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Podcasts
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| 1. |
Interview with Seminole healer Susie Billie
(48:16, 88.3 MB; S1640; Tape 1)
Recorded on January 18, 1985 by the Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program.
Transcript of the introduction:
Welcome back to the Florida Folklife Collection Podcast Series from the State Library and Archives of Florida.
This month’s podcast is being released in conjunction with the State Library and Archives’ new online exhibit, Pestilence, Potions, and Persistence: Early Florida Medicine. The materials in the exhibit originate from various collections in the holdings of the State Library and Archives of Florida that highlight the role of health and wellness in the lives of Florida’s citizens and the development of the state. The exhibit follows the gradual evolution of medical practice and health care infrastructure in Florida with documents, correspondence, and photographs dating back to the territorial period. Digitized images from the Florida Photographic Collection provide a view of early health care facilities and doctors, pioneering African-American physicians and women caregivers, as well as Native American healers. An extensive essay chronicles the many challenges facing Florida’s transition from a disease prone wilderness swampland to the tourism and recreation paradise we know today. In whole, Pestilence, Potions, and Persistence: Early Florida Medicine paints a sweeping picture of the changing face of medicine in the nation’s first state to experience settlement by foreign explorers.
Our podcast features a component of Florida medicine that existed long before those European adventurers ever reached the coastlines of the state. In this oral history interview, recorded on January 18, 1985, Seminole Indian tribal healer Susie Billie of the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation discusses how she learned healing practices from her mother and father as a child, including herb gathering and identification, preparing natural cures, gender roles in Seminole medicine, physical and spiritual healing, payment methods for administering services, and the use of medicine songs. It is a truly rare and fascinating opportunity to listen to the experiences and methods of a Seminole healer firsthand. Enjoy. |
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| 2. |
Conjunto Aventura
Recorded on May 27, 2006 by the Florida Folklife Program at the 2006 Florida Folk Festival in White Springs, Florida.
(69:00, 63.1 MB; CD06-090 & CD06-091)
Transcript of the introduction:
Welcome back to the Florida Folklife Collection Podcast Series from the State Library and Archives of Florida.
In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, we would like to spotlight a Mexican musical tradition that occurs throughout the state nearly every weekend of the year, yet escapes the notice of most Floridians. In Latin grocery stores and Mexican restaurants, at flea markets, produce stands, and laundromats, at day labor centers and public parks, small colorful fliers pepper bulletin boards promoting weekend entertainment featuring Mexican Norteño bands, traditional foods, music, dancing, and a sense of community for migrant workers and naturalized citizens far from their homes and families.
Norteño, sometimes also called Norteña or Conjunto, literally translates to the word “northern,” referring to the region of northern Mexico and present day southern Texas where the musical style originated. While the genre had its beginnings in rural areas and still exhibits agrarian lyrical imagery, its popularity has spread with migration to urban centers where some AM stations focus solely on music targeted to the Hispanic community. Norteño is specifically intended for dancing, primarily driven by the accordion, bajo sexto, drums, and occasionally a single saxophone, and differs greatly from the brass heavy ensembles of Mariachi. Norteño was born from a combination of German, Czech, and Mexican instrumentation and rhythms, and is typically performed through polkas, corridos, rancheras, and cumbias.
This podcast features Conjunto Aventura, a Norteño ensemble from south Florida, performing at the 2006 Florida Folk Festival. Their exuberant performance well demonstrates exactly why this music remains a popular genre among Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. Enjoy.
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| 3. |
Ida Goodson
Recorded in December of 1981 in Pensacola as part of the Ida Goodson Recording Project.
(55:00, 75.6 MB; T83-143, T83-144, T83-145, T83-148, T83-149)
Transcript of the introduction:
Jazz pianist Ida Goodson was born into a musically gifted family near Pensacola, Florida, in 1909. She was the youngest of seven girls raised by strict Southern Baptist parents who prohibited the playing of secular music in the home. Despite that, both she and her sister, Wilhelmina Goodson, learned to play the piano and developed a love for barrelhouse blues and jazz. Wilhelmina later became known as Billie Pierce, wife of jazz trumpeter Dee Dee Pierce, who was an original member of New Orleans’ famed Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
Goodson performed throughout the South but maintained a home base in Pensacola, where she often accompanied tours with national stars such as Bessie Smith. She was adept at several different styles of music, including gospel, jazz, blues, vaudeville, and popular songs. In 1979, she was rediscovered by field researchers working for the Florida Folklife Commission, who included several of her compositions on the widely acclaimed Drop on Down in Florida double album.
