now is the time to follow thatlong-suppressed urge to learn to play a guitar.

OUR-PURITA N-HER ITAGE-DEPARTMEITMusical Division

THE POPULAR BALLAD IN AMERICA--Students of the popular ballad are wellaware that the history of its tradition in America is complicated by thebroadside question. The following passage from Cotton Mather's Diary,September 29, 1713, is a document in the case:

"I am informed, that the Minds and Manners of many Peopleabout the Countrey are much corrupted, by foolish Songs andBallads, which the Hawkers and Peddlers carry into all partsof the Countrey. By way of Antidote, I would procurepoetical Composures full of Piety, and such as may have atendency to advance Truth and Goodness, to be published,and scattered into all Corners of the Land. There may bean Extract of some, from the excellent Watts's Hymns."

Passage from Cotton Mather's Diary,September 29, 1713, quoted in Journal ofAmerican Folklore, Vol. 24 (1911), p. 350.

WHADAYA HEAR FROM YOUR STEREO THESE DAYS?

Q. What's the best way to handle a neighbor who plays nothing but hill-billy music at full volume, day and night?

A. What do you have against hillbilly music? Snobs like you make me sick.

From "Facts about Hi-Fi," by Jim Wilderin Hi-Fi/Stereo Review (February, 1964, p. 59).

"[Ii'II

As It Was In the Beginning

Bill Becker

Bill Becker sports the most imposing credentials of any member of the Campus

Folksong Club, with the possible exception of Archie Green. He has been associated

with folksinging on our campus since 1956. At the present time Bill is a can-

didate for the Doctorate in Metallurgy at the University of Illinois, but he

supplements this activity with his work as Club treasurer. In the past he has

worked as an instructor in the guitar workshop series, and is generally credited

as being the father of the instrument workshop program, one of the most successfulinducements the Club offers to its members. Last semester he described will ill-concealed venom the invasion of a small Arkansas town by a cityfied fiddler; sincehe has promised us one article per semester we proudly present here his offeringfor the spring of '6h--a short history of much ignored but important organization,the Illini Folk Arts Society, whose near-demise had only one redeeming factor: Itled to the founding of the Campus Folksong Club.

"The student's own Folk Arts Society concerned itself with dance, however,it did sponsor an occasional hoot in the friendly Unitarian Center." (Hootenanny,Vol. 1, No. 2 and Daily Illini 22 February, 196h) That statement is misleadingand partially inaccurate, and if proper perspective of the Campus Folksong Club isto be maintained, should be looked at with closer scrutiny. If an "old guard" canbe allowed to reminisce, (not necessarily about the "good old days") I'd like totalk about the Illini Folk Arts Society, suggesting a few opinions as to why itfell into disrepute, and some reasons for the formation of the CFC when an organ-ization devoted to folkmusic was already existent on the campus.

Pre-CFC days can be divided into three periods: pre-IFAS days; a period ofgrowth of the IFAS as an official University activity, and coincidentally, thebeginnings of general student interest on this campus is something called folk-music; and the decay of IFAS as an organization, which became inevitable, sincethe very forces that caused its formation were the same that resulted in its decay.

IFAS became a recognized University student organization in the fall of1957 with Ken Benson as its first president. Until that time, a small group ofpeople (primarily grad students) had been meeting informally in various apartmentsand at the Alpha Chi Sigma fraternity to sing, dance, and in general, have a goodtime. New faces were continually appearing, and the group began to encounter thefamiliar problem of space. In order to guarantee that space, and to have aregular meeting place, the group went to the University for official recognition.This group of people included Ivan Scheier, Paul Goldan, Bob Snetsinger, JohnGlass, Candis Clifford, and a few others. After the organization was officiallyrecognized, activities changed very little from what they had been. The primarypurpose of the eving was entertainment. People usually danced, stopped for re-freshments and for a chance to meet the new faces, and then to do some folksinging(or at least what was called folksinging in those days).

At about the same time, Shelly Geral had organized Friday afternoon hootenan-nies in the basement of the YMCA (the first time that the word "hootenanny" wasused on this campus to my knowledge). Obviously, with two groups running folksings,

some differences were bound to develop. Sings at the Y soon fell into thecategory of community sings, and IFAS sings catered more to what was considered"folkier" at that time. See how early in the development of interest on thiscampus snobism reared its head!

By the spring of 1958, Harry Babad had persuaded a number of IFAS membersthat splitting the organization into the group primarily interested in dancingand another primarily interested in singing would create a stronger organization.Under this arrangement, IFAS met four times a month, two to sing, and two todance. However, it should be pointed out that at this time many people still wentto meetings of both groups, each group having 30-40 participants, with some dup-lication. In addition, many members of IFAS were also members and friends ofmembers of ISCO, the old foreign student co-op on the campus. ISCO held informalparties about every weekend, and evenings almost always included singing anddancing.

By the winter of '58-'59, interest in the folk arts was snowballing rapidly.Harry Babad was editing a song folio for people that came to the sings, whicheventually developed into two volumes containing 7h songs. The idea was to exposepeople to more "ethnic" material than was readily available on the few folkmusicrecords that could easily be purchased, and to provoke a better response from theaudience on the group songs. Mari Klemola (Brown) did much of the illustrationwork for the folios, and Judi Paris did much of the melody line transcriptions.

Members of IFAS were providing entertainment at several events around thecampus (Departmental parties, at Y events, at the Union on Saturday evenings inwhat is now called Nite-Lites, etc.), helping Hillel and the Y sponsor folkmusicconcerts of professional singers, and putting on a least one program devoted tofolkmusic on WILL-TV.

The winter of 1959-60 saw IFAS at its peak of activity, and by that springthe character of the organization was rapidly decaying. Until that spring, as Ihave already emphasized, the mood of the organization was one of informality andentertainment, with everyone taking an active part. Education in the folk arts wasnon-existent in the form that members of the CFC think of it. Members taughtother members songs, but there was no attempt at (and very little interest in)academic folklore, and interest in instrumental profiency was limited to a general00m-pah oom-pah accompaniment on the guitar--other instruments being conspiciouslyabsent.

However, the record companies with their cheaply produced and mass marketedLP records were looking for new types of music to market. The few records ofBurl Ives, Josh White, John Jacob Niles, Pete Seeger, and a few others that wereavailable sold well enough to encourage several new labels (the best known probablybeing Elektra, Riverside, and Tradition) to promote large numbers of folkmusicrecords). These labels also sold, and new releases continued to be offered,drifting farther and farther from the bland playing style typified by Burl Ives.It soon became apparent that a record company could sell a record of country musicor British Isles unaccompanied singing if the word FOLKMUSIC was plainly evidenton the cover. (I am not concerned whether various musical forms are to be con-sidered "folk", but only in the use of the word to sell records.) At any rate, afew of us bought these "esoteric" records, and some of us even began making a fewtrips to the library to look for books discussing folkmusic.

Also during this time, Steve Simon opened the Turk's Head Coffee Shop, andwas looking for gimmicks to increase his business. Before long, local folk-singers were a well established feature on Tuesday evenings and Saturday afternoons,providing an outlet for performers to demonstrate their new found types of folk-music.

Unfortunately, the general body of IFAS was not yet ready to accept a morebroadened sphere of interest in folkmusic (especially the newly discovered in-strumental techniques) since it diminished active participation by every member.At first, an attempt was made to solve the problem by devoting the first halfof a sing to familiar material and a large dose of group singing, and the secondhalf to solo singing principally with some trading of the more "far-out" material.The solution was not a success, aid people soon started staying away from thesings. Some stayed away because they were unwilling to listen to "hill-billy"music, and others because they did not get sufficient ego satisfaction for theirefforts to learn this same "hill-billy" material (what we now know as bluegrassor Southern-Appalachian). People who could have provided the leadership tostabilize the organization were not sufficiently interested in IFAS as an organ-ization.

By the winter of 1960-61, the situation had become very serious. Peopleavoided IFAS activities because they were anti-organization, anti-country music,anti-----, or anti---. However, they still got together in apartments to sing.But, since there was very little opportunity to attract new faces, groups becamevery inbred and there was no means of communication between groups, or with thegeneral campus body. Into this vacuum stepped Archie Green with his organizationaltalents and tremendous ability to generate enthusiasm--the result of which is alarge, well organized club, firmly established on the campus, constitutionallycommitted to a study and exchange of all traditional folk media--except dance.

In conclusion, I feel that the Club has come a long way from its beginningwith some twenty charter members. I would like to feel that the Club is bigenough and sufficiently well organized to allow a wide variety of interests notonly to be tolerated, but actively supported by Club members so that the Clubdoes not go the way of IFAS. The apparent officially Club enthusiasm forcountry music should not be allowed to dominate Club activities to the extentthat other traditions are excluded. Nor should we look down our nose at folkdance. It certainly is just as acceptable for study as folkmusic or folk tale,and the case of sour grapes that precipitated the clause excluding dance in theconstitution has surely dissipated by this time.

