Song Of The Day

Song of the day

"Free and Equal Blues" Josh White, 1940s

this song was also covered by Earl Robinson here in 1957

Smithsonian, National Postal Museum United States Postal Service june 1998

folk musician stamps

Suggested Song

"900 Miles" Terry Callier, 1968

origins under the cut

the origins of this song are a bit unclear. No one knows who first wrote it or some specifics with its origins. 900 miles is related to the traditional southern song, "Reuben's train," written sometime after 1860, based on the Reuben Wells Locomotive.

the earliest example of the song in print (that i could find anyway) was in 1913, from the journal of American folklore. somewhat similar to the song that Terry Callier covers. I've seen some references to the song being dated to the very early 1900s and late 1800s, so this song is older than 1913.

the first recording of the song (that i could find) was in 1924 by Fiddlin' John Carson "I'm Nine Hundred miles from home"

and in 1927 by Henry Whitter and G. B. Grayson "train No.45"

a common title for this song is Train No. 45 (which is usually just the instrumental version for the reuben train song), which is confusing because the reuben wells is actually referred to as no. 35, but maybe they changed it in the 20s because that was when the California Western Railroad No. 45 was built. I'm not really sure.

Many of the folk artists who covered this song and the music anthologists who collected have credited to hearing it from black singers originally like woody guthrie and Alan Lomax (p.245). Alan Lomax talks about its different versions in different southern states and its history as a labor song for Sharecroppers and convicts who were both white and black.

and Folklorist Norm Cohen talks about its use and connections to black folklife here (p. 502-518).

and it's featured here in the album, "Before The Blues Vol. 2 (The Early American Black Music Scene) 2016"

based on Alan Lomax's account, it seems that the 900 mile version was popularized because of Woody Guthrie's version in 1944

This song is incredibly famous and has been covered by many other traditional and revival folk artists, including: Cisco Houston (1950-1953), Odetta (1963), Barbara Dane (1961), Richie Havens (late 1960s?) and Bob Dylan (1967).

one of the most popular versions of the song "500 miles" was written in 1961 by Hedy west and is a much newer adaptation of the traditional song, it also has a much more cheery melody and fast tempo compared to the somewhat sullen "900 miles". it has been covered many times by country and folk revival artists like: the journeymen (1961), The Kingston Trio (1962), Peter Paul, and Mary (1962), and the Brothers four (1963).

the version by Terry Callier was recorded in 1965, but his folk album wasn't released until 3 years later in 1968. when he released his first album, "The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier." 900 miles was the first song on the tracklist and the album combined elements of traditional folk/blues as well as jazz. he takes traditional songs and re-imagines them with a fresh pair of eyes that makes this folk album stand out from the multitude of others at the time. While it's considered a cult classic today, it seems like it may have not performed very well monetarily considering how long it took to release and how every other Terry Callier release is completely different.

still, even though this was only his first album, and his genre and style diverged pretty heavily from this first album, it remains to me, one of the best things to come out of the folk revival scene, and 900 miles by Terry Callier will remain the best cover of the traditional labor song.

for user @paulkleefishmagic

thing im starting to realize about American folk music

my plan is to post aesthetic pictures of Bob dylan for fellow queers to reblog to lure them into following my blog, where they will have to learn the history of folk music as a a traditional tool for protest and labor and the many leftist origins of folk and the ways this is often overlooked and erased especially when it comes to black artists

oh hey, unrelated, check out this cool song by paul robeson in 1924 :)

or this rendition of Strange Fruit by Josh White (1964)

or this song by Odetta in 1957

or this song by lead belly in 1936

or this Gospel song by the Freedom Singers in 1961

or this song 1961

or this song by Nina Simone in 1965

i think it'd be fun to create a big post of resources to get into older folk music

"do you like political music? listen to xyz"

"do you like faster music, slower music, waltz?, listen to xyz"

"do you like bluegrass, country, gospel, newer folk, jazz? listen to xyz"

but i also think it would be fun to curate personalized folk playlists for individuals who ask for them based on music in or adjacent to the genre that they already like

if they like taylor swift maybe they'd like Joan baez or joni mitchell or jean ritchie or whatever.

if they like colter walls, maybe they'd like woody guthrie, ramblin' jack elliott, or cisco houston. idk!

Anyway, if anyone's interested in that, lmk here, and I'll set something up!