Goodson became a mainstay at the Florida Folk Festival and was awarded the prestigious Florida Folk Heritage Award in 1987. In 1989, she appeared in the documentary film Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues, and at age 80 she stole the show from the younger, more widely known musicians.
This month’s podcast helps to illustrate how she did it. This feature was compiled from several recording sessions with Goodson conducted in December of 1981. Her unique revisions of traditional gospel pieces go hand in hand with solo piano blues and jazz standards featuring a full ensemble of accompanying musicians.
We think you’ll agree that Ida knew a thing or two about the blues. Enjoy. |
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| 4. |
Sonia Malkine
(1:04, 58.8MB)
Transcript of the introduction:
Welcome back to the Florida Folklife Collection Podcast Series from the State Library and Archives of Florida.
French folk singer Sonia Malkine possessed a delicate and captivating vocal approach, which she combined with a varied repertoire of music. The songs included ancient Celtic ballads, lullabies, popular music, hymns, sailors’ songs, and French folk pieces—some centuries old, passed to her by her mother in the oral tradition when Sonia was a child.
When listening to Sonia sing, it’s surprising to learn that her gift nearly escaped undiscovered. She viewed singing much the same way her mother did—an everyday pleasure that could accompany and embellish any activity. While at a party in 1958, a friend casually asked her to sing something in French. When she had finished, she was embarrassed to realize that the clamor of the party had fallen into a hushed silence to listen. When she was asked where she sang, her answer was, “In the kitchen, doing dishes…. for my children.” Almost immediately, her audience changed radically.
The following day she recorded 17 songs that eventually comprised an album for Smithsonian Folkways; she would go on to release three albums for the label. Soon she was playing coffee houses and folk festivals around the country. She appeared on Pete Seeger’s television program, shared the stage with Jacque Brel, and delighted the audience at Carnegie Hall.
Cousin Thelma Boltin, the long-time director of the Florida Folk Festival, heard Sonia in a Minneapolis coffee house in the mid-1960s and invited her to become a part of Florida’s annual folk festival in White Springs. Sonia accepted and became an instant festival favorite, participating from the late 1960s until the mid-1970s.
The following podcast was assembled using segments from Sonia Malkine’s performances in White Springs spanning the years 1969-1975. Due to festival scheduling in those days, each artist was allotted only a brief time on stage. To better showcase Sonia’s talent we have stitched several of these sets together to create a longer concert more suited for presenting as a podcast. We think the results display the vast repertoire Sonia shared and the unique voice that brought it to life. Thanks for listening.
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| 5. |
Cowboy Jim Bob Tinsley
Recorded March 9, 1984 by Folklorist Nancy Nusz at the Ocala Public Library as part of the Library Folklife Program.
(42:51:00; 32.9MB; C84-10 & C84-11)
Transcript of the introduction:
Welcome back to the Florida Folklife Collection Podcast series from the State Library and Archives of Florida.
Cattle ranching has a nearly 500-year-old tradition in the state of Florida dating back to 1521 when Spanish explorer Juan Ponce De Leon first introduced cattle to North America. That tradition is highlighted in a new exhibit at the Museum of Florida History titled Florida Cattle Ranching: Five Centuries of Tradition and in a new photo exhibit found in the Florida Photographic Collection pages here on the Florida Memory Web site. Where you’ll find cowboys working cattle you’ll also hear cowboy songs. Few individuals knew cowboy ballads and western music as well Cowboy Jim Bob Tinsley, the subject of this month’s podcast.