Our large size may allow us to sponsor concerts, publish a news letter, andsponsor lectures by academic folklorists, but it seems to prevent the relaxedatmosphere and general informal swapping sessions that were so characteristic ofIFAS. Folkmusic is music meant to be enjoyed on an informal and intimate level--not on the concert stage.

CFC Seminar

Preston Martin"Roots of Bluegrass"

Room 222 (Faculty Lounge), Illini Union

March 23, 1964 (Monday afternoon) 4 PM

BLUES TO-"~~ ^IAy'

RAGTIME: A RECORDED DOCUMENTARY. CULLEN & COLLINS--Vega March. SOUSA'sBAND--Whistling Rufus. STUBER & WEAVER--Cupid's Arrow. VESS L. OSSMAN--Sounds from Africa, Happy Go Lucky, Ethiopian Mardi Grass, Creole Belles,Maple Leaf Rag. COLUMBIA ORCHESTRA--Epler's Whistlers. ARTHUR COLLINS--Every Darky Had a Raglan On. DAN W. QUINN--Bill Bailey, Won't You PleaseCome Home? VICTOR DANCE ORCHESTRA--Cakewalk in the Sky. OSSMAN-DUDLEYTRIO--Dixie Girl, St. Louis Tickle. MIKE BERNARD--Blaze Away. SAMGOOLD--Whippint the Keys. HITCH's HAPPY HARMONISTS--Nightingale Rag Blues.NAP HAYES & MATTHEW PRATER--Easy Winner. LEAKE COUNTY REVELERS--At aGeorgia Camp Meeting. Piedmont 13158.

KINGS OF THE TWELVE STRING. BLIND WILLIE McTELL (vocal, guitar) w/ KATIEMcTELL (vocal on 1, 2)--Dark Night Blues, Mama Let Me Scoop for You 1, Ain'tIt Grand to be a Christian 2, Loving Talking Blues. SETH RICHARD (vocal,guitar; kazoo on l)--Skoodeldum Doo 1, Lonely Seth Blues. WILLIE BAKER(vocal, guitar)--No No Blues. BARBECUE BOB (vocal, guitar)--How Long PrettyMama, Barbecue Blues. GEORGE CARTER (vocal, guitar)--Ghost Woman Blues,Weeping Willow Woman. CHARLIE TURNER (guitar)--Kansas City Dog Walk, CHARLIELINCOLN (vocal, guitar)--Depot Blues, Mama Don't Rush Me. Piedmont 13159.

Dick Spottswood's Piedmont label follows up a smash debut (Mississippi JohnHurt/Piedmont 13157) with two outstanding disks of reissues. One is a surveyof ragtime music (1899-1929) by pianists, banjoists, small groups of variousinstrumentation, and bands. The second is a collection of blues recordingsby singers of the 1920's and '30's who played and in several instancesmastered the 12-string guitar.

RAGTIME is a valuable addition to a woefully inadequate long-play catalogevidencing what popular music was like 30 to 60 years ago. 'Inadequate' isa generous term, for mostly--and not enough examples of these forms--thegrand, the (now) esoteric, or the romatic has been honored in long-play issuesby major (and smaller) companies. Columbia's 1903 Grand Opera series (M2L-283), Folkways' set of Phono-Cylinders (FS 3886, 3887), and Telefunken's groupof piano-roll disks, The Definitive Piano 9from 1905-13) (Tel. 97009, 97013)are recent releases of turn-of-the century music.

What emerges from the 19 selections on the Piedmont disk is an infectious,sprightly music, serviceably reproduced (except for the dismal sonics ofSousa's Whistling Rufus), and especially well-served by the musicianship ofVess Ossman, a banjoist of formidable technique and matching poise. More-over, the age of the coon song (cf. Tom Fletcher, 100 YEARS OF THE NEGRO INSHOW BUSINESS, Burge, 1954), of musical evocation of far-off and unknownlands, and of novelty entertainment comes into uncompromising focu-s viathe lyrics, arrangements, and styles of performance represented. Amonghighlights are Ossman's articulated playing in Maple Leaf Rag and Sam Goold'sfascinating piano solo, Whippin' the Keys. Louisa Spottswood's album notesare informative and concise.

It is as singers rather than instrumentalists that the majority of performerson KINGS achieve distinction. Willie McTell is one exception. He was agifted guitarist even though he played the larger, less manageable Instrumentwhich today has been 'revived' and endowed with its own mystique by musiciansand merchandisers, alike. McTell's playing and exchanges with his wife,Kate, on Mama, Let Me Scoop for You have the flavor of ten show days. Forgusto, however, no selection approaches Seth Richard's Skoodeldum Doo, sungboisterously and launched by a thoroughly raucous kazoo. Barbecue Bob(Robert Hicks) treats How Long Pretty Mama and Barbecue Blues in his de-liberate, reflective style; and George Carter ruefully recounts in GhostWoman Blues, a chance meeting with a young woman near a cemetery who "...suredo keep me thin/Take the money I got from the L and N." The words of allsongs on the disk have been accurately transcribed and appear in a lh-pagesheaf provided with the album.

THE DIRTY DOZENS. Speckled Red (vocals, piano). The Dirty Dozens. TheRight String But the Wrong Yo Yo. If You've Ever Been Down... WilkinsStreet Stomp. Cow Cow Blues. Red's Boogie Woogie. Going Down Slow.Highway 61 ilues. After Dinner Blues. Cryin' in My Sleep. Delmar DL-601.

Speckled Red (Rufus Perryman) recorded The Dirty Dozen for Brunswick in 1929,and handbills announcing the disk (Wilkins Street Stomp was the back side)categorized the number, in the fashion of the day, as "Comedian with Piano."In the intervening years, the Negro game of insulting references to one'sfamily which goes as the dozens has been the subject of academic papers,folklore discussions, and random speculations. Most recently, the Perryman-J. Mayo Williams musical version published in 1929 has appeared in THE BOOKOF THE BLUES (Kay Shirley, ed., Crown, 1963).

Perryman's Delmar album for Bob Koester restores the Dirty Dozens in an agewhen the contextual equipment for evaluating the entertainment forms of hO0years ago has all but disappeared. Particularly, the cultural setting in whichtent show singer-comedians treated social events and relationships with comicdisrepect on terms known to and anticipated by their audiences is no longerwidely available as a referent for many of the forms which, day by day, arebeing 'newly' discovered or reconstructed. The public which understood theground rules against which entertainers Chris Smith and Henry Troy recordedDon't Slip Me in the Dozen (Ajax, 1923) today is left with the bones and mustguess what the substance was of the genre musically imaged by Perryman.Listeners who fasten on the literal meanings of Perryman's lyrics willcertainly be disappointed, for the promise of the title is not the singlegoal of the performer.

The selections on the disk maintain a high order of interest and bristlewith the excitement generated by Perryman's eccentric piano playing. TheRight String and Wilkins Street Stomp are gutty reworkings of originals; butthe standard Going Down Slow, usually sung against the background of anunvarying rhythmic accompaniment, is transformed by Perryman's voice andpiano into a personal expression compelling in its own right.

--Ronald C. Foreman, Jr.

Letter to Judy Kuizin, Corresponding Secretary

January 30, 1964

Dear Judy,

As member #285 I am pleased with my investment which has already beenwell worthwhile after reading your Autoharp. I met, not really by chance, theUrbana delegation to the 16th Ozark Folk Festival at Eureka Springs, Arkansasthis past Oct. I believe Judy McCulloh and Dr. Archie Green were accompanyingthe group representing the U of I. I myself was a U of Minn. student beforedraft (BD) and have since spent 20 months decaying in the Army, Particularlythe 66th Military Police Co, Fort Chaffee, Ark. and have been counting daystill I can sever this affiliation. I will be released from duty 6 Feb 64 andintend to go north to Mpls. again and back to school. My typing seems to showthis rather general decay.

While I was stationed at Ark, I have had a variety of opportunities to seethe South and live with the PEOPLE though somewhat removed from them. I livedor existed through the Old Miss riots as our units were deployed to quell theholocaust and emerged battle weary but considerably enlightened. While the latePres. Kennedy was touring on the 10 day Soil Conservation Tour we tagged alongas body guards and honor guards. And while the late Pres. was in Texas, "hisparticular business was a Strategic Army Command meeting discussing possiblenuclear defense of the Autobahn from Frankfurt to Berlin" we again were thepresidential guards. When Hiss Donna Axum was crowned Miss America 1964 weparaded and welcomed her home to El Dorado, Ark. We paraded, shot guns, carriedpistols, camped-out, travelled by convoy in Jeeps twice to the South Carolinacoast and back, lived-in, lived-out, and regretted almost every day. But thetime I had off was spent travelling around the Ozarks and seeing and meetingsome of the people and visiting the local points of interest, not the least ofwhich was the Folk Festivals and some jazz and blues excursions to Memphis andNew Orleans.

