Roger McGuinn - Treasures From The Folk Den (2001)

Roger McGuinn is in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Byrds, one of the most famous and influential American bands of all time, so it isn't necessary to plow into his long musical history here. His legacy is why people will explore Treasures From the Folk Den, a traditional folk song CD that perfectly explores his pre-Byrds folk roots. Treasures is an all-star CD that sprang from a feature McGuinn ran on his official website in which he recorded an old traditional folk song each month, and posted it on the site, along with a complete history of the song and how each one came into his life.

To make this CD McGuinn traveled around the country to sing and record with the world's most famous folk artists in their homes. He sings with Joan Baez and Eliza Carthy on "Wagoner's Lad," he duets with Judy Collins on "John Riley," and on "Alabama Bound" he harmonizes with Pete Seeger. "John The Revelator" features Jean Ritchie and Odetta. Tommy Makem, Frank and Mary Hamilton, and Josh White Jr. are also featured on this 18-track disc. McGuinn plays his wonderful 12-string on "Dink's Song" while singing with both Seeger and White.

The excellently detailed booklet that comes with the CD gives the listener exactly what the website offered, complete lyrics and a story about each song. Everything is well sung, well played, and is truly a labor of McGuinn's love.

There is not a trace of rock 'n' roll, electric instruments, drums, or modern music anywhere. While I have never been an aficionado of traditional folk music, and I never will be, I have no problem loading Treasures from the Folk Den in my CD player because of the outstanding performances.

Comments

  1. Anonymous4:59 PM, September 27, 2006

    Hi Charlie,

    Thanks for visiting the site. Everytime I read your blog you manage to make me interested in music I didn't know about. Thanks for that.

    Keep in touch,
    Viktor

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous9:24 AM, September 12, 2008

    I just love Roger McGuinn's - Treasures From The Folk Den. I do play it often. I download music a lot and this is one of my favorite
    Harry

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

ALL-TIME POPULAR POSTS

Slower Than Slow: 16 RPM Records

Image
Have you ever heard of a long forgotten vinyl format, the 16 2/3 RPM record? They were half the speed of the 33 1/3 RPM albums that were the traditional standard for recorded music. Most record players in the 1950s and 1960s came with a speed setting to play these long forgotten discs that were considered novelties even during the years they were available. Because most, but not all, 16s had big holes and were 7" in diameter many of them were mistaken for 45 RPMs and at that size the speed allowed for up to 20 minutes of playing time per side. However, there was no true standard size and they were also manufactured to be 9, 10, or 12 inches in diameter, and these larger records played even longer. Just like the other speeds and formats 16s could be played one record at a time or stacked on a changer for continuous play. Radio stations often used the discs for pre-recorded radio shows containing interviews, dramas, and documentaries. More frequen...
Read more

Why Do 45 RPM Records Have Big Holes?

Image
Today we're going to find out why 45 RPM records have much larger holes than 78s and 33s. Believe it or not I often wondered about this burning question when I was collecting hundreds of these little seven inch gems back the 1960s. According to several websites, including Answerbag , the reason for the large hole used by 45s was simple. It was difficult for the old 78s, with their smaller holes, to find their way onto jukebox spindles. The large hole effectively eliminated that problem. Strangely, seven inch 45s were often pressed with the smaller holes used for LPs in many countries outside the United States, especially in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Overseas the inserts (commonly know as spiders) were manufactured into the large holes at the factories but they could be punched out if desired. The Beatles' British single of "Love Me Do," pictured here, is a typical example. Why were the spiders built into English 45s? I was unable to fi...
Read more

10 Great Beatles Songs You May Have Never Heard

Image
I recently paid a visit to a blog that I read regularly published by my British cyber-buddy, Martin Warminger. At his site, Music Obsessive , he just listed what are, in his opinion, the worst Beatles songs of all time . It's an idea I wanted to steal, and I could come up with a short but bad list, but for the sake of originality I decided to do something completely different instead. So, here is a list of ten songs by my all-time favorite band that deserve a better place in the annals of Beatles history. Most of them are only known by their hardcore fans. Here they are in chronological order. You can listen to a few of the rarer ones below. 1. I'll Be On My Way The only known recorded version of this very early, 1963, Lennon-McCartney ditty appears on Live at The BBC . The Beatles never put it on vinyl. Yes, it's simplistic and the lyrics even have the audacity to rhyme the word "moon" with "June." However, the song has one of those undeni...
Read more