Jim Bob Tinsley a resident of Ocala, Florida, was originally of North Carolina, where he was born August 12, 1921. During his life he shared his knowledge of cowboy songs in a variety of occupations. He was a working cowboy in Florida and Arizona, an aerial photographer in the Navy during World War II, an educator and storyteller, and a radio host and performer. Tinsley shared the stage with the likes of Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, and Roy Rogers. He was an actor and writer, whose scholarly books He Was Singin’ This Song and For a Cowboy Has to Sing, both published by the University of Central Florida Press, remain important pieces of literature on cowboy and western music. He was a recipient of the Western Heritage Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, the National Radio Heritage Association’s Pioneer Award, a Will Rogers Lifetime Achievement Award, and was inducted into Western Music Association Hall of Fame in 1999.
This month’s podcast features Jim Bob Tinsley performing before a small rapt audience at the Ocala Public Library in March of 1984. He discusses the purpose of cowboy songs, the history of the pieces he performs, the meaning of various cowboy terminologies, and stories from his career in music. Let’s saddle up for a short ride through the history of cowboy songs with Jim Bob Tinsley.
Thanks for listening. |
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| 6. |
Vassar Clements and Friends
Recorded on May 30, 2004 by the Florida Folklife Program at the 2004 Florida Folk Festival in White Springs, Florida
(1:11:45; 160MB; CD04-24)
Transcript of the introduction:
Welcome back to the Florida Folklife Collection podcast series from the State Library and Archives of Florida.
Over the years The Florida Folk Festival has certainly drawn its share of nationally renowned talent. Frequently these artists have had some connection to the state of Florida, few however have received the sort of homecoming extended to Vassar Clements. In his early years Clements was tagged with the nickname “The Kissimmee Kid” after the town in which he was raised and first took up the fiddle at the age of seven. By his teens he had formed a string band with his cousins Red and Gerald, become a staple on local radio stations and at 14 had drawn the attention of Bill Monroe. Vassar spent seven years with Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys before leaving in 1957 to join Jim & Jesse McReynolds who were then based in Live Oak. Throughout his life Vassar pursued an interest in many forms of music eventually melding country and bluegrass with the jazz and swing sounds he heard on the radio forming his own unique style, Hillbilly Jazz. It was this diversity and musical curiosity that landed him a spot among other country and bluegrass legends on The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Will the Circle Be Unbroken album and exposed his talent to a wider and younger audience. Vassar was soon in demand as a studio musician, eventually appearing on over 2000 recordings from artists as wide ranging as Stephane Grappelli, The Monkees, and The Grateful Dead. From 1997 to 2004 Vassar returned to the Florida Folk Festival where he frequently appeared with a pick-up band consisting of other festival participants providing them with a rare and memorable opportunity to share the stage with one of the world’s most accomplished and versatile fiddle players.
The performance we’ve selected for this month’s podcast was recorded on May 30th at the 2004 Florida Folk Festival. It was Vassar’s last appearance at the festival; he passed away the following year at age 77. Let’s join the Father of Hillbilly Jazz accompanied here by Wayne Martin, Josh Pinkham, Alan Dalton, Carroll Clements and Jane Royal. Thanks again for listening.
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| 7. |
Florida Blues
Welcome back to the Florida Folklife Collection Podcast Series from the State Library and Archives of Florida. This month we want to highlight one of this country’s defining musical institutions: The Blues. Each of our neighboring southern states has placed a unique brand on the music’s form and sound—including Florida. This month’s podcast aims to prove it by joining forces with Florida’s Got the Blues, a new exhibit presented by the Museum of Florida History.
“Florida’s Got the Blues,” open through March 1st 2009, features rare 78rpm recordings by “The King of Ragtime Blues Guitar,” Jacksonville’s own Blind Blake. There are historically significant instruments including a National steel-bodied guitar owned by Tampa Red, the undisputed king-pin of Lester Melrose’s Chicago-based Bluebird Record label. Stage attire owned by the likes of Bo Diddley of Gainesville, “Diamond Teeth” Mary McLain of Tampa, and Ray Charles of Greenville, Florida, as well as stunning photographs, ephemera, artifacts, interactive exhibits and moving images give museum patrons a deeper understanding of the history of Blues music—and Florida’s contribution in shaping the genre.
This podcast expands on some of the exhibit’s lesser known Florida blues musicians by presenting recordings captured live from the Florida Folk Festival stage alongside more intimate performances documented by Florida folklorists working in the field. Everything from “Diamond Teeth” Mary and Willie Green’s bawdy blues, to Roy Bookbinder’s finger-style rags, Johnny Brown’s slide, Emmett Murray’s electric guitar, and Moses Williams’ diddley bow. Performers Ida Goodson, Ella Mae Wilson and Richard Williams, Charles Atkins, and Robert Dennis—it is all here.
For more information on Florida’s Got the Blues and museum hours of operation, contact the Museum of Florida History at 850-245-6400. To conduct research on, or obtain copies of recordings from, the Florida Folklife Collection, contact the State Archives of Florida by using the “contact us” link at the top of any page on the Florida Memory Web site or by dialing 850-245-6700. In the meantime it’s our genuine pleasure to give you a real case of the blues! Thanks for listening. |
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| 8. |
Troubadours
Recorded on
May 24, 2003
by the Florida Folklife Program at the 2003 Florida Folk Festival in White Springs, Florida
(1:20;
93MB;
CD03-14 &
CD03-15)
Transcript of the introduction:
Since the very early days of the Florida Folk Festival the marble stage in White Springs has been a showcase for Florida musicians and Florida songs.
It could be a time worn standard such as Stephen Foster’s "Old Folks at Home" that pays homage to the Suwannee River meandering by the festival site or "Osceola’s Last Words," "Wild Hog," "Hold Back the Waters," or any of a thousand by the Black Hat Troubadour, Will McLean. Maybe it’s Gamble Rogers regaling us with a tale about Still Bill or Oklawaha Laissez-Faire. Perhaps Don Grooms protesting the Orange Blossom Special’s new route around Waldo or Dale Crider spinning an ecological warning wrapped in music. These songs have emanated from the stage at White Springs. They’ve been taken up, reshaped and passed on. They’ve informed and they’ve inspired others to carry on the tradition of Florida songwriting. We’ve presented many of these songs in the Florida Folklife Collection Podcast series.
Rarely have we been given the opportunity to feature a handful of these homegrown musicians in a single presentation. Thanks to the Florida Troubadours showcase from the 2003 Florida Folk Festival, this month’s podcast features music from a number of Florida songwriters - Jeanie Fitchen, Frank Thomas, Bobby Hicks - and other Florida folk singing the folk songs of Florida. So let’s make ourselves comfortable and hand the mic over to Jeanie Fitchen and some of Florida’s finest. Enjoy! |
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| 9. |
Doc Watson & Jack Lawrence
Recorded on May 25, 1996 by the Florida Folklife Program at the 1996 Florida Folk Festival in White Springs, Florida
(1:12:54; 68MB; D96-33)
Transcript of the introduction:
Since the early 1960’s Arthel “Doc” Watson of Deep Gap, North Carolina has been a staple at Folk Festivals where his articulate guitar picking, rich baritone voice, craft at storytelling, country humor and humble demeanor has made him a favorite with music audiences from around the world including those of the Florida Folk Festival.
Doc began playing music on a homemade banjo before taking up the guitar in his teens, demonstrating a natural talent for both instruments. In 1960 he was discovered by musicologist Ralph Rinzler during a Folkways recording session for the album Old Time Music at Clarence Ashley’s. An invitation to play The Newport Folk Festival quickly followed, shortly thereafter he became a regular performer at coffee houses, clubs and college campuses where he was well known by folk music fans.
Never one to limit himself to a single genre, Doc Watson has played folk, country, old time, bluegrass, blues, gospel, rockabilly, hillbilly jazz and swing over nearly seven decades. He has released nearly a hundred albums under his own name and made guest appearances on as many others including the 1972 triple album Will the Circle be Unbroken by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band where he appeared with country legends Roy Acuff, Mother Maybelle Carter, Earl Scruggs, Merle Travis and Florida’s own Vassar Clements. His musical talent has earned him six Grammy Awards, induction to The Bluegrass Hall of Fame, the Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, and the National Medal of the Arts presented by President Bill Clinton.