Back to the Folk Festival at Eureka Springs. Archie Green was captivatedby the traditional cowboy singing of Glenn Ohrlin as well as his repertoire ofballads, enchanting guitar-picking, and his selection of "original" pieces.Green was particularly interested in the song Glenn sang "The Hell-Bound Train"equating the races, "richman, poorman, beggerman, thief" etc. similar to thetheme Jimmy Driftwood sang, "Black or white or yellow or tan, What is the colorof the soul of man?" I am very interested in hearing the tapes of the GlennOhrlin concert of Dec 14 but have forgotten the very tune of "The Hell-BoundTrain." I wonder if the basic tune for this ballad could be supplied me?

I have only hours and minutes left in the Army and will swing up for a rashof weddings I shall attend and may even drop in for one of your Folksings. Asmy last reminder of the hill-country just north of me here I may drop in on theweekly Folksing of the Rackensack Folk Song Club, to which all are welcome, tohear the traditional music of the Ozarks. It meets in the Court House, MountainView, Ark, every Friday evening. It is a great deal of fun and will be a fineway to celebrate my new freedom.

Awaiting your next Autoharp

hal kravig

JOURNAL of

AMERICAN FOLKLORE WESTERNFOLKLOREFolk Song Discography

?us r " -- - ts backgrouna an-u .--. --bern Illinois tradition. But the production, its acgr dings in a neglected areae Filds of lllinois (CFC 200), important archival recordings in a neglected area.

traditon sampled is that of te audience and to some extent the material associated

traditIon sampled is that of the in Chicao. These are not WLS artists; they are the

, the WLS National Barn Dance^ sin a rersentatve of the Midwest culture to

Sperformers, amateur and semi-Professional, r's instrumentals illustrate the mdMidwest culture to

fkh northern hillbilly shows appeal. Mrs. Stelle Elam's instrumentals influstratened it after mid-

Stradition, receptive to the related Southern music which strongly influenced it after

5 and is represented here especially by such items as "Old Age Pension," "Tramp on theSand "Billy Richardson's Last Ride." The recording, fully transcribed and annotated.

act," and "Billy Richardson's Last R d.. ae ecoboonto scholars. By contrast the twelve

Lcredit to Archie Green and the UI club-and a boon to scholars. By contrast the twelver th i..retern Reserve University) are polished,

(record order form)

-- sy uner U ,• ,,•, and brief noic to E. K

S. tAnge 2 " . parat1-i Fokore andIT WAS ST A YEAR AGO that the s Folksong Cluof. Illinois issued its fi reC ordus Folkson ithis Same ,-ou .... srst no ph record. Non i •.ub of the University

gro- a ,m aes a truly e-- • o, in Its sekesd hoo20lion of eld recordings from the Mida bu n to Our scanty collec201), they have included s he Midwest. In Green Fiels o Il. .,,usicia e u nearly two dozen sele•o l llinoss (CFCmusicians that the club members have loc andt ecnso the nnotes of nearly fl b

y "Souther" Illinoisnt of neary orty pages e w te recorded. The extensivegraphical details of the in usicage s and ow an tecord cate aout eof the selections In addit to , t a give full bio.

a aeb s . rounded out by a onder•us

ca tranctiiption s are includ.outbya w derfully attractive cover design.

Date

Campus Folksong Club2814 Tllini Union, Urbana, Illinois

I enclose $ for CFC 201 at (check one) member's price, $3.50

other's, $4.00

Name

Address

I I I I III " ......... .... . . .I I

Beginning a series...

LYLE MAYFIELD on GUITARS AND GUITAR-PLAYING

There are few people in the Campus Folksong Club who need an introduction lessthan Lyle layfield. Thirty-five years old, printer by trade, father of three, anda country musician by birth and heritage, Lyle has been a staple of our folksingprogram since he moved to Champaign in the fall of 1962. His virtuosity on severalstringed instruments is now an accepted fact of life among campus folksong fans,as is his talent on the harmonica and his voice, which he uses to the fullest degreein re-creating the old country ballads his mother taught him. Most outstanding ofhis talents, however, is his skill on the guitar, an instrument he has been playingfor twenty years. In this series he presents tips for students of the guitar, aswell as his own personal feelings about the selection, care and use of the instru-ment.

THE GUITAR I

Before you can learn to play the guitar there is one very important require-ment: You must have a guitar. ihis means that you must buy or borrow one,provided you haven't been willed one by rich Uncle Mose.

Let's operate on the assumption that you must buy.

When you go guitar-hunting the first thing to look for in the guitar rackis instruments that are tuned and ready to play. There are exceptions to therule, of course, but generally speaking, the better guitars are kept tuned in thedisplays; cheaper ones are not. There are a number of reasons for this.

First, the better guitar will stay in tune longer.

Second, a cheaper guitar has more of a tendency to develop a "bow" in theneck, and the store-owner doesn't want to risk damaging his merchandise by lettingit set for extended periods of time with constant pressure on the neck.

Third, the store owner would rather you sample the better guitars; there is adefinite difference in the tone of the instruments.

Fourth (and this is the reason most store-owners advance for why they don'tkeep their guitars tuned), no proprietor is thrilled by the idea of every Tom, Dickand Harry plunking away on the merchandise, scratching, marring or otherwise damag-ing it. Many window-shoppers will drift into a store and try out several instru-ments without any intentions of buying.

This pretty well sums up the reasoning for guitar-buying tip number one: W-henyou enter a store, look for the instruments that are tuned.

Tip number two: Look for name brands. There are many brands of guitarsbuilt, but, in this writer's opinion, the quality brands can be counted on thefingers of one hand...No, I WON'T tell you the names; if you don't have thisinformation you better do a little more researching and thinking about the guitar.

Tip number three: Check the body for joint separations and cracks. Payspecial attention to the tail of the guitar, the neck-body joint and the bridgeon flat-top models. Also, examine the frets. A better guitar will have roundedfrets. Cheaper models have the straight-sharp-edged frets.

Tip number four: Check the neck of the guitar for bow. Unless it is aquality brand that has an adjustable rod of some sort, the "bow" in the neck isthere to stay. It will not play right, and, aside from the tone, there is nothingabout the instrument that will improve with age.

Tip number five: Don't be fooled by glitter. Fancy trim on a guitar doesnot make it sound one iota better. Pictures of cowboys seated around a campfirewill not guarantee that you will learn to play cowboy songs. You can pay a lot ofmoney for a glamorous-looking instrument and still have nothing but a wooden boxwith wires strung over it. I have seen guitars that cost in excess of 1000 dollars,but the best flat-top model still sells for slightly over 300 dollars.

Tip number six: Buy a case for your guitar and use it. Any fine piece ofmachinery needs protection from the elements. Your guitar is no exception.

If you are a beginner don't make the mistake of investing a lot of money inan instrument until you are sure you have what it takes to learn. You can learnon a used guitar as well as a new one. The depreciation on a new guitar is vicious,and you will stand a better chance of getting your money back out of a used instru-ment than you will from a new one. Shop around. Somewhere there is a guitar forsale that will fill your needs at the price you are able to pay.

QUERY

red wheels were on the wagonand the body it was green

chorus

I can see my daddysitting on the wagon seatmother in her old town bonnetshe looked so nice and neatchildren all in the wagongrandma and grandpa tooused to go to church on sundaywhen the wagon was new.

Query from Page Stegner, Dept. of English, Stanford Univ., Stanford, Calif.

From the editor's diary...

With this issue of Autoharp the masthead again changes as a new pennant ishoisted to the yardarm. The editorship, as a result of appointments made afterthe elections of 12 February, has changed hands--not violently--but with the fullconsent and--may we say--satisfaction, of all participants.

On looking back over the first three years of Campus Folksong Club'sexistence, we notice that the success of our various Club activities seems to comein waves. Each year, apparently, the work of the Club and its local and nationalinfluence manifest themselves in a different item of activity: in our first yearwe barged into a jaded and torpid campus with two new phenomena--the bi-weeklyfree folksing and a series of concerts featuring authentic traditional performers;in the second year the concert series and folksings, though still attracting signi-ficant numbers of patrons, were replaced in the hierarchy of enthusiasm by ourrecords--The Philo Glee and Mandolin Society and Green Fields of Illinois.

