From: epm2@lehigh.edu (TED MORGAN)
Subject: Re: -- protest songs
Kevin Joseph asks about protest songs in the antiwar movement -- I gather
looking for statements. No doubt the music was important in the
community-building and feeling-spreading parts of the movement, as it was in
civil rights.
Some sources I'd recommend:
"The Vietnam Songbook" put together by Barbara Dane & Irwin Silber ---a
Guardian Book distributed by monthly Review Press (I THINK currently
available).
Phil Ochs' "The War is Over" a book of songs, interviews, poetry, etc by one of
the masters. Not sure about current availability (I think I found a copy
in a used bookstore. It's printed by The Big 3 Music Corp. in NY, under
Collier Books. (subsid. of MacMillan?) My copy has a 1971 copyright.
In addition to the well known songs of Ochs, Tom Paxton, Dylan & others, I'd
recommend tracking down the more obscure "The Great American Eagle Tragedy" on
an album by the relatively obscure Earth Opera. Not so much a
perform-at-antiwar-rallies piece, but powerfully expresses much of the rage
and anguish of us antiwar folks. Another favorite of mine, though not
strictly about Vietnam, is Dylan's "Master's of War" --seemingly the angriest
song he has written and hinting at the larger "permanent war economy" roots
behind the Vietnam war.
There's much more, as I'm sure others will attest.
Ted Morgan
================================
Department of Political Science
Maginnes Hall #9
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA 18015
epm2@lehigh.edu
phone: (610) 758-3345
fax: (610) 758-6554
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[2]
From: "susan l. jenkins" <sljenkins@greenheart.com>
Subject: Re: -- protest songs
Hi,
Country Joe has his own web page. The address is
http://www.dnai.com/"borneo"/
Sayne
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[3]
From: Country Joe McDonald
Subject: Re: -- protest songs
My personal opinion is that I was the only person who wrote material
that talked about the vietnam war in the main stream. but there is a
lot of material that is origional and written by military veterans and
produced by them on mostly tape vbut sometimes lp. I do not really have
the time to lay it out but i recomend now and in the future that anyone
wanting information on music dealing with the vietnam war contact "Doc"
Upton of VIETNAM VETERANS RADION NETWORK/ VIETNAM VETERANS AGAINST THE
WAR. he has had a radio show for years and provides tapes of the
programs that feature mostly only music broadcast from his show and
lately has available RAQDIO HANOI TAPES. I would say he is the only
source. By the way this genre of music has yet to recieve its proper
attention. ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE last year past on giving the music
coverage because in the oopinion of the music editor it was not very
good music.
This is a task for only the strong at heart we do not need another
treatis on Crosby Stills and Nash. we need some one to dig dig as far
as I know this is the only time Americans produced a body of music about
their war and post war experiences in a realistic way. There is still
much resistance to seeing the veterans themselves as talented,
intellligent, creative, moral. In my opinion no one but a military
veteran or someone who is speaking from the pov of a military veteran
from research in the subject doesnt know what they are talking about.
carry on and if you are interested write brother "Doc" Upton at
VVAW/VVRN N. AVALON, KC, MO 64152. The tapes do cost a small fee but
this brother has been at it at his own expense for years and now is
probably the only acrchivist in the country for this music. I am not
speaking of GENERAL LANSDALEs' and LYDIA FISHs" collection of PARODIES
OF SONGS LIKE ON TOP OF OLD SMOKEY. I am speaking of totally origional
material like the known body of POEMS and LITERATURE. carry on, country
joe mcdonald