Various Artists - Make It Your Sound. Vanguard Records & The 60's Musical Revolution

 

Make It Your Sound, Make It Your Scene: Vanguard Records & the 1960s Musical Revolution Review by Steve Leggett.

Begun in 1950 by brothers Maynard & Seymour Solomon, Vanguard Records was initially a classical label, although it issued some two-dozen jazz recordings between 1953 and 1958 under the direction of John Hammond. The brothers weren't as much interested in the commercial side of the record business as they were interested in presenting and archiving American musical history, and they had standards. When they signed blacklisted artists Paul Robeson and the Weavers in the mid-'50s, they garnered the respect of the emerging folk scene, putting the label in a wonderful position to document the urban folk and blues revivals that broke through to new commercial levels just as the '60s opened. Not only did Vanguard issue live albums of the Newport Folk Festivals, the label had also assembled an impressive catalog of young, cutting-edge folk singers, including Joan Baez, Patrick Sky, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ian & Sylvia, Richard & Mimi Fariña, Hedy West, the Rooftop Singers, Eric Andersen, and many others, and had also issued important albums from blues rediscoveries Skip James and Mississippi John Hurt, made forays into bluegrass, and released Doc Watson's first LPs, all of which made Vanguard the most successful of the folk and blues labels of the '60s. Later in the decade the label tried its hand at rock, signing and issuing fine albums by Country Joe & the Fish and the Frost, although it is as a folk label that Vanguard's reputation rests. This four-disc set provides an in-depth survey of the breadth of Vanguard's catalog, and also serves as a sort of musical journey through the cultural shifts and changes of the '60s. The '70s weren't as kind to Vanguard as the '60s were, and the label was sold to the Welk Music Group in 1985, undergoing a kind of resurgence with albums from John Fogerty, Greg Laswell, Merle Haggard, Chris Isaak, Linda Ronstadt, Robert Cray' and others, but Vanguard's '60s catalog continues to be the label's defining jewel. This set shows why.

 

Tracklist:

 

Disc 1:

 

1. I’M SO GLAD – Skip James

2. DONE GOT WISE – Big Bill Broonzy

3. STAGOLEE – Mississippi John Hurt

4. GOSPEL TRAIN – Golden Gate Quartet

5. OH MARY, DON’T YOU WEEP – Swan Silvertones

6. THE PRODIGAL SON – Rev Robert Wilkins

7. BOSCO STOMP – Cajun Band

8. BLUES IS A BOTHERATION – Otis Spann

9. TOO MUCH ALCOHOL – J.B. Hutto & His Hawks

10. BLUES AFTER HOURS – Pee Wee Crayton

11. I CAN’T BE SATISFIED – John Hammond

12. WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH THE MILL – Koerner Ray & Glover

13. COCAINE – Dave Van Ronk

14. SAMSON AND DELILAH – Rev Gary Davis

15. COTTON CROP BLUES – James Cotton

16. CLAY’S TUNE – Charlie Musselwhite Blues Band

17. I CAN’T QUIT YOU BABE – Otis Rush

18. YOU LIED TO ME – Junior Wells

19. FEVER – Buddy Guy

20. BALL AND CHAIN – Big Mama Thornton

 

Disc 2:

 

1. DEEP RIVER BLUES – Doc Watson

2. HELLO STRANGER – Mike Seeger

3. HOUSE CARPENTER – Almeda Riddle

4. 500 MILES – Hedy West

5. LITTLE GLASS OF WINE – Stanley Brothers

6. GOING DOWN THIS ROAD FEELING BAD – Watson Family

7. STEWBALL – John Herald with The Greenbriar Boys

8. THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND – Weavers

9. PRETTY BOY FLOYD – Cisco Houston

10. WALK RIGHT IN – Rooftop Singers

11. THE ROCKY ROAD TO DUBLIN – Liam Clancy

12. JUG OF PUNCH – Clancy Brothers

13. THE LEAVES THAT ARE GREEN – Country Gentlemen

14. WALLS OF TIME – Bill Monroe with Peter Rowan

15. WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE? – Pete Seeger

16. ANGER IN THE LAND – Hedy West

17. THERE BUT FOR FORTUNE – Phil Ochs

18. THIRSTY BOOTS – Eric Andersen

19. THE LAST THING ON MY MIND – Tom Paxton

20. SAN FRANCISCO BAY BLUES – Jesse Fuller

21. ROLL ON BUDDY – Kentucky Colonels with Clarence White

22. HARD, AIN’T IT HARD – Kingston Trio

23. MANY A MILE – Patrick Sky

 

Disc 3:

 

1. NORTH COUNTRY BLUES – Bob Dylan

2. FAREWELL, ANGELINA – Joan Baez

3. EARLY MORNING RAIN – Ian & Sylvia

4. REFLECTIONS IN A CRYSTAL WIND – Mimi & Richard Fariña

5. DRIVING ON BALD MOUNTAIN – Odetta

6. FOUR STRONG WINDS – Ian & Sylvia

7. MOBILE LINE – Jim Kweskin

8. DOPE AGAIN – Serpent Power

9. I-FEEL-LIKE-I’M-FIXIN’-TO-DIE RAG – Country Joe & The Fish

10. SOCK IT TO ME – Sandy Bull

11. DOWN IN THE BASEMENT – Notes From The Underground

12. NEGATIVE DREAMER GIRL – Circus Maximus

13. ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC – Frost – 4

14. CRISTO REDENTOR – Charlie Musselwhite With Harvey Mandel

15. NOBODY BLUES – Serpent Power

16. BORN IN CHICAGO – Paul Butterfield Blues Band

17. OUD AND DRUMS – Sandy Bull

18. JANIS – Country Joe & The Fish

19. SWEET LADY LOVE – Frost

20. LONELY MAN – Circus Maximus

 

Disc 4:

 

1. THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN – Joan Baez

2. HOBO’S LULLABYE – Gary & Randy Scruggs

3. DUELING BANJOS – Dillards

4. SHELL GAME – Jerry Jeff Walker

5. GET YOUR BISCUITS IN THE OVEN AND YOUR BUNS IN THE BED – Kinky Friedman

6. I’M A WOMAN – Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band with Maria Muldaur

7. MARCH! FOR MARTIN LUTHER KING – John Fahey

8. THE DEATH OF STEPHEN BIKO – Tom Paxton

9. HERE I GO AGAIN – Country Joe & The Fish

10. YOU SHOULD BE MORE CAREFUL – Elizabeth

11. SOLDIER BLUE – Buffy Sainte-Marie

12. SOLD AMERICAN – Kinky Friedman

13. SAIL – Oregon

14. RENE’S THEME – Larry Coryell & John Mclaughlin

15. COMMEMORATIVE TRANSFIGURATION AND COMMUNION AT MAGRUDER PARK – John Fahey

16. MORNING SONG TO SALLY – Jerry Jeff Walker

17. SHE USED TO WANT TO BE A BALLERINA – Buffy Sainte-Marie

18. A NICKEL’S WORTH OF BENNY’S HELP – 31st Of February

19. WISH I WAS A PUNK – Notes From The Underground

20. KISS MY ASS – Country Joe McDonald

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