Posts Tagged ‘PBS’
I’ve said it many times, but I do so love the TiVo. It recorded a PBS American Masters show about the great Woody Guthrie. Here are a few interesting tid-bits from the program:
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PBS American Masters program, “Ain’t Got No Home,” about Woody Guthrie:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/woody-guthrie/aint-got-no-home/623/
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In “Ain’t Got No Home,” the American Masters program about Woody Guthrie, Bruce Springstein says of the song “This Land is Your Land,”
It’s such a profound idea and it’s so simply expressed. It’s his most important song, I think.
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In “Ain’t Got No Home,” the American Masters program about Woody Guthrie, one of the people interviewed speaks to the impact that Woody Guthrie had on American Culture and American Songscape:
Wood Guthrie was in some ways the classic American character. He was the eternal teenager – scrawny, petulant, hilarious, angry…FREE. He’s a good part of who we are. He’s a good part of why American Popular Music has become the most popular musical art form in the history of the world…
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Related Posts
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WOODY GUTHRIE
The Singable Picture Books of Woody Guthrie
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/the-singable-picture-books-of-woody-guthrie/
Bobby McFerrin in Singable Picture Books (Plus, the Music Instinct and Catching Songs)
Posted on: June 9, 2012
I was captivated by this documentary, drawn to it based on Bobby McFerrin’s central role.
Music is in our DNA.
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PBS Webpage for this documentary, with segments broken out into shorter videos:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/musicinstinct/
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In June 2011, Bobby McFerrin sat down for a terrific interview with Krista Tippett for the On Being NPR program. The episode is titled “Catching Song with Bobby McFerrin.” Click the link to download or stream the interview and to find lots of great info:
http://being.publicradio.org/programs/2011/catching-song/
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A video of the interview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWM6Qu-q-Xs
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Don’t Worry, Be Happy
Words and Music by Bobby McFerrin
Illustrated with Art by Alexander Calder
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DON’T WORRY BE HAPPY
(video featuring two of my other very favorite performers Robin Williams and Bill Irwin)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU
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HUSH LITTLE BABY, A SINGABLE PICTURE BOOK
Bobby McFerrin sings a brilliant version of the song Hush Little Baby
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/hush-little-baby-a-singable-book-lyrics-song-history-etc/
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Music in Me
Story and Lyrics by Jane Pinczuk
Forward by Bobby McFerrin
Music by Shure Knice
Illustrated by Brad Davies
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Bobby McFerrin in unbelievably exciting and his talent and brilliance are MIND BLOWING. Good heaves, that is one man making those incredible sounds…and he is MAKING IT UP AS HE GOES!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81uJZIF9TCs
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Bobby McFerrin sings a Bach Prelude and Ave Maria with humor and audience participation. If anyone wanted an example of the POWER OF MUSIC in action…watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14LcvpXmb74&feature=related
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Related Posts
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Singable Picture Book Lists for Special Occasions & Interests
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/song-book-lists-for-all-occasions/
Power of Music: Book of Slave Songs of the United States, Investigated by History Detectives
Posted on: June 23, 2011
One of my favorite TV shows is History Detectives on PBS. Our TiVo is set to record every showing and recorded a re-run yesterday that I’d never seen before. This one investigated a book of Slave Songs that was discovered by a collector who wanted to know if the book was possibly the first ever published collection of songs sung and composed by slaves in the American South.
Slave Songs of the United States 1867
Compiled by William Francis Allen, Charles Pickard Ware, and Lucy McKim Garrison
Read and view the contents/”Electronic Edition” of this book, here:
http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/allen/allen.html
Host Wes Cowan does a terrific job uncovering the origin and history of this remarkable collection of songs, but also allowing the experts he visits to make the point that music (and especially the singing of the songs) was an essential ingredient that united the communities of enslaved African Americans and helped them survive the horrific conditions in which they lived.
Watch the whole story, here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JtD_YpyXYU
The act of singing and expressing ourselves in song elevates the human condition, unites people, and increases the quality of our lives.
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“Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore” (song # 31 in Slave Songs of the United States) is found in the Singable Picture Book:
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The Family Car Songbook (Hundreds of Miles of Fun!)
Words and Tunes by Various Artists
Compiled by Jason Tharp
Illustrated by Michael Gelen
“Rock a My Soul” (song #94 in Slave Songs of the United States) and “O Daniel” (song #114, which is very like “Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel?”) are found in
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Climbing Jacob’s Ladder (Heros of the Bible in African-American Spirituals)
Words and Music by Various Artists
Selected and Edited by John Langstaff
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan
Piano Arrangements by John Andrew Ross
(This book features printed music)
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Other books of interest include:
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Let it Shine (Three Favorite Spirituals)
Traditional words and tunes
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan
(This book illustrates the spirituals: “This Little Light of Mine,” “Oh, When the Saints Go Marching In,” and “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”)
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What a Morning! (The Christmas Story in Black Spirituals)
Music and Lyrics by Various Artists
Selected and Edited by John Langstaff
Arrangements for Siging and Piano by John Andrew Ross
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan
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Related Articles:
Singable Picture Books Celebrating February is African American History Month
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/singable-picture-books-celebrating-african-american-history-month/
