I went to see Alix Dobkin Saturday night at the Montclair Women’s Cultural Club, reading from her newly issued memoir, My Red Blood,
telling stories from her life and singing songs to illustrate them. I
bought the book, of course. Could I resist a book subtitled A memoir of growing up Communist, coming onto the Greenwich Village folk scene, and coming out in the feminist movement even if I didn’t know the author? But I do, and we’re looking forward to comparing notes.
For
instance we each shook hands with Paul Robeson in our respective homes
in probably the same year. She was younger but seems to remember better.
We both listened to and memorized songs from Talking Union
and the Red Army Chorus. She reads my blog (hi, Alix) so she already
knows about the parallels but I’m just finding them as I begin to read
the book. Personal, like laughing hysterically at the Heffalump chapter
in Winnie-the-Pooh
(my mother had to take the book away from me because I was reading it
while I had whooping cough and the laughing triggered the coughing).
Political, like the Red Scare of the forties and fifties—she was five
years younger so the same things hit her at a different age. And she
grew up on the East Coast and I on the West, so we experienced different
parts of the folk revival. So reading her book gives me a sort of
binocular vision of our times. (Ellen Stekert and I have the same
east-west difference but we’re the same age. Ooh, I should have gotten a
copy for Ellen. We did get a copy for Kathie Flood.)
Also in the audience was Margie Adam,
who knew my mother and had shared a concert or two with her. She had
forgotten that Ellen had interviewed her for the bio. I assured her that
the interview was valuable because she talked about my mother’s
composing ability, while most people talked about lyrics or performance.
It’s
hard to focus today (Sunday); I did too many social-musical events
yesterday. Farmers’ market in the morning, a party at my friends the
Kellys in the afternoon where I sang about earthworms, nitrogen-fixing
bacteria and the Mission Blue butterfly to their botanizing and
scientist friends. Nice to have a crowd who knows exactly what I’m
singing about. And the home-made cherry trifle was to die for! The
Kellys started Kyoto USA
which helped Washington School go solar. I found an old song of mine
I’d forgotten about that mentioned the Kyoto accords and gave them a
copy at the party.
Then
all the chatting with old friends at Alix’ concert, talking about who
died, showing grandchild photos...back in the seventies, who would ever
have thought! So today I walked the dog before it got too hot, hung out
the laundry and now I’m wandering around the internet and see, on a
Malvina page on a music site, a Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD alongside a
couple of her own CDs. Huh? Turns out they recorded “Turn Around.” Well,
whatever.
Also on the interwebs: a different (older?) version of “The Battle of Maxton Field,” sung by Pete Seeger, on the Lumbee Tribe site.
They are the guys who raided the Klan rally. And you can see the
photograph which accompanied the newspaper article that inspired Malvina
to write the song.
Live and in person: Some folks at the People’s Music Network gathering had a Malvina songswap, and here’s the report from Sarah Underhill via Mara Sapon-Shevin:
Had
a great workshop of Malvina songs, with pals such as Charlie King, Ben
Tousley, Bernice Silver, Sandy Pliskin, Ben Silver, Maggie Greene, Mary
Regan & Peg Rapp plus many more.
The following songs were sung: [plus we had a request for "Rosy Jane' which no one had the words for]
God
Bless the Grass/ Bankers & the Diplomats/ No Hole in My
Head/Somewhere Between/You Can't Make a Turtle Come Out/Magic Penny/
This World/ Bring Flowers/ What Have They Done to the Rain/ We Don't
Need the Men/ Little Boxes/ There'll Come a Time/ It Isn't Nice/ I Wish
You Were Here/ Turn Around/ Sing Along/ I Live in A City/ If You Love Me
And then there were all the other M. songs we didn't have time to sing...
*The force that through the green fuse drives the flower. . .Drives my red blood...
—Dylan
Thomas
©2010 by Nancy Schimmel
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
THE FORCE THAT THROUGH THE GREEN FUSE...*
Much love,
XXA