The Caffè Lena Audio Archive Inside This Issue
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Summer 2014 The Caffè Lena Audio Archive Jocelyn Arem, Producer The Magic Shop Nestled in the quaint upstate town of traditional folk, blues, singer- ‘Live At Caffè Lena’, a 3-CD Saratoga Springs, New York is Caffè songwriters, jazz and bluegrass. box set, the result of years of Lena, the oldest continuously operat- investigative research, con- ing folk music coffeehouse in the US. Luckily, many performances tains 47 tracks, all released were caught on tape through the for the very first time, along- Opened by Lena Spencer in 1960, this years, offering the listener a side previously unpublished tiny room has played host to influential thrilling seat inside this hallowed photographs. Images include artists across diverse genres of music; venue. selections from the archive of esteemed photographer Joe Alper, who captured many iconic, intimate portraits from the folk era of the 1960s. The CD set was mastered by Jes- sica Thompson. (Continued on page 2) Inside this issue: Musical Poetry in Idaho 3 Rabbi Olan on Dallas Radio 4 Digital Preservation Resources 6 Pacifica: American Women 7 Crowdsourcing Clara Luper 8 Reel-to-Reel at the Bentley 10 The “Possible Tape Exchange” 12 Brad Bennett Soundtracks 13 Oral History at CSU Fullerton 15 Editor: Jack Falk Photo: Eric Jenks Continued from previous page With grant support from “...A landmark the GRAMMY Foundation, the Magic Shop Studio suc- outpost of folk cessfully digitized and re- music in America...” stored the shows, with both (New York Times) the digital and physical components donated to the American Folklife Center That Caffè Lena is still at the Library of Congress open for business to- for researchers and music night is a testament to lovers to enjoy. Lena's legacy. An index of the recordings ‘Live At Caffè Lena’ is collection and sample au- an important visual and dio is also available for re- audio document, com- search and licensing prising more than 40 through an online, search- years of music un- able database: earthed from dozens of www.history.caffelena.org “lost” tapes – night af- Courtesy of Saratoga Springs History Museum ter night, show after time, one box of recordings show, through the dec- had been donated to the ades – recorded in a Caffè Lena History Project tiny room in Saratoga for preservation with the Springs, New York. Caffè Lena Collection. In 2008, musician Chris- Suspecting the existence of tine Lavin introduced additional recordings, Jocelyn Arem (Director Steve encouraged a five- of the Caffè Lena His- year national search for tory Project) to Steve Caffè Lena shows, resulting Rosenthal (4-time in the discovery of 700 live GRAMMY-winning res- recordings made by both toration engineer and amateur and professional owner of The Magic engineers at the venue be- Photo: Jocelyn Arem Shop Studio). At that tween 1967-2013. Page 2 Summer 2014 Musical Poetry in Idaho Gwyn Hervochon, Archivist/Librarian Special Collections and Archives, Albertsons Library Boise State University Boise State University A folk musician and Special Collections and Western personality, Archives is happy to Thielke was born in announce a recent California in 1903 and $11,750 grant from the lived in Texas and Ore- GRAMMY Foundation to gon before settling in fund the project, Musi- Idaho in the 1940s. cal Poetry in Idaho: Digi- Known as the “musical tizing the Ione Thielke poem recorder of Cas- Recordings. With the cade, Idaho” her signa- completion of the pro- ture work consisted of ject, one of the earliest setting regional poetry known collections of to music. Thielke sang recorded music native and accompanied her- to Idaho will be made self on the tiple—an in- widely accessible for strument resembling the first time. the mandolin—and made home recordings As is the case for much of her compositions on of its history, musical a portable acetate disc recordings came late to recorder. Idaho—public collec- tions predating the Thielke also hosted ra- dio programs in which 1960s are rare. Boise Project results will be dis- Thanks to the GRAMMY she sang and inter- State’s project includes coverable at: http:// Foundation’s support, viewed fellow poets. the digitization of 212 library.boisestate.edu/ Thielke’s contribution to These homemade re- acetate discs and 23 Special or via the finding the history of folk music cordings and radio reel-to-reel recordings aid in the Northwest Digi- in the American West broadcasts comprise created by Ione Love tal Archives: http:// will be preserved for the materials that will Thielke between 1947 nwda.orbiscascade.org/ future generations. We be digitized and made and 1951. ark:/80444/xv47659. look forward to sharing available. Links will allow research- the progress of the pro- ers to access individual ject as it unfolds. songs. Page 3 Interfaith Partnership Preserves Notable Dallas