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Home , Clarence Ashley, Doc Watson, Mike Seeger, New Lost City Ramblers, Ralph Rinzler, The Watson Family

1998 Smithsonian Folklife Festival · .. :. ·t "r -._'"i_·c· he Festival and Folkways

Ralph Kinzler's Living Richard Kurin

offered a rendition of "Tom Dooley." Cultural Archives Rinzler was struck by Watson's version, diverging as it did from the Kingston IThis year received two Trio's hit. Upon questioning, Watson said Grammy Awards and a third nomination. he knew the Dooley story as told by his The updated re-release of the Harry Smith great -grandmother. Watson went on to talk about the place where Dooley was nthology ofAmerican , ded­ hanged. He pointed out the Grayson icated to the work of , won Hotel that belonged to the family of the for best historical album and best album sheriff that arrested Dooley. Tom Dooley notes, with staff members Amy Horowitz, was not some character made up for the eff Place, and Pete Reiniger honored purpose of singing an entertaining song, ith awards. The Rinzler realized, but part and parcel of a -, Mike , and Tracy community's oral history. Schwarz - were nominated for There At Watson's house Rinzler was intro­ in 't No Way Out as best traditional duced to Doc's father-in-law, Gaither (style) folk album and performed at the Carlton. Rinzler described Gaither as "an Festival's 1997 Ralph Rinzler Memorial extraordinary man. He was a great pres­ Concert. The connections between these ence: very quiet and shy but with a real albums and Ralph Rinzler is central to depth and intensity and a quality that I the work and history of the Festival, The Anthology, re-released in expanded form, won really loved." Folkways, and the Center. two Grammy Awards in 7998. Rinzler told the Watsons about the folk The connections go back to the 1950s. revival, but they didn't really understand Rinzler had been learning about folk Kingston Trio and other folk pop groups why people would be interested in that music from field of the time. They were used for their kind of music. Doc was playing rockabil­ recordings, attending university folk fes­ rough style and lyrical content by Bob ly with an electrified and asked tivals with Roger Abrahams and Peggy Dylan, , , and many Rinzler about touring as a country musi­ Seeger, and, with , seeking others. cian. As Rinzler recalled, out migrants from who sang Rinzler was hardly alone in thinking I I said, there is this album of records and played at various gatherings. He pro­ that the people and music on the Smith recorded in the twenties and thirties duced Folkways recordings, and valued Anthology were mainly the stuff of that has been reissued because there's a the Folkways Harry Smith Anthology of archives and museums - long dead. whole group of people who are interest­ . The Anthology, On a trip to in 1960, ed in this music now, and they'll buy published in 1952, was a crucial docu­ Rinzler and Seeger met up with none this record - people like me who are ment in the history of the folk revival, other than , whose 1929 in college and they're fascinated. But no containing 84 tracks from commercial recording of "The Coo-coo Bird" was on one believes that Clarence Ashley and records of Southern, Appalachian, Black, the Anthology. It was as if Rinzler was the people on this record - any of and Cajun musicians made in the 1920s immediately connected to a past he had them - are still alive. and 1930s. These raw recordings were thought was mythological. Through Gaither looked at the Anthology. He annotated with weird yet insightful notes Ashley, Rinzler met . On a recognized some of the names. We by avant-garde artist/anthropologist drive to Watson's house in the back of a played G. B. Grayson's recording of Harry Smith. The recordings were a far pickup truck, Rinzler, who'd been playing "Omie Wise." Gaither sighed when it cry from those of the chart-topping the , was joined by Watson, who was over - he literally had tears in his 11998 SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL 5 1998 Smithsonian Folklife Festival

eyes. And he said, very quietly, under his I knew the style of the music but had Rinzler (right) on a fieldwork trip in 7966. breath, "Sounds like old times." never really connected with the people Photo by Bob Yellin He said that in a way that came from who played. I knew it as a sound, not as so deep inside of him that it just gripped an expression of the thinking, function­ corned or valued, but that was imposed; me and really moved me: even now ing person sitting in front of me. I had and while the younger generation was [1986] I just get tears in my eyes thinking no idea what kind of people played this reaching for it, I came later to realize of it. And what that said was how deeply music. I just had the sound ringing in that as the generations matured, they meaningful that music was for those peo­ my ears of this beautiful, pentatonic, became more wistful and looked back ple. I got an inkling of understanding of archaic-sounding music sung in a vocal and gave value to things that they were the degree to which many people did not style that left far quick to reject earlier. want to give up that music, but felt that it behind .... What astonished me was that On that one trip I got an understand­ was outmoded or discarded, and whatever the people who are great musicians in ing of the meaning and value and func­ they may have thought of it, the world traditional music are as profound as tion of music - a whole contextual knew better. It was the beginning of a artists in any kind of art. framework that I built on later - and kind of anger, an activist, ideological, All of a sudden I understood that style of craft, that I never had before. romantic stance that I took. was emblematic - that it was their identity. The style of that music, and the It was these sounds, songs, and styles Doc, Gaither, and others played that day sound, was for some people who they that Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tom - the old tunes they knew and liked. As were. It represented their parents and Paley (and later Tracy Schwarz) sought Rinzler remembered, their values, and a way of life that was out, learned, and recorded as the New slowly changing. For those people it was Lost City Ramblers. They were musical not necessarily a change that they wei- traditions that Mike and , 6 SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL 1998 1998 Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Uan Lomax, Ralph Rinzler, and others whelm local cultures. But the same drew a huge crowd and strong press >rought to the . means could enhance and promote interest. It was an instant hit. Its success )ther musicians on the Anthology - knowledge and appreciation of those was recognized by many on Capitol Hill. )ock Boggs, , Eck local expressive systems, as well as their Said one congressman, lobertson, Sleepy John Estes, the Carter continuity within host communities. For the first time, thousands of people, {amily - as well as Doc Watson partici­ Rinzler brought this philosophy to the over 430,000, experienced a live muse­ )ated in the Newport Festival. Smithsonian. In the mid-1960s S. Dillon um which exhibited the art of American Rinzler was heavily influenced by Alan Ripley, then secretary, wanted to enliven folklife and they loved every toe-tapping , omax's ideas about the connection the institution. "Take the instruments out minute .... Basket weavers, pottery mak­ petween the survival of folk traditions of their cases and let them sing," he said. ers, woodworkers, carvers, doll makers, needle workers, tale tellers, boat builders, and folk singers, dancers, and musicians from all over the country were brought to remind Americans of their heritage - still a living part of our nation. In this day of the frug and jerk Americans need to be shown what their own culture has produced and continues to produce.