This May 25th, 1996 Florida Folk Festival recording features Doc with his long time playing partner Jack Lawrence before an enthusiastic White Springs crowd. Doc & Jack also appear on our fourth Florida Folklife Music collection cd titled” Look A-Yonder Comin”. You can find additional information on this disc and request your own complimentary copy on the audio page featuring this podcast.
Well there’s nothing left to say that the music can’t say better. Prepare yourself for some quality flat picking courtesy of an American treasure, Doc Watson. |
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| 10. |
Interview with Seminole alligator wrestler, Richard Bowers
Recorded on May 4, 1983 by folklorist Doris Dyen in Hollywood, Florida
(0:56:15; 42MB; C83-109 and C83-110)
Transcript of the introduction:
Welcome back to the Florida Folklife Collection podcast series from the State Library and Archives of Florida. As summer fast approaches, and many families prepare to make their way South to vacation in Florida, chances are good that many vacationers hope to see a real live Florida alligator, either in the wild or – more likely -- at one the numerous roadside attractions found throughout the state. Therefore for this installment of the podcast series, we decided to feature this interview with Seminole alligator wrestler Richard Bowers, one among the thousands of oral histories found within the vast Florida Folklife Collection.
Recorded onto audio cassette on May 4, 1983, we hear folklorist Doris Dyen speaking to the twenty-eight year old Bowers at the Native Village, located in the Hollywood Seminole Indian Reservation in Broward County. In the interview, Bowers discusses the craft of alligator wrestling, its 20th Century origins, and the historic relationship between the Seminole peoples and the infamous Florida alligator. For more information on Bowers, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and the Florida alligator, please visit the Florida Memory web page.
But for now, let’s gas up the family station wagon, load up the kids, and let’s take an audio vacation to sunny Florida, the land of ‘gators and the Seminoles…
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| 11. |
Frank and Ann Thomas and Don Grooms
Recorded on May 28, 1995 by the Florida Folklife Program at the 1995 Florida Folk Festival in White Springs, Florida
(1:34:24; 88MB; D95-36)
Transcript of the introduction:
Welcome back to the Florida Folklife Collection podcast series from the State Library and Archives of Florida.
Over the years several Florida artists have enjoyed a sort of de facto master of ceremonies status on the Florida Folk Festival stage. Any of the following names would be quite familiar to any regular attendee of the festival, Cousin Thelma Boltin, Will McLean, Gamble Rogers, Don Grooms, and Dale Crider to mention but a few. Those names and many others resonate throughout the Florida Folklife Collection to such a degree that the songs and stories they have shared nearly comprise an unofficial biography of the performers and the festival itself. Many visitors to White Springs have enthusiastically enjoyed their role in the festivities as well.
In working to digitize and preserve the folk festival recordings I have often been impressed with the easy and comfortable rapport these artists have with their White Springs audience. It is little wonder then that so many of those audience members contact the State Archives for copies of folk festival performances. In some cases these patron requests contribute to the discovery of great moments from the festival stage. Such is the case with our newest podcast featuring Frank and Ann Thomas and a rollicking set from Don Grooms and friends recorded in 1995. Requesting CDs of folklife materials is very easy and we encourage you to contact us for more information or you may utilize the folklife database link on the left side of this screen to search for folk festival reels and access mp3 files that are available for all festival performances up to the 1980 Folk Festival. Additional mp3s will be added as digitization continues. But that’s enough talk for now, we have good music on the way from the Thomas’ and Don Grooms and thanks very much for listening. |
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| 12. |
Florida Mexican American Music
Survey Sampler
(60:00:15; 68.9 MB; S
2029)
The Mexican American Music Survey was undertaken by the Florida Folklife
Program to document the musical
traditions of Florida’s various Mexican-American communities: Apopka,
South Dade County, Immokalee, the St. Johns River Basin, and Central
Florida. Funded by a grant from the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest
Community Folklife Program, the survey was conducted between 1994 and
1996 by folklorist Robert Stone. Among the musical traditions were serenatas,
conjunto, Quinceañara ritual music, ranchera, Michoacana, mariachi,
norteno, Tejano, and pop music. At the end of the project, a sampler
music tape
was created by the Florida Folklife Program for distribution to various
libraries.