Radio Sermons Timothy S. G. Binkley, Archivist Bridwell Library, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University On May 5, 2013, ing, planning, network- Bridwell Library ing, fund-raising, digi- (www.smu.edu/ tizing, and database bridwell), Southern creation preceded the Methodist University’s May 5 celebration. In primary bibliographic late 2009 the Bridwell resource in the areas of Library archivist found theology and religion, five reel-to-reel tapes hosted a public event on the shelves of a celebrating the open- basement storage ing of a significant room. The tape box online database of digi- labels indicated radio tized documents, im- station call letters, ages, sound re- broadcast dates, ser- cordings, and videos. mon titles, and the speaker’s name: Levi The speakers of the day Olan. included Bridwell Li- brary Director Roberta Olan was a prominent Schaafsma, Perkins Reform Rabbi, commu- School of Theology Courtesy of Bridwell Library Special Collections, Perkins School of Theology, nity leader, scholar, Southern Methodist University Dean William B. Law- and bibliophile. Rabbi rence, Rabbi David For the first time in nedy’s assassination. Olan taught Jewish Stern of Temple Emanu- three decades, the The audience’s reac- studies courses at Per- El, Dallas, and Archivist commanding voice of tions in 2013 included kins School of Theology Timothy Binkley. How- one of Dallas’s great awe-filled silence and from 1952 to 1978, ever, the man of the preachers was heard tears. Clearly, Rabbi working out of an office hour – the speaker who once again. The ser- Olan’s message was at Bridwell Library. had attracted 143 mon of the day was as relevant and chal- When he retired as guests from across Dal- “The First Anniversary lenging in 2013 as it Senior Rabbi of Temple las, the state of Texas, of a Tragedy,” origi- had been 49 years Emanu-El in 1970, Olan and the United States – nally preached over earlier. chose to donate his pa- was Rabbi Levi A. Olan the radio on Novem- pers to his alma mater, (1903-1984). ber 22, 1964, one year More than three years Hebrew Union College. of discovery, dream- after John F. Ken- (Continued on page 5) Page 4 Summer 2014 Continued from previous page Bridwell Library for- warded twenty boxes of papers to Cincinnati. However, some materi- als remained at Bridwell, perhaps in Rabbi Olan’s work space. These items be- came the kernel of Bridwell Library’s ar- chival collection on Levi A. Olan. While processing the collection in 2010, the Bridwell Library archi- vist met Temple Emanu- El archivist Gerry Christol, who intro- duced him to Rabbi Timothy Binkley and Elizabeth Olan Hirsch Olan’s daughter, Eliza- tories, the Bridwell Li- by SMU’s Norwick Cen- that users could ex- beth Hirsch. Soon after- brary tapes were the ter for Digital Services perience the sermon wards the three began only broadcast re- in 2012. While the in either format. Upon to envision preserving cordings known to ex- sound recordings were realizing that users and making the sound ist. Third, in the sum- being scanned, could not listen to the recordings available for mer of 2011 the Bridwell Library Digital sermons and read public use. Bridwell Library archi- Projects Librarian Re- along in real time, the The importance of this vist discovered another becca Howdeshell de- Bridwell Library archi- dream was elevated by 121 Olan tapes in stor- signed a digital collec- vist suggested a bold three factors. First, the age. Such a legacy de- tion, compiled meta- solution: creating ser- tapes were approxi- manded attention! data, and supervised mon videos by com- student assistants who bining the text files mately fifty years old. If With the permission of the recordings were to scanned the sermon with the audio files. the Olan family, and texts. The library then pur- be saved, they needed utilizing funds raised to be digitized chased appropriate for the project by mem- The project’s original software and hired an promptly. Second, bers of Temple Emanu- goal was to publish a while text copies of extra student assistant El, all 126 tapes were text file and an audio to make the videos. these sermons could be professionally digitized file for each sermon so found in several reposi- Page 5 Continued from previous page The resulting Levi A. Olan Ser- It is clear that the database is ter reading and/or listening mons and Images Digital Collec- stimulating interest in Rabbi to his sermons online. For the tion (http:// Olan’s teachings and in Bridwell participating institutions, this digitalcollections.smu.edu/all/ Library’s archival holdings, as joint project to preserve the bridwell/olan/index.asp) com- intended. As of April 28, 2014, teachings of the man known prises 211 sermon texts, 211 ser- the website had been visited as the “Conscience of Dallas” mon audio files, 211 video files, 4,887 times, generating 7,125 has both renewed and en- 6 images, and an index.