Another senator noted, "The Smithsonian is becoming much more than a reposito­ ry for old artifacts. The exhibits are com­ ing out of the display cases and the men and women directing the institution are showing that a museum can be vital and creative." What started out as the discovery in Doc Watson's home that the Anthology in 1960. Photo by Bob Yellin James Morris was hired and became head represented a living tradition had turned of the Division of Performing Arts. He into a revitalization of the museum. and their public performance and dis­ instituted a wide variety of performance Rinzler quickly articulated a cultural semination. Lomax observed two cultural programs and suggested a summer folk­ conservation strategy for the Festival - currents simultaneously occurring in the life festival. Rinzler was hired on con­ suggesting that museums conserve cul­ United States and abroad. Like his prede­ tract to program the event. tures while they live rather than waiting cessors, he found many cultural styles The Festival would present living - as to collect their remnants after they die. falling into disuse or being destroyed. But distinguished from historically re-created The role of a museum can be to help he also found a broad array of cultural - traditions. The living culture Rinzler empower people to practice their cul­ ~raditions with an amazing resiliency. had found, in Appalachia, in Cajun ture, realize their aesthetic excellences, Lomax suggested that enlightened gov­ country, through his Newport work, use their knowledge, transmit their wis­ ernment policies could help preserve and needed help, encouragement, and valida­ dom, and make their culture a vital encourage those cultural forms by utiliz­ tion in a society whose sense of beauty means for dealing with contemporary ing them in the schools, popular enter­ and value is generally driven by the exer­ circumstances. tainment, and other forums. He recog­ cise of power and the commodification This approach characterized Rinzler's nized that some of the factors that has­ of the marketplace. "There was a sense tenure as Festival director until1982, tened the destruction of cultures, such as in my mind that cultural democracy was and was extended after he was appointed new technologies, could now aid them as as important as any other kind of the Smithsonian's assistant secretary for well. Radio broadcasts, sound recordings, democracy," said Rinzler. public service. In that position he blazed television programs, and films promul­ The Festival began in 1967. It included the Smithsonian's first steps toward digi­ gating mass global aesthetics could over- 58 craftspeople and 32 musical groups, tal technologies, led efforts to establish 1998 SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL 7 1998 Smithsonian Folklife Festival

continues to characterize the activities of I am deeply indebted to Ralph Rinzler. the Center. Anyone who comes to our He did not leave me where he found me. archive today finds old recordings being mined for new releases, Festival research -Doc Watson and documentation being used for new recordings and education kits. Multi­ media projects range from music provid­ ed for Wbere in the World is Carmen Sandiego? and Encarta to Web pages and video anthologies of American and world music. No dead archive or dusty museum collection here, but rather an energetic activity to understand, repre­ sent, and nourish living traditions and their ongoing transformations. It is thus most fitting that the Smithsonian regents at their meeting this January formally named the Center's holdings the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections.

Folkways: AVision Shared won a Grammy in 1989. Comprised of recordings made at the Festival, Roots Dr. Richard Kurin is director of the of Rhythm and was nominated for a Gram my Center for Folklife museums and programs that addressed Award in 7992. Programs & Cultural Studies and the the diversity of American culture, and author of Reflections of a Culture Broker: A pursued the acquisition of Folkways our musical cultural heritage. View from the Smithsonian and Smithsonian Records. He envisioned Folkways coming After his stint as assistant secretary, Folklife Festival: Culture Of, By, and For the to the Smithsonian from founder Moses Rinzler continued his work with the People. He first worked on the Festival in Asch as a documentary collection, muse­ Festival and Folkways. He co-curated 1976 and was awarded the Secretary's Gold um of sound, and self-supporting enter­ Roots ofRhythm and Blues at the 1991 Medal for Exceptional Service to the prise. With Don DeVito and Harold Festival and won another Grammy nomi­ Smithsonian in 1996. Leventhal, he lined up contemporary nation for the resultant recording. He musicians - Bruce Springsteen, Bob produced a series of oral history/music Dylan, Emmylou Harris, U2, John Cougar instruction videos with Pete Seeger, Mellencamp, Brian Wilson, and others Ralph Stanley, Watson, and . who also had been influenced by the He produced new Folkways albums of "old music" of Folkways- to do a bene­ Watson, Monroe, and Ashley, and at the fit album. That album paid for the acqui­ time of his death was working on an sition of the collection, won a Grammy, expanded edition of the Anthology of and assured that Folkways would contin­ American Folk Music. ue to actively document and disseminate Upon his death, Doc Watson said, "I am deeply indebted to Ralph Rinzler. He did not leave me where he found me." The same could be said in reverse. From Doc and Gaither Rinzler had found the Harry Smith Anthology to provide a win­ dow into a whole realm of culture, sub­ merged, hidden, and overlooked, but nonetheless real and alive. This view per­ meated his vision of the Festival, moti­ vated the acquisition of Folkways, and 8 SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL 1998