Music from the True Vine: Mike Seeger's Life and Musical Journey

Contents/Illustrations

Contents Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 1 THE SEEGER HERITAGE 9 2 FOLK MUSIC AND POLITICS Growing up in the Seeger Household 27 3 DISCOVERING BLUEGRASS The Baltimore Years 53 4 THE NEW LOST CITY RAMBLERS Creating the Old-Time Music Scene 77 5 MUSIC FROM THE TRUE VINE Mike Seeger and the Search for Authenticity 113 6 LEXINGTON AND ALEXIA Home at Last 147 7 THE MIKE SEEGER LEGACY 169 Notes 175 Note on Sources 209 Selected Works by Mike Seeger 215 Index 217 Illustrations Mike Seeger as a baby playing with his father, Charles, in Central Park, New York City, 1934 28 The Seeger family playing music 31 Mike Seeger riding a unicycle at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C., 1950 38 Bob Baker and the Pike County Boys 63 Mike Seeger with Roger Sprung and John Cohen at Washington Square, New York City, 1958 68 Mike Seeger with Bob Yellin and Ralph Rinzler at Washington Square, New York City 68 The New Lost City Ramblers in 1960 82 Mike, Kim, and Marjorie Seeger recording a live performance 85 Cover of The New Lost City Ramblers Song Book 87 Labor folklorist Archie Green in 1993 95 Publicity photo for the New Lost City Ramblers 98 Bill Clifton playing with Mike Seeger on Mike’s first trip to England 117 Old Time Country Music, Mike Seeger’s first solo LP for Folkways 119 Mike Seeger, Mike’s second solo LP 120 Tipple, Loom & Rail, Mike Seeger’s musical survey of southern labor history 121 Alice Gerrard, Hazel Dickens, and Mike Seeger performing together 130 Mike Seeger with Alan Lomax, Julius Lester, and Hazel Dickens at the Newport Folk Festival 136 Mike Seeger’s children and Alice Gerrard’s children with Libba Cotten in New Freedom, Pa., 1975 142 Mike Seeger and Libba Cotten in 1979 145 Mike Seeger and Alexia Smith making music at a party 155 Mike Seeger and Alexia Smith in 1999 156 Dom Flemons of the Carolina Chocolate Drops 158 Mike Seeger playing a five-string banjo 161 Mike, Peggy, and Pete Seeger onstage in 2007 166 Mike Seeger enjoying a hearty laugh 172 This page intentionally left blank ...