The timestamp is only as accurate as the clock in the camera, and it may be completely wrong.Pollock’s book is interesting because of the timing of the interviews. Most of the quotes in these profiles come from the mid ‘70s – mid ‘80s when the commercial fervor for folk was waning. In many, it shows artists in reduced financial and professional circumstances stubbornly plugging away before modest cult audiences. GASLIGHT CAFE GREENWICH VILLAGE HOURS PROFESSIONAL Many are pondering the failures of the Age of Aquarius and its idealism as American approaches the conservative swing to the Reagan era. Pollock’s begins with Dave Von Ronk, the bearish man who ruled the roost at the Gaslight Café’s open mics, an early champion and inspiration for Dylan and many who came after. Von Ronk is captured heading to a scarcely attended club gig in 1982. He reflects on his “few good earning years” and how he always seemed “on the brink” of something bigger. He tells how he passed up the opportunity to be the “Paul” in the folk mega group, Peter, Paul & Mary (that went to Noel Stookey, a Village comedian whose act ended with him imitating a toilet flushing!), and of his failed audition for Dylan’s manager-to-be Albert Grossman. This was after a winter hitchhike to his club in Chicago, something borrowed for the Coen Brothers’ wonderful folk music film, Inside Llewelyn Davis. In his interview with Phil Ochs, we learn that his decision to become a songwriter came while in jail for vagrancy in Florida. Ochs’ political powered anthems were an outgrowth of his first desired career – journalism. Phil was writing about Vietnam in 1962, way before any songwriter was penning war protest songs. He also reveals, perhaps in jest, that his favorite cover of one of his songs was former beauty queen and anti-gay activist Anita Bryant’s of “Power & Glory.” And, contrary to popular belief, he shares that he didn’t think less of his longtime rival Bob Dylan’s decision to stop writing about politics and social causes. One of the more interesting profiles, one that truly captures the low-rent, pre-Gentrification splendor of the era, is that of Tuli Kupferberg of the infamous The Fugs. Tuli was in his mid-40s and divorced when he teamed with writer Ed Sanders to marry rock music, poetry and racy lyrics in a group named after a Norman Mailer term for intercourse. Gentrification be damned, as Tuli relates renting a six-room apartment of Avenue D for $12 a month in 1965. It was all about fun, poetry, revolutionary theatre and orgies. “We weren’t worried about writing for the ages,” he declares.īuffy St. Marie relates how her writing of classics like “Universal Soldier” was the product of “channeling words and music that come at once, like a radio station.” The most romantic folk star of the Gaslight era, Eric Andersen, believes his songs survived because he didn’t get too political. Don McLean tells of the impact of Pete Seeger on his work and personal life, namely his adventures as a part of the original crew of Seeger’s ecological boat, The Clearwater, in 1969. Also, how his mega-hit, “American Pie,” ruined his career by branding him a “sellout” and how the fortunes from it bought him a Mercedes Benz and not a Chevy he would drive to the levy. Both Loudon Wainwright III and Leonard Cohen reveal they turned to songwriting because it was easier than writing novels. Pollock calls folkie-turned-Monkee Peter Tork “a rock-n-roll Maynard G. Krebs.” He captures Tork in 1981 when he had lost all his Monkees’ money but is content in his move back to the East Coast and playing gigs that provide him and his daughter with “three hots and a cot.” His 1982 interview with Roger McGuinn provides a pocket history of folk and country rock, two genres birthed by his band, The Byrds. McGuinn also reveals how he was the catalyst for Beatle George’s interest in both Ravi Shankar and Eastern Religion. The most interesting and lengthiest profile is that of Lovin’ Spoonful singer/songwriter John Sebastian. GASLIGHT CAFE GREENWICH VILLAGE HOURS PROFESSIONAL.GASLIGHT CAFE GREENWICH VILLAGE HOURS SOFTWARE.
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