In this third year of work emphasis has shifted--strangely enough--andsettled on Autoharp. I say "strangely" because Autoharp is neither a money-making nor a music-making institution; in contrast to the exciting, jumpy, enthu-siastic tone of the songs and dances we present at our sings and concerts,Autoharp can offer only the pale scratchings of prose as it attempts to grapplewith the wider emotional uproar induced by deeply felt music. Yet somehow Autoharphas, within the limits of the past year or so, emerged as an outstanding contri-bution to the intellectual life of this Club. Whether this is the result of itsmost recent editor--Bennette Rottman--or whether it was governed by the fates thathave bent the Club's course in the past--this is something none of us can statewith assurance. But who can deny that Autoharp has improved? Who can deny theimprovement in format and content, or the enthusiasm that has grown up around themagazine. More people are writing for it, and more people are showing up for theAutoharp parties--those monthly sessions where some of the best brains on campuswalk around a table for two hours, doing the most menial but meaningful type oflabor, as they assemble the new edition from a dozen or more stacks of pages intoone single volume. The success of this newsletter (very warmly praised by BenBotkin in the New York Folklore Quarterly) and the influence it has had in shapingand communicating Club policy must continue and improve.

It is with this goal in mind that the present editor has slipped into thechief's chair. It is our intention to improve Autoharp to make it even more readable,informative and interesting than it has been, even in its present state of happyinformality and diverse content. The reader, on perusing the next few pages, willdiscern several small, but, we hope, helpful and attractive improvements of format.We hope these improvements meet with the reader's approval. More important thanformat, however, is content, and it is in this area that we intend to strive evenharder for a newer, more powerful, and more interesting Autoharp.

Specifically, we would like to add some items of controversy to the pages ofthis journal--not because we are addicted to controversy as such, or because wethink it will make people more interested in our little paper--but because we knowfrom experience that controversy--strong, and sometimes bitter controversy--existsin the folklore field in general and in this Club in particular.

Now controversy is an unusual phenomenon in that it is more geological thanintellectual; like a stream trying to find its way to a river, and thence to thesea, it will seek out all possible paths until it finds the slope and the terrainbest suited to its course. But failing to find an outlet of the more conventionaltype, it will do something else--something dangerous: it will not flow in thenormal manner--cutting away a bank of prejudice here, laying down a delta offertile thought there--but will simply lie under the sun until it grows fetid andfoul. Some of it, determined to move at all costs, will go underground, cuttingand undermining the solid foundations of the cultural landscape, until the wholevast region caves in, unable to stand on the soggy underpinnings left by thwartedand, hence, unconstructive criticism.

Autoharp, for all its virtues, has not been a very controversial magazine inthe past. It has certainly not been marked by the dispute--even rancor--which hasdistinguished many of our deliberations over the course of the sings, the concertsand the recordings. Because this controversy exists, because Autoharp exists asa record, a clearinghouse, a source of thought and action in our Club, we intendto bring the controversies of our Club into the pages of Autoharp.

The chief item of dispute, as informed readers are already aware, is thedefinition of 1) tradition, the keystone of our Club's constitution, and 2) therole of the Club in defining, discovering and presenting traditional material.As any member of the executive committee knows; as any satellite of the executivecommittee knows; as any folklorist knows; as any well informed member of thisClub knows: the question of tradition has not been settled--neither the definitionof what tradition is, nor the decision as to the proper use and employment oftradition by contemporary college students. In our Club both of these questionsare in the profoundest state of dispute, as they have been since the forming ofour organization. More than once--to make a public confession--this dispute andits associated acrimony have threatened to halt Club action completely; there isscarcely a member of the executive committee who has not, at some time, foundhimself caught in a snare of bitterness which has led him to rash action on thepersonal level as he fought for his own position and beliefs about what this Clubought to be.

This kind of controversy is destructive for two reasons. First, the dispute,lacking a proper outlet, has tended to mimic the grimmer aspects of the geologicalanalogy which we presented, albeit clumsily, above; it has gone underground and,willingly or unwillingly, has undermined morale at the top level. Secondly, thecontroversy has tended to assert itself at specific times and places, none ofthem convenient: we speak here, of course, of the executive committee meetings.

The atmosphere at Club meetings is often oppressive. Decisions must be madequickly and measured against resources of money, people and time, none of whichis even in abundant supply. Small controversies wax large in such fertile soil.So does confusion. No one can be sure of what was said, or what the speaker in-tended in his remarks. There is no record of (except the meager one supplied bythe minutes) the positions of the various speakers.

We need a new environment, one in which we can state clearly and reasonablythe opinions we form about the world of traditional music and lore. It is hopedthat the presence of a journal receptive to criticism and complaint will aid inthe dissemination and airing of controversy. With the remarks on paper it willbe easier to determine what was actually said, and thus it will be easier to take

issue with those remarks; to classify them; to analyze them; the precious resourceof time will be available to all who wish to state their case.

And the initiator of the complaint will, we hope, find that his own feelingsare less likely to develop into bitterness when he has the knowledge that he canstate his own feelings in a cool atmosphere, with time to think, rearrange, orderhis remarks and, best of alleliminate some of them. In passion we often saywhat we later regret. Remove the necessity for passion, and perhaps the re-grettable remarks will be unnecessary. The trouble with our controversies, aswith all controversies, is not that they are invalid, or even that they are mali-cious, but simply that they are--that by nature they must be--ill-considered andlargely unpondered--due to the haste and the pressure under which our executivecommittee must make its decisions.

Therefore it is the intention of this editor to solicit actively items of acontroversial nature for this paper. We solicit these views wholly intending toprint them, and we fully expect other readers to take issue with them in thefollowing number(s). We do not intend to censor any material, feeling certainthat our members will observe both good taste and the laws of libel. In theevent that any material appears to be approaching the frontier of decorum a board,composed of several members of the executive committee, will be asked to considerthe article before publication. The final say, however, will rest with the editoralone.

There is no doubt that controversy exists; it is now our business--ourobligation--to make use of it. It has been ignored for three years, and the fruitsof this ignorance are not difficult to discern. We hope, therefore, that ourreaders--both members of the executive committee and "irate taxpayers"--will takeadvantage of these pages to inform us of what is really bothering them. Thisairing of views should not only do much to make the members here on campus under-standable to one another; it should serve also as a means of informing our manyoff-campus readers of the climate of opinion in the Club. As you know, we havea large readership in all parts of the country, and it must be curious to knowwhat motivates the members of the Club who actually live and work here, those whohave done so much in the past and must do so much in the future. With this inmind the editor acknowledges his readership and invites it to participate activelyin the writing of Autoharp, confident that a polite and considered exchange ofviews will benefit the Club's membership and further the work of the organization.

F. K. Plous, Jr.1h February 196h

Copies of the Hootennany article by Archie Green on the history of the Campus

Folksong Club: "Campus Report--U. of I.", March, 1964, are available at 50~ each.

See or phone Rich Charlton, 2030A Orchard, U., 332-2806.

BOOKS AND RECORDS

that you should know... Preston K. Martin

A native of Austin, Texas, Preston Martin wears many hats in addition to theten-gallon variety so familiar to his friends in the Club. He is an accomplishedcollector of traditional music, a capable repairer of instruments (especiallyfiddles), a guitar and banjo-picker, a singer of ole-timey music and, as we seehere, a historian of solid repute. Club members are most indebted to him for hisleadership of the record production committee, whose fine work produced our twolong-playing recordings, The Philo Glee and Mandolin Society and Green Fields ofIllinois. By profession he is actually a candidate for the Doctorate in Chemistryat the University of Illinois.

Part II. Bill Monroe and Bluegrass--an analysis of important reissues.

During the past few years the major record companies have reissued severalLP records of hillbilly music from the ole 78 rpm masters made some 20 or 20 yearsago. Thus, it is now possible to trace, through such reissues, the recordinghistory of Bill Monroe from his early traditional period of the 30's up to theemergence of the modern "Bluegrass" style in the mid-4O's.

The term "Bluegrass" (the far out folkniks call this simply "Grass") refersto the modern hillbilly style of string band music which started in the post-WorldWar II period and has gained in popularity up to the present. As a description ofmusical style the word "Bluegrass" did not come into popular usage until the 5O's,and was chosen because the first group to perform this style of music was BillMonroe and the Blue Grass Boys (see Bluegrass as a Musical Style by Mayne Smith,Autoharp, Vol. 3, No. 3, February 8, 1963). Although this band was first formedin 1939 it wasn't until 1946 that the first Bluegrass-style record was masteredby Columbia. The reason for this apparent lag is that Bill Monroe and his man-dolin still needed the sound of Earl Scruggs and his five-string banjo and LesterFlatt, with his guitar, in order to produce the actual sound now known as Blue-grass. This group, rounded out by "Chubby" Wise on fiddle and Cedric Rainwater onbass, was the template from which most future groups patterned themselves and inwhich many famous artists worked at one time or another before forming their ownbands.

