Alex Henderson

Arts and Entertainment 

Ballads, Blues & Bluegrass: New DVD of Alan Lomax Film Spotlights Greenwich Village Folk Scene of the Early 1960s 



By Alex Henderson
RealmNoir, September 17, 2012

The year was 1961. John F. Kennedy was president of the United States, Martin Luther King, Jr. was fighting for desegregation, the Bay of Pigs incident became a fiasco, girl groups were gaining popularity—and in Greenwich Village, the folk scene was alive and well. That Downtown Manhattan folk scene is fondly remembered on Media Generation’s new DVD release of the Alan Lomax film Ballads, Blues & Bluegrass.

In the early 1960s, an organization called the Friends of Old Time Music presented a series of roots-oriented concerts in New York City—and the late folklorist Alan Lomax invited some of the folk, bluegrass and blues artists to perform in his Greenwich Village apartment (he lived on West 3^rd Street) after the concerts. Those acoustic performances were filmed in black and white by Lomax associate George Pickow and became the basis for Ballads, Blues & Bluegrass. Lomax, who died in 2002, interviews some of the artists, and his comments and observations are characteristically insightful.

Media Generation’s DVD is quite a revelation, boasting relaxed, casual performances by important roots artists such as Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, the New Lost City Ramblers, Jean Ritchie, Clarence Ashley and the late Roscoe Holcomb. Peter LaFarge, a talented contributor to the Greenwich Village folk scene, gives an inspired performance of his best known song, “The Ballad of Ira Hayes,” which was covered by Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger and became a major country hit for Johnny Cash in 1964. Sadly, LaFarge was only 34 when he was found dead in his NYC apartment in 1965.

Folk, bluegrass and old-time country dominate the DVD, although blues is part of the picture as well. Two blues icons, Willie Dixon and Memphis Slim, form a duo and perform an exuberant instrumental together; Slim is heard on organ, while Dixon plays acoustic bass. Dixon and Slim came from different areas of the blues; Slim was very much a product of his Memphis upbringing, whereas Dixon was a Mississippi native who became closely identified with electric post-WWII Chicago blues and the Chess Records sound (his songs were recorded by Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Koko Taylor and many others). But in Lomax’s apartment, Dixon and Slim have no problem finding common ground. 

In addition to Lomax’s 35-minute film, Media-Generation’s DVD contains filmmaker John Melville Bishop’s 25-minute documentary on the making of Ballads, Blues & Bluegrass. Pickow, who died in 2010 at the age of 88, is interviewed and shares his memories of what transpired in Lomax’s apartment back in 1961. Pickow mentions that none other than Bob Dylan was present during one of those gatherings, but Dylan’s management didn’t want him to be filmed or photographed. So Dylan isn’t seen at any time during Lomax’s film.

Ballads, Blues & Bluegrass is a gem of a DVD.

Alex Henderson is a veteran journalist whose work has appeared in The L.A. Weekly, AlterNet, Billboard, Spin, XBIZ, Creem, Skin Two, The Pasadena Weekly, JazzTimes, Cash Box and a long list of other well-known publications. He can be followed on Twitter @alexvhenderson. 





Ramblin' Jack Elliott  (above) is among the performers who folklorist Alan Lomax (below) included in his 1961 film Ballads, Blues & Bluegrass.