1.13 - The Folk Song Archivist
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What does Mal Fleming learn about folk songs?
My name is Mal Fleming. I am here to assist in your passage. Can you remember your name and the circumstances of your death?
Mal, pleasure to make your acquaintance. Bert and Agra, natural causes. Well, I drifted off listening to an old tape of mine, something I'd done quite a few times before, except this time I didn't wake up. What were you listening to? Bluegrass music from a recording trip I did a few hours outside of Knoxville, near where I grew up. I'd been trying to track down this one banjo player. He finally agreed to let me come by with the rig. Anyway, it was him and a couple other fellows, all old-timers, but they really knew how to play. And they gave me a tremendous amount of shit for how long I took setting up the mics. Yeah, I can still smell the wood stove and the tobacco from his house. And then towards the beginning of the recording, you could hear the old boy's dog barking in the background.
So he quieted down once the music started. Probably the best version of Foggy Mountain Breakdown I ever heard. And I saw Flattin' Scruggs live. You a fan of folk music, Mel?
I like some, I guess you could call them contemporary singer-songwriters, but I think that's a little bit different from the type of folk music you recorded.
Well, I wouldn't know. I'm a bit out of touch with what's popular these days, and the jukebox at the bar that's not called Spirits leaves a lot to be desired. Of course, you had Tommy Doyle singing his drinking songs back when he was around, but I'd already recorded a number of those when I did my Irish American Songbook. I was hoping when I got here there'd be more songs to hear from the other residents, but they mostly want to talk, not sing.
Have you met Bridget? I tried to get her to sing some of her mother's lullabies, but she didn't want to. I did, briefly.
Nice girl. I'd love to hear her sing, but she's always too tied up with the widow. And then, of course, I wouldn't be able to record it between not having my gear and the obvious part, which is a damn shame. Then, of course, we had Joey with his ruckus going all night. I never got into disco personally, but I understand why people like it. Dancing, it's a universal human need. You know the earliest cave paintings we have on record are of dancing? I think I did hear that somewhere. Borneo, Indonesia. I was there on a research trip some odd years ago, recording gamelan ensembles, and I actually got to see it for myself. The art, it's something to behold. But I'd love to hear what song they were dancing to, how different it might have sounded to what I was hearing, or how similar.
We'll never know. It's a real shame to think about what we're not recording now that won't be around in 50 or 100 years. Drives me crazy sitting here thinking about it.
Yeah, I completely get you. Back when I was doing oral history in grad school, I loved the work, but I'd be up all night thinking about what voices we weren't able to capture, what stories, histories that would just never be remembered. Yeah, that's why I spent so much time on the road. Yeah, I'd really love to hear more about your field recording work. Were there any trips that were particularly memorable?
Hard to pick one, but the time I spent in Spain really stands out. I knew a little Spanish from growing up in the South. Getting the dialects was a whole other challenge. Anyway, I was there for a few months. Spent some time in the country. There was this one night. I was in a little fishing village in the Basque country. Pasay Donibane. Rained every day I was there. And then this one evening... The sky was clear as the fishermen came to port with their catch. They were all singing on their boats as the sun broke through the clouds. Let me tell you something.
How did Burt Nagra's career in folk music begin?
Handel's Messiah had nothing on what those boys were singing. They were so in tune and so in sync, even hauling ropes and nets. I'd never heard anything like it. That's lovely. Is it recorded anywhere I could hear it? You can hear it on my Songs of the Basque Country compilation. Just one of the records that came out of that trip.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What does Mal Fleming learn about folk songs?
0:03–4:18
2
How did Burt Nagra's career in folk music begin?
4:18–7:45
3
What challenges does Burt face in recording folk music?
7:45–11:53
4
How do folk songs reflect cultural identity?
11:53–15:54
5
What is the significance of preserving traditional music?
15:54–22:11
6
How does technology impact the recording of folk songs?
22:11–24:30