Camden CAL-77h, Early Bluegrass Music by the Monroe Brothers (1963)

Bill Monroe's name is a household word to everyone with any sort of interestin country, folk, Bluegrass, etc. music, while that of his brother Charlie isrelatively unknown, due to his less active role as a professional musician duringthe past decede.

The Monroe boys of Rosine, Kentucky, were raised in a rich musical traditionand began their professional careers on tour in 1927. They went into radio in1930 and from '36 to '38 they made 62 sides, about half of which were gospel, for

Victor on the Bluebird label. The brothers parted early in 1938, and in Octoberof 1939 Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys played their first Grand Ole Opryshow. For complete historical details see Ralph -inzler's excellent article inSing Out'. Vol. 13, No. 1, February-March, 1963 and his article in Hootenanny,March, 1964.

This Camden (Victor) reissue has, strictly speaking, nothing to do withBluegrass music, but is a collection of twelve hillbilly songs that, one is led tobelieve, were done by Bill and Charlie during the thirties. A more apt titlewould be "Roots of Bluegrass." These brothers were a very successful example ofpopular hillbilly tradition, two voices in harmony, mandolin and guitar. Duringthis period of commerical music many duets of this same structure, such as theBlue Sky Boys (see this review in the next issue of Autoharp) was recorded.

The brief notes to this album are very misleading; a discographic comparisonshows that only six of these songs--New River Train, On the Banks of the Ohio,Don't Forget Me, I'm Thinking Tonight of the Old Folks, and Weeping Willow Tree--were recorded by the Monroe Brothers together, the first song, on 17 February,1936 (I was one day old); the next three on 21 June, 1936; the next to last on12 October, 1936; and the final one on 15 February, 1937. The other six numberswere done by Charlie Monroe with his own band for Bluebird after he left Bill in1938. These six songs are: Once I Had a Darling Mother, No Home, No Place toPillow 1y Head, The Great Speckled Bird (recorded 29 September, 1936), Mother'sNot Dead, She's Only Sleeping (30 September, 19h6), with two guitars, mandolin,fiddle and bass, Bringing in the Georgia Mail (2h March, 19h7), and Rosa LeeMcFall (1 February, 1949) with two guitars, two mandolins, and bass. This albumis more important than is first assumed, in that it represents not only the musicof the two brothers together, but follows Charlie up to as late as 19h9. It istoo bad that the record company was not more conscientious in its liner notes orcareful in its selections.

Musically, this album imparts to the listener the great instrumental andvocal drive the Monroe Brothers had, as exemplified in New River Train. There aresome suggestions of the later, true Bluegrass style, such as Bill's mandolin inOn the Banks of the Ohio and Weeping Willow Tree and the high-pitched vocal stylein I'm Thinking Tonight of the Old Folks. Generally, however, this record is old-timey hillbilly. There are instances of slight vocal disunity that actuallyembellish the Monroe Brothers' rather rough, homespun brand of music and in asense bring a greater meaning to the listener, i.e., the sound is of non-commercialfolk music. Some of Charlie's numbers have a somewhat progressive instrumentation(as would be expected by 'h6), such as on Rosa Lee McFall and the singing onMother's Not Dead. These are done in what is, essentially, a Bluegrass style. Ifeel that this is the single best song on the album, although it is disappointingto find that it was not done by Bill and Charlie in the 30's, but by Charlie in19h6.

As a study of hillbilly vocal and instrumental style this is the most importantreissue to come out during the past year. As a study of Bill Monroe it representsthe missing link that now connects the present with the past and demonstrates, inpart, the roots of Bluegrass in general and, in particular, the background of itsgreatest innovator, Bill Monroe.

Camden CAL-719, The Father of Bluegrass Music (1962)

This album documents the next step in Bill Monroe's carerr. The twelvesongs--Six White Horses, Dog House Blues, Tennessee Blues, No Letter in the Mail,

Blue Yodel No. 7, Orange Blossom Special, Mule Skinner's Blues, Katy Hill,I Wonder if You Feel the Way I Do, Honky-Tornk Swing, In the Pines, Back Up andPush, were recorded by Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys in 19O and 1941 andshow the transition from traditional hillbilly to what I call early commercialcountry music (although this style was and still is referred to as hillbilly).This music is still not Bluegrass. The five-string banjo had not been introduced,though the fiddle is now used as a lead instrument along with the mandolin.Although Monroe is at his best on Blue Yodel No. 7 and Mule Skinner's Blues, thebest number, both vocally and instrumentally, is Orange Blossom Special (a show-offnumber among many current Bluegrass groups) and worth the purchase of this albumalone.

This release illustrates that the pre-war Blue Grass Boys were not yetplaying the music to which their name would become associated, but had moved towardit in some respects with the addition of the fiddle and the bass.

Harmony (Columbia) HL 7290, The Great Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys (1961)

Although this was the first Monroe reissue to appear it was the first tocontain true Bluegrass music. The single great fault is the complete absence ofliner notes (a consistent failure in Harmony reissues only recently corrected onalbum HL 7300, the second Carter Family reissue).

The first three songs, Rocky Road Blues, Kentucky Waltz and Footprints in theSnow, were recorded on 13 February, 19h5. The notable features here are: 1) thatthis is still not Bluegrass; 2) an accordion is one of the instruments; and,3) the five-string banjo is used. The banjo, however, is played in two-fingerstyle, not the three-fingered Bluegrass roll that has become a trademark. Thebanjo player is Stringbean, who is known for his two-finger style. Then the firstBluegrass is encountered--Blue Moon of Old Kentucky, Mother's Only Sleeping, MyRose of Old Kentucky and Blue Grass Breakdown (later titled Rawhide)--all per-formed by the first Bluegrass style Blue Grass Boys, in September of '16. Personnelare Monroe (mandolin), Lester Flatt (guitar), Earl Scruggs (five-string banjo),"Chubby" Wise (fiddle), and Cedric Rainwater (bass). The last three numbers--BlueGrass Stomp, Can't You Hear Me Callin'?, The Girl in the Blue Velvet Band--wererecorded in July, 1949, with the absence of Flatt and Scruggs and the addition ofMac Wiseman (guitar) and Rusdy Lyle (banjo). These last three selections emphasizethe fact that three years later the structure of the band was instrumentally andstylistically the same as in the '16 group and that Bluegrass has indeed beenformed and was becoming entrenched.

The instrumental, Blue Grass Breakdown, shows that today, 18 years later,Bluegrass has made little progression. This number, with mandolin and banjo breaks,is technically as good as, or better than, any Bluegrass instrumental of today.

This record is also important in that the '46 group marks the debut of Flattand Scruggs on records, and there is no need to mention the fame they have gainedsince.

Thus, the Monroe reissues end as Bluegrass starts, and the progression, ortransition, can be followed through these three records. Each of these albums

generally sells for $1.98 and local readers can obtain their copies from Kokoefer'sMusic Store, 701 S. Sixth Street, in Champaign. These albums are well worth themoney, and we can only hope that their importance, in regard to folk music and toeach other, is understood.

Turning to recent Bluegrass, I would like to mention an album of gospelmusic which I feel is one of the best to come along in quite a while.

Decca DL 4360, This World Is Not My Home by Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys

Jimmy Martin was a member of the Blue Grass Boys for five years before heformed his own band. This is the third LP and the first really good one he hasproduced. The twelve songs that make up the album are gospel songs done in Blue-grass style with very tasteful instrumental backing, which I feel to be essentialfor gospel music.

These twelve songs--Prayer Bells of Heaven, Good-bye, Give Me Roses Now,What Would You Give in Exchange, Voice of My Saviour, Shut-in's Prayer, This WorldIs Not My Home, Pray the Clouds Away, Lord, I'm Coming Home, Give Me Your Hand,Little White Church, God Guide Our Leader's Hand--are all excellent. The singingon this album is the finest to be found, with smooth, close harmony and verysolid, coordinated phrasing. An unusual feature of this group is that one of themembers is of the fair sex, and she adds strength to the singing by filling outthe upper ranges of the harmony. It is very difficult to pick out the best song,but Lord I'm Coming Home is simply magnificent. If your record library lacks aBluegrass gospel, get the best available. This is it.

Next issue: The Blue Sky Boys--or--the ultimate in hillbilly duet groups.

TREASURER'S REPORT

Period Covered: 11-6-63 to 3-9-64

1. Cash on hand 11-6-63 $636.02

2. Errors in vouchers 191, 193 - 20.00

3. Actual cash on hand 616.02

4. Deposits 467.95

5. Total cash on hand 1083.97

6. Expenses 291.70

7. Cash on hand 3-9-64 $792.27

W. T. BeckerTreasurer

University of Illinois--Campus Folksong Club

announces

Club Record CFC 301

THE HELL-BOUND

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rhis LP of songs and guitar music is based on apresented December 14, 1963, by Glenn Ohrlin, anusician now living in Mountain View, Arkansas.