Transcript
of the introduction:
In recognition of Hispanic Heritage
Month, this installment features the recorded product of the Florida
Mexican American
Music Survey, a field recording project conducted by the Florida Division
of Historical Resources from 1994 to 1996. The project sought to illustrate
how music provides Florida’s Mexican population with a living
bridge to their cultural history and identity.
The resulting sampler tape, featured in this podcast, offered a wide
variety of traditional and popular Mexican music all recorded in Florida.
It balanced older and contemporary styles with venerable and unusual
traditions such as Mother’s Day Serenatas, regional music, and
then contemporary Banda & La Macarena style. It also included recordings
of community ritual celebrations such as the Quinceañera, from
the Apopka and Homestead area. These field recordings provide the unfamiliar
listener
with a unique opportunity to appreciate some of the ways which Mexicans
Americans entwine their musical traditions with their celebrations and
daily life here in Florida thus enriching and expanding the musical environment
of our state.
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13. |
Bluegrass
Duo Jim and Jesse with the Virginia Boys
Recorded on May 23, 1998 by the Florida Folklife Program at the
1998 Florida Folk Festival in White Springs, Florida
(0:44:54; 31MB; S 1576; tapes C98-107
- C98-108)
Transcript
of the introduction: When people think of bluegrass, they
may picture the backwoods of the Appalachian Mountains or perhaps Virginia,
Kentucky or The Carolinas. Few realize that the Sunshine state played
a
role in the development of bluegrass as well. From Chubby Wise to Vassar
Clements to the Orange Blossom Special, Florida has enjoyed top billing
in bluegrass music. In this month’s podcast we feature a live performance
by bluegrass pioneers with their own Florida connection.
When Jim and Jesse McReynolds played the 1998 Florida Folk Festival,
it was something of a homecoming. Jim and Jesse were brothers from Virginia
who began performing in 1945 with their band, the Virginia Boys, which
included for a while Florida’s famed fiddler Vassar Clements. In
the late 1950s, the popular duo starred on the Suwannee River Jamboree,
a weekly
country music program broadcast from Live Oak on WNER. They left the
Jamboree to join the ranks of the Grand Ole Opry where they entertained
audiences
for three decades.
This podcast features a cassette recording of the duo playing the Florida
Folk Festival’s Old Marble Stage on May 28, 1998. By this time,
Jim and Jesse had been playing music for over fifty years, but as this
intimate
recording makes clear, they retained every bit of their energy and enthusiasm.
So kick back and enjoy a Florida bluegrass homecoming with Jim and Jesse
and the Virginia Boys.
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14. |
Recordings
of the Stephen Foster Memorial Center Fourth of July Celebration
Recorded on July 4, 1964 by Foster Barnes at the Stephen
Foster Center in White Springs, Florida.
(1:17:31; 70MB; S.
2043)
Welcome back to the Florida Folklife Collection podcast series from
the State Library and Archives of Florida.
For several decades the Stephen Foster Memorial in White Springs offered
an Independence Day Festival that featured live music, dances, games,
and food. The festivities took on added significance for the memorial
as it was also the birthday of songwriter Stephen Foster, the author
Florida’s state song, “Old Folks at Home.”
While few recordings of these early celebrations survive, the State
Archives of Florida is thrilled to present for your enjoyment the following
4th of July program from 1964. Running a little over an hour, it was
captured on reel to reel tape by memorial curator Foster Barnes.
The program offers listeners unique insight into the nature of patriotism
in mid-20th century America as well as providing some good, old-fashioned
singing and storytelling, free watermelon, home-style fixins and a mess
of wholesome fun. Draw yourself a cold glass of sweet tea, and celebrate
an old-time Independence Day with Cousin Thelma Boltin and friends way
down in White Springs. |
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15. |
Recordings of the 1954 Florida Folk
Festival
Recorded on May 6, 1954 by Foster Barnes
at the Stephen Foster Center in White
Springes, Florida.
