8/31/2023 0 Comments Wow classic unfinished businessDo I even dare think about all I might have lost or gained from a lifetime of folking around?ĭuring that phone call, Oscar apologized repeatedly for the fact that my previous appearance had to be trimmed when the prerecorded show chanced to air after Doc Watson’s passing. This was pretty heady stuff for a folk song Saturday night. “We shouldn’t put this off,” he chided, “I want to help you – support your CD and also speak with you about your book.” This next part took me aback, as it was a rare subject for an interview, “And, why don’t we talk about what you’ve given up to be a writer and performer? Then, also talk about what you’ve gained from doing what you do?” An interesting addition to the three songs he offered to play on the air, and a lot of air time (a half hour) promised. True, maybe not too many more shows would be recorded. Given Oscar’s playful phone repartee, he still was full of young spunk. I’m about to be 94 … and you know what that means.” I guess I did. Oscar’s words to me were sobering, “Let’s get this done. So, back to the irony of the call the weekend of Pete’s passing. The error did boost my credibility as a guitar player. One show, due to a slip of the pen on the guest sheet, I was introduced by Oscar as Geoff Bartley, and Geoff as me. These were great musical programs, live on tape, with the audience joining in as well. Oscar edited and broadcast these events on Folksong Festival, dedicating one monthly show to “Live from The Closing Circle.” The programs showcased newcomers with names like Larkin, Wheeler, Gorka, and Griffith. I even recall them all joining us in New Jersey for a Sing Out! benefit concert.įor a few years, Oscar aired concerts from the Closing Circle Coffeehouse, a monthly concert series I programmed for The Folk Music Society of Northern New Jersey. Year after year at this event, I would greet and chat with Oscar, his lovely wife Karen, and artful sideman John Foley. During the years that followed, I performed many shows with Oscar, including annual concerts at The Nassau County Community College Folk Festival, an event founded by Brand. Oscar Brand.” Apparently this postcard got stuck in a drawer in George Gershwin’s writing desk, back when Oscar was curator of the Songwriters Hall of Fame Museum at One Times Square in NYC. Did I respond? Did you send me a tape? Did I play it on the air? I’m trying to clear up unfinished business. I again quote “Dear Roger, I just found your letter dated 1976. My favorite correspondence from Oscar is postmarked October 14, 1983. I always thought of myself more as a writer, less as a songwriter and performer. I sort of took a go-with-the-flow attitude. Many times he pressed me to push a bit more. On a number of occasions, Oscar made it clear that in his opinion, I did not promote myself enough, my music in particular. And with me approaching Medicare age, that comprises a cavalcade of notable folk songs and artists. I can’t recall how young I was when I first listened to his show, but I can tell you this just about every folk singer I heard, I first listened to on Oscar’s radio show. Sending me tickets for sought after seats at his annual Cooper Union folk festivals and the like. Brand had long taken a, “What-can-I-do-for-you-kid?” attitude ever since I was a kid. Oscar.” That’s one quote from a postcard mailed to me in 1986. I’ll sing it on the air the moment I find a hole. He has always been supportive, playing my songs on the air or writing such notes as, “Dear Roger, I love the song. Oscar was concerned, prodding me to accept while he is still recording programs. I had been slow to work out a date for a reprise visit, complicated, as it required Roger, Oscar, and the engineer Jon Pickow, all being at Oscar’s Long Island home on the same day, at the same time. I’m calling to remind you, I want you to come over and record another radio show.” This request was for Folksong Festival – that 68-year-old, long-running marvel of the radio dial, “under yon municipal moon,” airing Saturday nights at ten on WNYC. This before I had any knowledge of Pete’s illness. The weekend prior to Pete Seeger’s passing at the age of 94, an ironic, and in retrospect, provocative call came from Oscar Brand.
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