On Saturday, October 23, from 2:30-5 pm, join us at “Singing Out for Justice,” a concert to celebrate the life Guy Carawan ‘49, the legendary singer, folklorist, and activist whose arrangement of “We Shall Overcome” became the anthem of the American civil rights movement. For over 50 years, Carawan has worked as the music director for the Highlander Center in Tennessee, a training center for grassroots activists, including Rev. Martin Luther King and Rosa Park.
Through his books, recordings, concerts, and work at Highlander (with his wife Candie), Carawan has been an important influence on movements for social justice. In 2003, Guy received an honorary degree from Oxy for his lifetime of commitment to social justice.
The concert will take place at the home and garden of Jan Goodman & Jerry Manpearl, 939 San Vicente Blvd., Santa Monica, CA (NW corner of Larkin). Tickets are $35. To purchase tickets, go to this website: www.highlandercenter.org
The concert will feature Guy and Candie Carawan, Len Chandler, Ross Altman, The Get Lit Players, Betty Mae Fikes of the Freedom Singers, Bernie Pearl, S. Pearl Sharp and special surprise guests.
Carawan is best-known for recovering the song "We Shall Overcome" (an adaptation of the black gospel song, "I'll Overcome Someday"), introducing it in 1960 to young civil rights activists who were preparing to launch demonstrations throughout the South, and helping spread the song that became the anthem of the civil rights movement. Believing that singing and music could be a unifying force, he taught the young activists many of the southern gospel and religious songs, changing a word here and there to adapt it to their cause. Guy and Candie also participated in the civil rights movement.
Since the 1960s, while based at Highlander, Carawan pursued a career as a folklorist, a teacher, and as a live performer at nightclubs, college campuses,and public rallies for social change. He and Candie have been avid collectors of freedom songs and prolific producers of books and recordings documenting the music of both the civil rights movement and of Appalachian culture.
Carawan plays guitar, banjo and hammer dulcimer. His records include "Tree of Life"; "Sing for Freedom"; "The Nashville Sit-in Story"; "We Shall Overcome: Southern Freedom Songs"; "Freedom in the Air: Albany, Georgia"; "The Story of Greenwood, Mississippi"; "Birmingham, Alabama, Mass Meeting"; "Been in the Storm So Long"; "Moving Star Hall Singers: Folk Festival on Johns Island"; "Come All You Coal Miners"; and "They'll Never Keep Us Down." He has also recorded a children's album, "My Rhinoceros & Other Friends," recently reissued on CD.
His books on the civil rights movement include Sing for Freedom: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement Through Its Songs; Freedom Is a Constant Struggle; and We Shall Overcome: Songs of the Southern Freedom Movement. Carawan's study of the culture and music of the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina were documented by a book, Ain't You Got a Right to the Tree of Life?: The People of Johns Island, South Carolina -- Their Faces, Their Words and Their Songs(University of Georgia Press, 1966, expanded edition, 1989), and an album of field recordings, "Been In the Storm So Long: A Collection of Spirituals, Folk Tales and Children's Games from John's Island, South Carolina." He also wroteVoices from the Mountains:: The history and life of Appalachia told through personal stories, songs and photographs(Alfred A. Knopf, 1975; University of Illinois Press, 1982).
In addition to his own recordings and folkloric collections, Carawan has recorded with his son, Evan, who plays hammered dulcimer. They recorded a duo album, "Appalachian Irish Tunes on Hammer Dulcimer", in 1988 and, joined by his wife Candie Carawan, a Carawan family album, "Home Brew", in 1991. He has also produced albums for other performers (including the Stanley Brothers), written songs recorded by other performers (including Peter, Paul and Mary), and played guitar on albums for other performers and producers (such as Alan Lomax).
Carawan started listening to folk music when he was 21 years old, inspired by artists such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Burl Ives. After graduating from Occidental in 1949 and getting his master's at UCLA, he traveled to New York, and stayed for the next few years with performers Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Eric Darling and Frank Hamilton. Carawan developed his knowledge of the folk music of the deep South by touring North Carolina and Tennessee in the company of Hamilton and Elliott. He first caught the attention of the British folk scene during his world tour in 1958. That same year, he recorded "America at Play" with Peggy Seeger, an album largely made up of songs collected by Alan and John Lomax and Cecil Sharp. Guy’s role in the civil rights movement and in the folk music revival of the 1960s is documented in many books and documentary films.
The October 23 concert is presented by Ash Grove Music and The Highlander Center, with the leadership and support of Highlander alum Rev. James M. Lawson, friend and co-worker of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and pastor emeritus of Holman Methodist Church. Please forward this invitation to others who will be inspired and entertained.
No comments:
Post a Comment