Greenwich Village: Music That Defined a Generation Directed by Laura Archibald (review)

The title is Greenwich Village but the real focus of this documentary DVD is the birth of the folk music movement of the 1960s and how it influenced and reflected the essence of that era. Interviews of well-known folksingers who contributed to the music of that time are interspersed with vintage film clips of noteworthy performances to tell this fascinating tale.

The story begins with Woody Guthrie’s impact on Greenwich Village and the nation’s folk music scene. Woody’s son Arlo and Pete Seeger speak about the significance of Woody’s music and how it influenced so many other musicians including Bob Dylan. Audio recordings of Guthrie’s music are effectively included as examples.

This naturally leads to the topic of Dylan himself. Star performers including Judy Collins and Jose Feliciano state how they didn’t recognize Dylan’s talent when they heard his early performances. It was only after they became more familiar with his songwriting that they recognized his genius. Tom Paxton augments this segment with humorous stories of witnessing Dylan write some of his timeless classics. The segment concludes with film of Peter, Paul and Mary singing some of Dylan’s music and commentary about how that group helped make his songs popular with the general public.

The film then explores how Guthrie and Dylan served as inspiration for a great multitude of singer-songwriters. We see wonderful video segments (in black and white) of performances by Richie Havens, Buffy Saint-Marie, Odetta, Ian and Sylvia, Judy Collins, and a very young Joni Mitchell giving us a glimpse of the talent that would one day make her a superstar.

How the folk musicians took on the topics of the civil rights movement and the war in Vietnam is the next issue addressed in the video. We see great footage of Phil Ochs performing plus commentary by his sister, Sonny, explaining the effect that her brother had on the music of that time. Songs of protest by Richie Havens, Buffy Saint-Marie, Tom Paxton, and Pete Seeger are also shown.

The topic then shifts to the Blacklist and the trouble that some folksingers encountered with McCarthyism and the hearings before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Pete Seeger describes how he was “blacklisted” which prevented him from performing in many venues. Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary) also contributes informative commentary about this subject. There are other important interview segments presented in which Carly Simon, Kris Kristofferson, John Sebastian, Happy Traum, and others reminisce about how those Greenwich Village coffee houses spawned this unique music.

It’s said that if you remember the 1960s you weren’t there. Regardless of where you stand on that issue this film does a fine job of presenting a succinct history of the early folk music movement by its major performers who apparently do remember the era’s key events. Especially with the resurgence of interest in this topic after the recent passing of Pete Seeger, this would make a valuable addition to the music documentary section of most DVD collections.