DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS
My Fellow Americans, Life is actually just a microscopic, deluded moment in time, so let's cut to the freakin' chase. One look at our impending election debacle can solidify my case. It has been my contention since birth, that the answer to every difficulty we encounter on this sacred yet demented Stone, can be revealed with ultimate clarity through the ultra neurotic engagements of Music, Art, Literature, Film, Poetry and a good Pastrami sandwich. Why would any sane human spend so must time on a film set (Do you know how long you gotta wait until your 8 second deliverance of an edited beyond repair line gets a chance to become a professional embarrassment etched in time forever? ) or expend so much energy in a recording studio, piecing together another ode to a man or woman who could not care less how much love existed within your digestive tract? It's all about hymns and prayers and a quest for mercy and forgiveness and silence and faith. We were blessed with Charles Bukowski, Gene Chandler, Lenny Bruce, Mitch Ryder and a legion of creative explorers whose influences provided the air we breathe. So Let's Dance! This site shall explore the reaper, find a way to disarm the stench of injustice, discover some true loves and talk it all over before it's all over. So what's the worst that our desires could produce? Failure? So sue me. I'm going to require your assistance in making as much trouble for the grown-ups as possible. Let the record show that my childish heart yearns to disrupt the madness. Join me Ladies and Germs!
With Gratitude For Gena Rowlands, Nancy Sinatra, Jerry Quarry, Leo Gorcey, Arthur Alexander and Joey Heatherton, Your Splendid Bohemian, Rich Buckland.
DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS
BILL MESNIK'S SUNNY SIDE OF MY STREET PRESENTS: SOVAY by A.L. LLOYD (TOPIC, 1984) EPISODE #88
You remember that anachronistic Sea Chanty internet meme a couple of years ago? All over the world people were recording themselves singing “The Wellerman”, proving the endurance of the Anglo folk tradition. You can thank Bert Lloyd (1908-1982) in the UK, for being the folklorist and song collector who documented and compiled many of these ancient songs, and for keeping the folk flame alive in the age of modern recording.
He started collecting songs when he worked as a sheep herder in Australia, and his index expanded while working on whaling ships. In 1938 the BBC hired him to do a radio documentary about sea life, and thus began his career as a journalist, creating the singular vocation of “professional folklorist”.
Sovay (or, Sophie), the much covered tale about a lady highwayman who tests the fidelity of her lover, appears on Bert’s Topic Records collection “First Person: some of his favorite folk songs”, and that’s where I discovered it. I have an affinity for this niche of song collecting, developed years ago, while researching the archive of Sing Out magazine in the Smithsonian library. It’s been a gift that keeps on giving.