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Selected Bibliography of Illinois Folklore

Judy McCulloh

Pride of the Campus Folksong Club is Judy McCulloh--our only full-time academicfolklorist in the field of traditional music. To list Judy's credentials in fullwould probably exhaust so much paper that the University would suspect us of burn-ing our supply instead of printing on it. Let us then merely allude to the factthat Judy is a native of Peoria, Illinois, is the wife of Professor Leon McCullohof the U of I mathematics faculty; that she is presently preparing a Doctoralthesis on a comparison of Finnish and American folk fiddling styles; that she isassociated with the Archives of Folk and Primitive Music at Indiana University;that her work for our Club has extended into every phase of traditional musicactivity; and that she shows equal talent for every aspect of study, work and funthat manifests itself here in Urbana: She is a competent scholar, plays a meanmandolin, and entertains Club members with all the accomplishments of the truehostess; the Finnish glugi she prepared at Christmas may well have contributed tothe sudden thaw experienced in central Illinois this January. Here we present asample of her scholastic talents--a bibliography of Illinois folklore which hasnever before been compiled by any scholar.

For those who might wish to investigate Illinois folklore, I have beguncompiling a bibliography of relevant books, theses, and articles of serious intent.Most of these items can be found in the University of Illinois Library; theannotations for the Parr and McIntosh theses are from "Annotated Bibliography of

Theses and Dissertations in Ethnomusicology and Folk Music Accepted at AmericanUniversities" in Ethnomusicology, Vol. 4, no. 1 (January 1960), and Vol. 6, no. 3(September 1962). I have not included brochure or liner notes accompanying phono-graph recordings made in Illinois, such as those for Green Fields of Illinois(CFC 201), Ballads of LaSalle County, Illinois (Folkways FA 20o0), or the variousdiscs of blues artists made in Chicago by commercial companies. I have alsoexcluded items which make only passing reference to Illinois folklore. Additionsand corrections are always welcome.

The following abbreviations have been used:

HF - Hoosier FolkloreIF - Illinois FolkloreJAF - Journal of American FolkloreMF - Midwest FolkloreSFQ - Southern Folklore Quarterly

Allen, John. Legends and Lore of Southern Illinois. (Carbondale: UniversityInformation Service, 1963) Articles selected and somewhat revised from theapproximate 550 which have appeared weekly in many downstate newspapers sinceJanuary 23, 1953.

"John W. Allen Papers." JAF Supplement, April, 1963, 26-27. Describes gift of

Allen's papers to the Morris Library at Southern Illinois University. In-cluded are "some 500 volumes, dozens of manuscripts, illustrated maps,thousands of pages of typed notes, letters, photographs,- negatives and

slides."

Allison, Lelah. "Children's Games." HF, vol. 7 (1948), 84-93. Describestwenty-one outdoor and eight indoor games collected from her students atMcKendree College, Lebanon, Illinois.

. "Folk Beliefs Collected in Southeastern Illinois." JAF, vol. 63 (1950),309-324. Lists 556 items from the Wabash region, presented with a briefintroduction under the headings "cosmic phenomena," "weather," "cures,""special days and numbers," "weddings," "household furniture and utensils,""animals and insects," "birds," "chickens," "people," "birth and infancy,""plants," "dreams," "wish," "moon and zodiac," and "miscellaneous."

. "Folk Beliefs Regarding Weather in Southeastern Illinois." JAF, vol. 61(1948), 68-70. Relates eight unannotated beliefs and nemorats.

___ "Folk Speech from Southeastern Illinois." HF, vol. 5 (1946), 93-102.Lists many items of "idiomatic speech, proverbs, proverbial phrases, andsayings" in paragraph essay form from Wayne, Edwards, and Wabash Counties.

_ "The Maud Wreck." SFQ, vol. 5 (1941), 37-38. Thirteen stanzas and tunefrom Keensburg, Illinois, about a 1904 wreck on the Southern Railroad nearMaud, Illinois.

. "Southern Illinois Tales and Beliefs." HF, vol. 9 (1950), 76-79.Eight items collected with her students' help.

. "Stories from the Illinois Wabash." IF, vol.1 (1947), lh-16. Givesthree annotated stories: "Bill Woods' Coon-Skin Story" (frontier deception),"Joe Eaton's Fast Ride" (out-riding the rain), and "The Wabash Pearl"(river lore).

__ "Traditional Verse from Autograph Books." HF, vol. 8 (1949), 87-94.Quotes thirty-five verses from books belonging to students at McKendreeCollege, Lebanon, Illinois, and a late nineteenth century Coulterville,Illinois, autograph book.

• "Water Witching." HF, vol. 6 (1947), 88-90. Describes methods used bythree southern Illinois water witches, and notes that some water witchesare now using their power to locate hidden pools of oil.

Balys, Jonas. "Fifty Lithuanian Riddles." JAF, vol. 63 (1950), 325-327. Givesfifty riddles in English translation collected from a Lithuanian woman livingin Chicago since 1929.

Barbour, Frances II. "Some Foreign Proverbs in Southern Illinois." MF, vol.h(1954), 161-164. Fifty-five proverbs, almost all German, turned up as partof a research project for the American Dialect Society.

Brewster, Paul G. "The Piasa Bird: A Legend of the Illini." HF, vol. 8 (1949),83-86. Discusses the legend of the man-eating Piasa bird, an enormous out-line of which had been carved by the Illini Indians on a cliff face nearAlton, in Madison County, to commemorate their deliverance from this terror.

Briggs, Harold E. "Folklore of Southern Illinois." SFQ, vol. 16 (1952), 207-217.After outlining the history of this area's settlement, the author discusses"certain susperstitions and sayings regarding weather, folk medicine, witch-craft, and death" (for the most part drawing on earlier studies).

"Chicago Folk-Lore Society." JAF, vol. 5 (1892), 82. This note summarizes theprograms at the first meeting (December, 1891) and the second meeting(January 8, 1892), and lists the officers.

Draper, N. W. "An Old Revenge Custom." IF, vol. 2 (1948), 14. A farm hand(an old-time fiddler) digs a mock grave for a man he dislikes.

Flanagan, John T. "Folklore in the Stories of James Hall." MF, vol. 5 (1955),159-168. A western lawyer, state's attorney, circuit judge, and treasurerof Illinois, Hall spent twelve years in Illinois during the first half ofthe nineteenth century. He wrote about the people of the Ohio valley, usingsome tales and traditions of the Illinois country. "...James Hall was oneof the earliest American writers of fiction, and certainly the first Westernromancer, to use folk materials creatively."

"Folk-Lore of Illinois." JAF, vol. 21 (1908), 246. "The English Club of theUniversity of Illinois, under the leadership of Professor Jones, is under-taking a collection of ballads, folk-songs, and superstitions current inIllinois. Any residents of Illinois who are able to contribute informationin regard to these points will please communicate with Professor Jones,University of Illinois."

Fox, Ben. "Folk Medicine in Southern Illinois." IF, vol. 2 (1948), 3-7. Aphysician describes various locally-encountered folk remedies, mostlysensational and of small medical value.

Goodwin, Tina M. "The Illinois Folklore Society." IF, vol. 1 (1947), 1-2."The Illinois Folklore Society is more or less the spontaneous outgrowthof the desire of a number of these individual folklore enthusiasts toencourage the collection and preservation of the folklore of this area."The first meeting was held December 4, 19h6, in Carbondale, at the homeof Mrs. Edith Krappe CMrs. Alexander Krappe).

Goodwyn, Frank. "Another Mexican Version of the 'Bear's Son' Folktale." JAF,vol. 66 (1953), 143-154. A long text of tale type 301 collected in theMexican colony in Chicago, from a woman who had heard it as a child inMexico. Brief discussion of the various motifs.

Halpert, Herbert. "'Egypt'-A Wandering Place-Name Legend." MF, vol. 4 (1954),165-168. (In Genesis, Joseph's brothers go to Egypt to get corn during afamine.) Halpert notes the similar explanations given for the "Egypt"areas in Illinois, New Hampshire, and Texas, and for the small towns ofNew Egypt, New Jersey, and Egypt, Mississippi.

Hand, Wayland D. "Chicago Folk-Lore Society." JAF, vol. 56 (1943), 168-170.The Chicago Folk-Lore Society existed from 1891 to about 1904. It hada wide range of activitiesand was the nearest thing to a rival at thattime that the American Folklore Society had. The Society, for instance,sponsored the World's Folk-Lore Congress of the Columbian Exposition inJuly of 1893; it had affiliated branches in St. Paul, Memphis, and Atlanta.Its journal, the Folk-Lorist, ran from 1892 to 1893; there were variousother publications, now virtually impossible to locate. The ChicagoFolklore Prize has been given since 1928, frcm proceeds of a fund establishedfor the Society in 1904.

