Sunday Singalong - Camp Songs

 

I've likely used this theme before . . . but there's a lot of material out there!

This weekend I have been attending camp. That is, virtually. Camp Harmony comes up a couple of times a year, hosted by SanFrancisco Folk Music Club. I have been attending online since they started with this platform. It brings me back to times at the camps I attended as a kid. Day camps, overnight camps, one a week long, another 2 weeks. Lots of good memories and a couple of not so good ones. Some of the same songs popped up in the experiences (mostly ones like "Kumbaya" and "Michael Row the Boat Ashore" - that boat has been rowed ashore in a lot of places and for decades!). But a lot of ones unique to the camp or hosting organization (“Great Big Brownie Smile” comes to mind).

So, what camp songs have been part of your past? I learned “Can’t Help but Wonder Where I’m Bound” at YWCA camp (with a bit of adjustment in the lyrics of one verse and omission of another entire verse -  but it was a girls' camp; the enjoyment was still there). It wasn’t until a couple of years later that I learned it was written by my now friend, Tom Paxton – who often would say, in his concerts, when he was about to sing it, “Please don’t say, 'I learned that in camp, Tom.'” I guess others had the same experience. So here’s my link to Tom singing it, with all verses and no censorship (honest, it was very minor – it’s apparently easy to sing “Sometimes when I’m feeling blue” instead of “Sometimes when I’ve had a few” – who’d a-thought? And there are those to whom both statements apply).

"Can't Help but Wonder Where I'm Bound" (as it is on his "Ramblin' Boy" album by Elektra, way back in the '60s, when I bought it).

Sunday Singalong - Who is in the Family Tree?

 

So this week (Thurs - Sat) was the RootsTech event in Salt Lake City, but also presented in an online format. The goal: learn more about finding ancestors. That seems to be a common theme in my life (and blog) so finding songs that connect to that is rather an easy task for me. Perhaps it is for you. Or, perhaps, you have some songs that are family favorites. I remember that when my father and I sat down to "jam," there were always particular songs that had to be played/sung - my mother was partial to 2 Tom Paxton songs: "Marvelous Toy" and "Ramblin' Boy" - every "performance" had to include those, while my brother's choice, and long-time family favorite, was, and is, "Ever'y Time I go Downtown, Somebody Kicks my Dog Around," so whenever I hear or play any of those, I'm taken back in time to music with the family). And those were good times.

There are also a number of pieces that I like because of the familial connection and one of those I particularly enjoy is John McCutcheon's "Water from Another Time":

Live performance (2019)

From record (CD) (1987) 

John's website (43 recordings + info on live concerts, in-person & virtual)

Your turn , , , songs about family? songs your family enjoys/enjoyed? (links OK, copying directly from a copyrighted source - e.g., website - not OK)

Sunday Singalong - Singalong All

 

I am writing this while enjoying the annual Roundup of Songmakers, a Southern California group of musicians (of all experience levels) who gather in homes or similar locations to make music together. It was begun back in the 1940s during the McCarthy era when many musicians in the recording and entertainment industries were blacklisted. This became a great organization for those wanting to try out their music but also to have some moral support from others in a similar situation. So, here we are, so many years later, still supporting each other and sharing music together.

Getting together has suffered during the pandemic, but has also been expanded, if that makes sense. No, we can’t all hear each other at the same time when we do our music, but we do get a chance to hear and, after a fashion, even sing along with people of all musical experience from all around the world. I miss getting together with folks in person (yes, many have returned to the in-person gatherings, keeping a certain level of distance between each other, but I tend to avoid most indoor gatherings).

Whether folks are joining together in song circles, hoots, informal & formal gatherings/concerts, campouts for music around the campfire, or just to listen and enjoy a variety of music, these experiences can be considered ways of keeping people connected. So, for today’s singalong, do you have a favorite singalong song? Whether it’s something like “We Shall Overcome,” or something less serious like “There’s a Hole in the Bucket,” these musical breaks in everyday life can help to make that life more enjoyable. And it’s OK to sing off key or forget the tune . . . just grab a song and join in!

My selection: Well, here I go, back to my friend Tom Paxton, who has written group songs for over 50 years, many that folks around the world sing together, and in a variety of languages. I think one of my most favorites, and still (and forever?) sending a worthwhile message (more today than ever?): "Peace Will Come." A song written in the early 1970s, also performed in the late 1980s, the mid-1990s, or the mid 2010s . . . the message is the same, but the environment keeps changing. Or does it?

Version with too many ads, poor sound quality, and no audience singing along, but still a good one. 

This recording is of a live performance . . . Listen all through to get the full feeling of group singing.

Another live recording, but harder to hear audience joining in.

Jean & Tom, Napa, CA, 2015: