A Place in My Heart for Folk

I've been listening to a lot of folk music lately. Not folk-rock, but the early to mid 60s Village folk-revival stuff, like Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, Eric, Richard and Mimi Farina.

What inevitably happens when I get into these folkie moods, though, is that I go off on an early-Dylan tangent, and that's the end of everything. Because there's just no comparison and once I'm in a Dylan mood, there's no turning back.

I've made a conscious effort not to do that this week. I'm writing a profile on Tom Paxton, who's performing in my area with Judy Collins in November. I've always wanted to write something on Mr. Paxton, but the opportunity just never arose. Now it has. He's going to be performing at the Paramount Center in Peekskill, New York, and I wanted to preview the show. I like Judy Collins, sort of, but have never been a big fan. I decided to focus on Tom and let some people who might not otherwise listen to folk music know a little bit about him, his beautiful songs, and his importance to folk music.

To prep myself for the interview and to get a sense of his early music in context, I dug out some of my folk CDs. I remember Eric telling me years ago, in his very blunt way, that I should "study" Tom Paxton if I wanted to understand the early 60s folk scene. Knowing Eric, he was probably appalled that I'd never heard of Tom Paxton until DFA covered his songs. Tom discovered Eric, and Eric has always had an affection for him and a great respect for his music.

He brought two of Tom's songs--"Last Thing On My Mind" and "Bottle of Wine"--to the Trio, and those are two of my favorite Trio songs. Rarely have I heard anything as beautiful as Rick's harmonies on "Last Thing On My Mind"--but that's another tangent.

In the past two weeks or so, I've been listening to things like Phil Ochs' "There But For Fortune," Eric's "Thirsty Boots" and "Hey Babe," and even the real corny "follow-the-bouncing-ball" reveries like the New Christy Minstrels' "Green Green" and the Highwaymen's "Michael (Row the Boat Ashore)."

I can't take it too long, and there is a definite cringe factor for me with the folk vocal-group stuff of the late 50s/early 60s Kingston Trio, Brothers Four, Minstrels, Limeliters tunes. That's a genre in itself, and I have to keep telling myself that the Minstrels' spawned both Gene Clark and Barry McGuire--two of my very favorites.
But that's another tangent.

Listening to this kind of folk is not something I can do for long stretches. But it feels good when I do. It's refreshing--and cleansing. Like swishing with Listerine.