Harris, Jesse W. "The Catskin Legend in Southern Illinois." JAF, vol. $8(1945), 301-302. Gives the story as told in Saline County (settled byScotch-Irish from Virginia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas) to explain thelocal nickname "Catskin" for the town of Carrier Mills. "To palm off theskin of a cat as a coon or a mink skin seems to have been one of thefrontier's choice bits of whimsy. It was an especially good trick if thesame skin could be filched and used over and over on the same storekeeper."

. "The Humorous Yarn in Early Illinois Local Histories." MF, vol. 2(1952), 167-175. Scans out-of-the-way sources for items "originallypart of the oral tradition and...included in these old histories becauseof the interest they held for local readers": tall tales, brag talk,coon-skin deceptions, etc.

. "Illinois Folklore, Past and Present." MF, vol. 4 (1954), 134-138.Touches on 1) incidental recordings of folklore in early books; 2) Illi-nois' two £sicj folklore societies, the Chicago Folk-Lore Society(1891-1904) and the Illinois Folklore Society (1946-present); 3) thoseother figures important in initiating the serious study of Illinois folk-lore, Grace Partridge Smith, David McIntosh, Charles Neely, and John Allen.

* "Illinois Place-Name Lore." MF, vol. 4 (1954), 217-220. Discussesexplanations given for the names and nicknames of various towns.

. "Myths and Legends from Southern Illinois." HF, vol. 5 (1946), 14-20.Ten items, e.g. the coon-skin deception, and etiological tales about locallandmarks. No myths.

. "Some Southern Illinois Witch Lore." SFQ, vol. 10 (1946), 183-190.Reviews accounts of witches and witchcraft, particularly from pioneerdays, and cites "some evidence of the survival of the belief in witch-craft into modern times."

. "Substituting for the Off Ox." JAF, vol. 60 (1947), 298-299. Discussesthree variants of this bit of frontier humor, "the incongruous situationcreated by the substitution of a man for one of the members of an ox team."Two variants are from 1883 Effingham County and Jefferson County histories;the third is taken from oral tradition in the Possum Trot area of westernSaline County.

and Julia Neely. "Southern Illinois Phantoms and Bogies." MF, vol. 1(1951), 171-178. Collection of eleven stories all in local settings,especially around Dug Hill, near Jonesboro.

Harris, Myrtle S. See: LMcIntosh, David S.) and (Myrtle S. Harris).

Hyatt, Harry Middleton. Folk-Lore from Adams County, Illinois. (New York:Memoirs of the Alma Egan Hyatt Foundation, 1935) A fine intensive collectionprincipally from the ten square miles comprising Quincy, Illinois, and itsenvirons; it contains 10,949 items (beliefs, superstitions, customs, memorats,proverbial expressions, riddles, children's lore), many presented in nar-rative form in the words of the informants.

LIllinois Branch of the American Folklore Society). JAF, vol. 22 (1909), 87."The Illinois Branch has been organized mainly through the efforts ofProfessor H. A. V. Jones. Professor A. C. L. Brown of NorthwesternUniversity is President of the Branch, Professor H. A. V. Jones of theUniversity of Illinois is secretary." Apparently short-lived and relativelyinactive.

Jansen, William Hugh. "Lying Abe: A Tale-Teller and His Reputation." HF,vol. 7 (1948), 107-124. Part of a longer study of Abraham "Oregon" Smith(1796-1893), an Indiana (Monroe County) and Illinois (Edgar County,around Chrisman) story-teller.

Jones, H. S. V. See: Wilson, E. L., and H. S. V. Jones.

Keeling, Una. "You Haven't Packed the Saddle." IF, vol. 1 (1947), 17-19.A variant of tale type 901, written down for David S. McIntosh by a studentin his extension course at Pinckneyville, Illinois.

Kline, Elmer L. "Two-Headed Woman." JAF, vol. 60 (1947), 423. Brief noteabout this concept investigated among female Negro spiritualists inChicago; such a woman is "born with the ability to see the past, present,and future. The general idea is that she has two heads, one superimposedupon the other, the second being the one that has the power."

Longini, Muriel Davis. "Folk Songs of Chicago Negroes." JAF, vol. 52 (1939),96-111. About forty songs (no music), mostly imported from the South,either by migrant workers or via race records. The author notes a lossof vitality and coherence, and attributes the wide range of genres andversions to the fact that Negroes from all over the South have been con-centrated in Chicago.

McIntosh, David S. "Black Jack Davie." JAF, vol. h8 (1935), 385-386. Ninestanzas of Child 200, with melody and annotation. Collected in 1933 inJohnston City, Illinois, from a family originally from Kentucky.

___. "Blacksmith and Death." MF, vol. 1 (1951), 51-54. Two stories fromHarrisburg, Illinois: 1) "Blacksmith and Death" (tale type 330); 2) "YoungMan That was to be Married," who attempted in vain to rob the tailor makingthe wedding clothes for him.

___ . "The Deck of Cards or the Soldier's Bible." MF, vol. 2 (1952), 219-220.Text from a Southern Illinois University student, learned from her father,who was a Negro minister in Southern Illinois for many years.

. "Fair Ellender." IF, vol. 1 (1947), 10-13, plus a clipped-on sheet ofmusic. Thirteen stanzas of Child 73, with melody. Discussion and comparisonwith other variants, mostly in terms of music rather than of text.

* "Marching Down to New Orleans." MF, vol. 4 (1954), 139-148. Analysisof the lyrics, tunes, and actions of six Illinois versions of this play-party game, known also as "Pretty Little Pink."

a "My Golden Ball." HF, vol. 7 (1948), 97-100. Version of Child 95,"The Maid Freed from the Gallows," collected in 19h5 in Carbondale. Inthis version, the singer explains, a boy has lost the ball entrusted himby the king, and his sweetheart does not give up until she finds it.

._ "The Pirate Ship (The Lowland Sea)." JAF, vol. 48 (1935), 386-388.Eleven stanzas of Child 286, with melody and annotation. Collected in 1934in Carterville, Illinois, from a family descended from John Finley, "whomade the trip out to Kentucky from North Carolina before the historicexpedition of Daniel Boone...John Finley, according to a family legend, isresponsible for blue grass being brought into Kentucky. He kept a storeand goods were sent from the East, wrapped in grass or hay; after the goodswere unwrapped, the grass was scattered over the ground, and in this waythe seeds of the blue grass were sown."

* Sing and Swing from Southern Illinois. (Carbondale: Southern IllinoisUniversity, 1948) Pp. viii, 70. Material gathered by the author with thehelp of students in his extension course Music 307, "Recreational Musicand Singing Games," given in various southern Illinois counties. After anexplanation of terms, he presents twenty-five items, grouped under theheadings "Singing Squaros," "Square Dance Calls," "Singing Games withCircle Formation,""Singing Games with Contra or Longways Formations," and"Singing Games for the Youngsters." Includes music, instructions, and somereferences to other versions in print or on phonograph recordings.

. Singing Games and Dances. (New York: Association Press, 1957)Pp. xiv, 110. Material collected over a twenty-year period in southernIllinois. The fifty-six items are grouped under the headings "SingleCircle Games," "Double Circle Games," "Triple Circle Games," "SingingSquares," "Contra Games," and "Irregular Formation Games." Gives an expla-nation of terms used, music (unless the words are to be spoken), text,instructions, informant's name, and the place and date of collection.

. Singing Games and Songs from Southern Illinois. (Delaware, Ohio:Cooperative Recreation Society, 1941)

* Some Representative Southern Illinois Folk-Songs. State University ofIowa, M.A. thesis, 1935. Pp. vii, 37h. Music and words of about 100 songs,with notes on the singers and circumstances of collection. Collected bythe author through contacts made with his students at Southern State NormalUniversity, 1932 and after.

___ Southern Illinois Games and Songs. (Carbondale: Southern IllinoisUniversity, 1946) Pp. 49. Anglo-American material, with music and instructions.

tMcIntosh, David S.o and Myyrtle S. Harris]. "Local Folk Customs." IF, vol. 2(1948), 8-13. These customs reflect the blend of English and Germansettlers in the area; McIntosh presents six items from Breese, Illinois,and Mrs. Harris gives two from the St. Clair-Monroe County area aroundHecker, Illinois.

McNeil, Elsie P. "The Big Hoop Snake." IF, vol. 2 (1948), 16. To gain speed,this snake rolls itself into a hoop.

Musick, Ruth Ann. "The Old Album of William A. Larkin." JAF, vol. 60 (1947),201-251. Good annotated edition of a manuscript collection of songs andrimes, presented as they appeared in Mr. Larkin's old ledger book (nomusic). These items were written down between 1866 (Mr. Larkin had movedin 1845 as a child from Ohio to Pekin, Illinois) and 1872 (when he movedto Iowa).