(1:05:56; 60MB; S 1576; reel
T76-1)
Transcript
of the introduction:
Welcome back to the Florida Folklife
Collection podcast series from the State Library and Archives of Florida.
Today we feature the very first recording of the long-running Florida
Folk Festival. Recorded on reel to reel tape on Thursday, May 6, 1954,
it contains performances by local school children, representatives of
the Seminole Tribe of Florida, folk singers, and opening remarks by festival
director and renowned folk culture magnate, Sarah Gertrude Knott.
The Florida Folk Festival, which was first presented in 1953 as a four-day
concert located at the Stephen Foster Memorial in White Springs, has
since grown into one of the nation's oldest annual folk festivals, now
covering several stages and featuring hundreds of performers and artists.
This earliest recording captures the simple origins of the folk festival
and reveals the festival organizers 1950s viewpoint of folklife and what
was then considered important for preservation for future generations.
Fortunately, these performances were preserved, thanks in large part
to one man, memorial curator Foster Barnes. After the success of the
first festival, Barnes decided to record the event. Each year he became
a regular sight at the Festival, as he sat stage side with his recorder,
smoking his pipe and taking notes. Following his retirement in 1965,
other memorial staff maintained the practice. In 1979, when the Florida
Folklife Program assumed control of the festival, they too recorded the
performances, followed in 2003 by the Florida Park Service.
Today, nearly 3500 of these festival recordings reside at the State
Archives of Florida as part of the Florida Folklife Collection where
they can still be heard and enjoyed.
Now let’s go way down upon the S’wannee River and enjoy the sounds of
1954… |
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16. |
James
Kelly, Irish
Fiddler
Recorded May 22, 1992 by the Florida Folklife Program at the
1992 Florida Folk Festival in White Springs, Florida
(0:31:48; 20MB; S 1576; reel T92-66 & T92-67)
Transcript
of the introduction:
Welcome back to the Florida Folklife Collection podcast series from the State
Library and Archives of Florida.
Since the early days of European settlement in America,
Irish ballads and rhythms have influenced and informed American song.
In this podcast we feature Irish fiddler James Kelly originally of Dublin,
Ireland and widely recognized as one of Ireland's leading traditional
fiddle players. He is a recipient of the "Florida Folk Heritage
Award" as well as the "Florida Individual Artist Fellowship
in Folk Arts Award." In addition, James Kelly has shared his remarkable
talent with Floridians while serving as a master artist in the Florida
Folklife Apprenticeship Program. This performance was taken from
the Old
Marble Stage
of the 1992 Florida Folk Festival. He is accompanied by George Phillips
on guitar.
Please visit us again soon for more music from the Florida Folklife
Collection. And now James Kelly and George Phillips. Enjoy.
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17. |
Bethlehem
Primitive Baptist Church Sacred Harp Singers
(S1576; Reels T83-75
and T83-76)
Transcript
of the introduction:
Welcome back to the Florida Folklife Collection
podcast series from the State Library and Archives of Florida.
In this podcast,
we present the second installment in our two-part series dedicated
to sacred harp singing.
This segment features the Bethlehem
Primitive Baptist Church Sacred Harp Singers of Old Chicora Florida
recorded by folklorist Dwight DeVane
in 1980. Please return next month for more music from the Folklife collection.
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Part
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Part
2 - MP3 |
18. |
Florida-Alabama
Progressive Seven Shape-Note Singing Convention
(S 1576 tapes T81-21,
T81-22, T83-82, T83-83, T83-84, T83-85)
Transcript
of the introduction:
Welcome to the Florida Folklife Collection podcast series from the State
Library and Archives of Florida.
America's sacred music has long provided a richly diverse field of study
for folklorists. From rustic church hymns, or impassioned gospel to popular
songs of faith and praise, sacred music has provided an immense body
of song. In this podcast, we present the first of a two-part series on
one of those sacred traditions: sacred harp singing.
