Best Of The Vanguard Years Review

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(More customer reviews)The Almanac Singers of 1941-42 came first, and if you are reading this you ought to purchase the CD by them called "Songs of Protest." Pete Seeger and Lee Hays, who became half of "The Weavers" in 1949, were Almanacs. By the time they got into the later group, their voices and talents had matured and were in their prime. Add Ronnie Gilbert's lovely voice and Fred Hellerman's all-around musical gifts, and you had just about the only folkie supergroup of their era. The anti-Communist hysteria took The Weavers off the charts and off the mainstream Decca label after '52, which crippled the members financially. In the artistic sense, however, they only got better when they resurfaced in 1955 on Vanguard, mostly with live shows. This disc purports to be the "best" from a half-dozen Vanguard LP's from the late '50's and early 60's. Maybe it is. I think too many of the 24 are bland instead of bold, but that's just my personal preference. On this item, not much social protest is to be found---just "Sixteen Tons" and "Brother Can You Spare a Dime?" and "If I Had a Hammer". I would have liked the inclusion of "Banks of Marble" among others. But that's really a small flaw. The Lee Hays bass vocals are here, and the Pete Seeger tenor, and Ronnie's alto. Good banjo and guitar, and as another reviewer noted, many live recordings, so they are not mucked up with strings and other unneeded orchestral flourishes. The Weavers kept the folk tradition alive and proved there was an audience, and in the late '50's we got The Kingston Trio and The Highwaymen and eventually Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs and so many other acts into the limelight because the Weavers were there first. This is a great introduction to American commercial folk performing: it won't scare anyone, but it might inspire a deeper search into other singers and songwriters, or even other Weavers' records, which have more political and social bite.

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