Neely, Charles Leslie. "Four British Ballads in Southern Illinois." JAF,vol. 52 (1939), 75-81. Texts (no music), with brief discussion of"The Brown Girl" (Child 73), "Barbara Allen" (Child 84), "Black JackDavid" (Child 200), and "William and Margaret" (Child 74).

___ # "The Lame Man Recovers the Use of His Legs." JAF, vol. 47 (1934),263-264. Two variants from Southern Illinois. A crippled man is frightenedinto running away from a supposedly haunted house.

* Tales and Songs of Southern Illinois. Edited with a forward by JohnWebster Spargo. (Menasha, Hisconsin: George Banta, 1938) Pp. 270. A goodcollection, which gives history of the area, and describes informants. Musicincluded for some of the songs.

* "Why the Irish Came to America." JAF, vol. 46 (1933), 90-91. A versionof the Swan Maiden story (tale type 400) collected in an Irish settlement inSouthern Illinois. At the end, Death is let loose in Ireland, forcing theIrish to flee; they come to America.

Neely, Julia. See: Harris, Jesse, and Julia Neely.

Norlin, Ethel Todd. "Present-Day Superstitions at La Harpe, Illinois, Survivalsin a Community of English Origin." JAF, vol. 31 (1918), 202-215. Collectedin 1915 in Hancock County, these items are grouped under "death" (26 items),"disease" (43), "marriage" (21), "weather and water" (21), and "misc." (123).For each item is given the informant's name, age, birthplace, and nationalbackground.

Parr, Annie Ruth. A Study of European Folk Songs Collected in Waukegan,Illinois. Normthstern University, M.M. thesis, 1951. Pp. ii, 66, thirtymusic examples, scale patterns, bibliography. Based on original research.After a general introduction and chapter on method, gives melodies andtexts of Finnish, Swedish, Slovenian, Armenian and Jewish folk songs.Summary chapter contains brief analysis.

Reaver, J. Russell. "Four Lithuanian-American Folk Tales." SFQ, vol. 12 (1948),259-265. English translations of tales collected in 1948 in Benld, Illinois,from a Lithuanian woman in this country for thirty-five years. No annotation.

. "Lithuanian Tales from Illinois." SFQ, vol. 14 (1950), 160-168. Englishtranslations of six tales collected in 1949 in Benld, Illinois, from aLithuanian-born woman (same informant as in preceding item).

Simeone, William E. "Bryan's Train." MF, vol. 4 (1954), 149-152. Reminiscencesabout Billy Bryan, a most independent conductor on a stretch of IllinoisCentral track in Southern Illinois (now known as the "Mudline"), who bothflouted company rules to meet his and his passengers' convenience and playedtricks on passengers and company alike.

Smith, Grace Partridge. "'Egypt'-A Folklore Frontier." IF, vol. 1 (1947), 3-9."Egypt" is that part of Illinois south of a line drawn between Vincennes,Indiana, and East St. Louis, Illinois. Brief discussions of witchcraft,ghost stories, charms, old-time recreations, legends, place-names, tall tales,proverbs, music.

. "Egyptian 'Lies.'" MF, vol. 1 (1951), 93-97. Eleven tall tales,

briefly annotated.

. "European Origin of an Illinois Tale." SFQ, vol. 6 (1942), 89-94.Briefly traces the evolution of a tale (type 1676A) localized in Chandler-

ville, Illinois: a father attempts to frighten his son by dressing up asa ghost, but is himself trailed and surprised by a monkey in similar disguise.

. "Folklore from 'Egypt. '" JAF, vol. 54 (1941), 48-59. After distinguishingEuropean-American, Negro, and Indian lore as objects for study, she sets up

the categories "animal tales," "tall tales," "tales of witchcraft," "ghoststories," "jokes and anecdotes," "folk medicine," and "misc." Brieflyannotated, informants indicated.

. "Folklore from 'Egypt.'" HF, vol. 5 (1946), 45-70. Continues the

article in JAF, vol. 54 (1941); both together serve "to indicate the type of

folksay most widespread in Egypt." Here she sets up eleven categories, with

introductions and brief annotation: "witch tales" (items 1-2), "ghost and

cemetery stories" (3-9), "simple jack tales" (10-11), "tall tales" (12-17),

"formula tales" (18), "jokes and anecdotes"(19-20), "rope-skipping rhymes"(6 items), "occasional jingles" (8), "signs and superstitions" (33 itemsabout weather, 16 about love and marriage, 21 about dreams, 25 about goodand bad luck, 10 about death omens, 4 about children, 5 about cats, 15miscellaneous), "folk medicine" (27 cures), and "horticulture" (a plea for

more information).

. "Four Irish Ballads from 'Egypt.'" HF, vol.5 (1946), 115-119. Among the

earliest European settlers in Illinois were the Irish; by 1850, the Irishpopulation here numbered nearly 30,000, concentrated in Monroe, St. Clair, andRandolph Counties. Presented here are texts to "The Hold-Up," "Peg'sSpinning-Wheel Song," "St. Patrick's Day Parade," and "Brennan on the Moor."

. "More Lincoln Lore." MF, vol. 4 (1954), 169-170. Uses the belief in thepowers of a four-leaf clover once belonging to Lincoln as a point ofdeparture.

. "Negro Lore in Southern Illinois." MF, vol. 2 (1952), 159-162. Thefirst Negroes were brought to the lower counties of Illinois in 1721, towork in the mines and plantations. The author presents twenty-eight itemsfrom an East St. Louis informant: omens, charms, superstitions, etc.

. "Scraps of Southern Lore." SFQ, vol. 9 (1945), 169-173. Twelve short"patently Southern" items, eight of which were collected in Illinois. Briefannotation.

. "Tall Tales from Southern Illinois." SFQ, vol. 7 (1943), 145-147. Sevenbrief "lying" stories, with the informants' names and home towns cited.

(Smith, Grace Partridge) MF, vol. 4, no. 3 (Fall, 1954). This number, the"Illinois issue," is dedicated to Grace Partridge Smith; her interests andcontributions are discussed on p. 133.

"Grace Partridge Smith, 1869-1959." JAF, vol. 73 (1960), 154. An obituarycontributed by MacEdward Leach.

Stewart, Jack. "How to Stop an Owl from Hooting." IF, vol. 2 (1948), 14-15.Lay a broom on the floor, handle pointing toward where the owl is hooting.

Van Doren, Carl. "Some Play-Party Songs from Eastern Illinois." JAF, vol. 32

(1919), 486-496. Gives twenty-five songs (no music) collected in 1907 from

the memories of Mr. and Mrs. Knight of Muncie, in Vermilion County; these

play-parties flourished in Muncie in the post-Civil War years. Occasional

comments on how the games were played.

Walker, Harren Stanley. "Dan'l Stamps: Tall Tale Hero of the River Country."

MF, vol. 4 (1954), 153-160. Concerns the cycle of tales told in Calhoun,

Greene, and Jersey Counties about Daniel Stamps (1866-1950), hunter, fisher,

trader, peddler, watch-trader, and farmer.

. "Water-Witching in Central Illinois." MF, vol. 6 (1956), 197-203.

By "Central Illinois" is meant the area south of Chicago and north of Mt.

Vernon. A summary and classification of statements from more than 200

informants concerning methods, folk explanations, and prevalence of the

belief in wather-witching. The research was aided by the informants'

pre-occupation with a drought which had lasted since 1953.

Wehrenberg, Robert. "The Ball of Fire." IF, vol. 2 (1948), 15-16. While

squirrel-hunting in the woods, a man sees a huge ball of fire rolling

along; after that people avoid the woods.

Wilson, E. L., and H. S. V. Jones. "Robin Hood and Little John," recorded by

E. L. Wilson, Urbana, Illinois; edited by H. S. V. Jones. JAF, vol. 23

(1910), 432-434. Twenty stanzas, no music. This version of Child 125

"was sung in January, 1908, by William Shields McCullough of Normal, .Illinois.

Mr. McCullough was born at Harpter's Ferry, Virginia, December 10, 1816,

and moved to Illinois in 1854. He learned this song from an old man whom

he heard sing it about eighty years ago."

Wine, Martin L. "Superstitions Collected in Chicago." MF, vol. 7 (1957),

149-159. Lists 175 items, briefly annotated, from a class project run

by Wayland Hand at the University of California; the informants were

from Austin High School in Chicago.

Wycoco-Moore, Remedios. "A Version of 'Lord Lovel' (Child 75)." JAF, vol. 67

(1954), 252. A 1949 text (no music), briefly annotated, learned from a

Fairfield, Illinois woman who learned it from her English grandmother.