"Songs To Keep: Treasures Of An Adirondack Folk Collector" On PBS

[Chris 2,162]

Originally released in 2013, we only learned about this documentary when it popped up on the local PBS affiliate.

Quote

Marjorie Lansing Porter (1891-1973) dedicated her life to preserving the rare folk songs of the Adirondacks. Throughout the 1940s and '50s, Porter traveled throughout New York State, interviewing and recording traditional musicians and singers in the hopes of creating a comprehensive collection of previously unpublished folk songs, transcripts and other writings before the last living tradition bearers died. The Marjorie L. Porter Collection of North Country Folklore consists of more than 300 traditional ballads, songs from lumber camps and iron mines, Irish and French-Canadian songs, and Iroquois chants.

Of course if you know me, you know the Adirondacks are special to me. But I think anyone interested in history and/or remotely interested in music will enjoy this. 

What's amazing is the work done by a single mother, working two jobs and raising kids on her own in a time when that alone was difficult enough. But she somehow made time to travel the region and capture these local folk songs just in the nick of time before they disappeared. 

I was disappointed to find that there's no cd available to purchase, or I would have ordered it before the show was over. 

[Hal 341]

Ya know , these songs and “ old time mountain music “ have so much in common in telling stories about everyday living and working . Since i have been playing Clawhammer banjo i have learned how relaxing the old time music can be to play . Call it “hillbilly” or whatever but sometimes its easy to listen to and some can be very melodic. A favorite that i play is Over the Waterfall , no lyrics , not complex just … nice . Simple yet kind of sad , Hobos Lullaby a Woody Guthry tune is another favorite. 
Yes , too bad there isn’t a CD of this but two sites i follow or Youtube are full of Adirondack and Appalachian music .  

[Chris 2,162]

I think what makes this special is the songs would likely have been lost forever if not for that one woman. Including never showing up in those sites you follow.

Just an amazing story.

[Hal 341]

10 hours ago, Chris said:

I think what makes this special is the songs would likely have been lost forever if not for that one woman. Including never showing up in those sites you follow.

Just an amazing story.

I may have gone off context there , apologies. You’re right of course . The fact this Woman collected the old songs so they would not be lost to time is an amazing accomplishment . I probably should have stuck to that fact instead of talking about the music itself . 
Maybe sometime in the future a CD may show up , something like the one from the Smithsonian that you gifted me some time ago .  

Edited April 2 by Hal

[Chris 2,162]

22 minutes ago, Hal said:

I may have gone off context there , apologies.

Not at all. It illustrates perfectly how important Porter's work was.

[Ars76 69]

Made me think of "old" songs I learned as a kid - I don't even know the names of some of them. 

*Take Me Out to the Ballgame 

*Daisy, Daisy, give me you answer true... I'm half crazy over my love for you... (I don't know the name) 

*Little Red Caboose (chug,  chug,  chug) (name?)

Ok... not as old as these Adirondack songs,  I know