ahoy!

here's another hit from 1957. from decca records it's capt. burl ives' ark! most people remember burl ives as "big daddy" in cat on a hot tin roof or as the voice of the storytelling snowman in the classic rudolph christmas special, but not everyone (at least in my generation and younger) may be aware of his prolific career as a folk musician. dig it, kerouac has just completed "on the road" and it's six years before dylan made the scene. the greenwich scene is in full swing and this record features seventeen folk songs for kids and adults all about animals. i'm not sure what kind of kids grew up out of this kind of music. sometimes it weighs pretty heavy melancholy. and i'm really not sure how i ended up acquiring it. if you look closely there's a label on the cover that shows this was lifted from the barry olivier folk guitar workshop library. a quick look online told me that barry is still going strong, offering lessons in berkeley and that he was a part of the vibrant east bay folk scene in this same period. so if you're ready to take the trip, hang down your head and row your boat ashore, because capt. burl ives ark is loading here.