This a capella singing tradition takes its name from the 1844 hymn book,
The Sacred Harp and represents the largest surviving branch of traditional
American Shape Note Singing. This style of church music utilized four
syllables (fa-sol-la-mi) which were represented by four shapes in later
hymnals; the triangle, circle, square and diamond. These shaped notes
allowed untrained or illiterate church members to participate in the worship
service. Frequently the assembled singers would sing the notes first and
then follow with the words as you will hear them do in this podcast. In
Sacred Harp singing members sit facing inward in a hollow square. The
leader will select the tune and beat time with their hand while standing
in the center of the square. Any participant is welcome to lead if they
so chose. The tradition proved popular with both Anglo and African American
churches, especially in rural areas where it is still practiced.
This month, we feature the Florida-Alabama Progressive Seven Shape-Note
Singing Convention held in Crestview, Florida and recorded by folklorists
Dwight DeVane and Doris Dyen in 1980. Please return next month as we
present more sacred harp music.
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Part
1 - MP3
Part
2 - MP3
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19. |
Suwannee
River Jamboree Radio Program
Recorded during a rebroadcast of the Suwannee River Jamboree radio show
(c. 1958-1962) in 1985.
(0:28:08; 32MB; S 1576; tape T85-66)
Transcript
of the introduction:
Welcome to the Florida Folklife Collection podcast series from
the State Library and Archives of Florida.
In this feature we'll take a nostalgic look at old time Florida radio
with an original broadcast of the Suwannee River Jamboree preview.
The Suwannee River Jamboree was broadcast from WNER out of Live Oak, Florida.
The program ran from 1952 to 1962 and was billed as the deep south country
music show from the heart of the Suwannee River Country.
This broadcast, believed to be from 1958, was created from a tape reel
transfer of one of the original transcription discs from the radio program.
So, let's sit back and adjust our dial for 1958 and the Suwannee River
Jamboree preview, the show's about to start.
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20. |
Stephen
Foster Memorial Radio Program: Holiday Music
These radio programs were created in the early 1960s by the Stephen Foster
Memorial to promote the park and its activities, as well as to educate
the public about Stephen Foster and Florida folk music.
(0:20:36; 24MB; S 2042; tape 63-4-13)
Transcript
of the introduction:
Welcome to the Florida Folklife Collection podcast series from
the State Library and Archives of Florida.
In this celebration of the Holiday Season we're joined by the staff of
the Stephen Foster Memorial Center of White Springs, Florida. The radio
program that we're about to enjoy was created by The Stephen Foster Memorial
Center in 1963 and broadcast by radio stations in Central Florida.
It features the Starrett Family of Gainesville, Minstrel Mark Moore and
the tubular bells of the carillon tower at the Stephen Foster Memorial.
Now, let's tune our dial back to 1963, Happy Holidays and enjoy.
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MP3 |
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21. |
Gamble
Rogers
Gamble Rogers performing at the 1978 Florida Folk Festival in White Springs,
Florida.
(0:53:55; 63MB; S1576; tape T80-15
& T80-16)
Transcript
of the introduction:
Hello and welcome to the State Library and Archives of Florida.
This is the inaugural MP3 podcast from the Florida Folklife Collection.
My name is Jamie Madden. I'm the audio archivist here at the Archives
responsible for the digitization and preservation of the audio materials
in this collection.
During the processing of the Florida Folklife recordings, we've discovered
several exciting performances. Some of them have been included on two
promotional compact discs we've released entitled Music from the Florida
Folklife Collection and More Music from the Florida Folklife Collection.
These audio selections are also available here on our site. Hopefully,
some of you have had a chance to listen to and enjoy those recordings.
We felt that podcasting provided yet another excellent means for sharing
some of these discoveries with researchers and music lovers.
In our first installment, we'd like to feature a performance by a revered
figure of the Florida folk community, Gamble Rogers, a raconteur and musician
who is remembered as much for his character and warmth of spirit as he
is for his music.
This performance is from May 27, 1978. It was recorded at the 1978 Florida
Folk Festival. Let's hand the microphone over to Cousin Thelma Boltin
and Gamble Rogers. Enjoy.
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