HOMESPUNA Spoonful of Classic Songs
Taught By John Sebastian, Happy Traum.
Level 3
90 Minute DVD, includes Music and Tab
No traditional musician is better loved than Mississippi John Hurt. He has influenced innumerable musicians through the years and, four decades after his death, his songs and instrumentals continue to be played throughout the world by novice guitarists and professionals alike.
This lesson is filled with the songs, licks, sounds and techniques that make Mississippi John Hurt’s music so popular. John Sebastian and Happy Traum, whose friendship goes back to the sixties, had the privilege of knowing John Hurt and hearing him play first hand. With their enthusiasm and love of his music, they take apart eleven of his classic songs, bringing fresh insights into the picking styles of this treasured artist.
Songs: "Spike Driver’s Blues," "Got The Blues (Can''t Be Satisfied)," "Coffee Blues," "Richland Woman Blues," "My Creole Belle," "Monday Morning Blues," "I’m Satisfied," "Stack O''Lee," "Candy Man," "Avalon Blues" and "Make Me A Pallet on Your Floor."
Bonus section: Sam Hood, owner of the Gaslight Café, the Greenwich Village
coffee house that was “home” to John Hurt when he played in New York City in
the ‘60s, shares memories, insights, anecdotes and some laughs with Happy and
John about Mississippi John and other members of the folk and blues community.
In a nearly forty-year career John Sebastian has been a performer,
recording artist, multi-instrumentalist and composer of numerous hit songs, including
classics such as "Daydream," "Do You Believe in Magic," "Nashville
Cats," "Summer in the City" and "Welcome Back." In addition
to having been the leader of the Lovin’ Spoonful, a soloist at the 1969 Woodstock
Festival and featured artist on countless albums and tours, John’s expert blues
harp playing has accompanied Willie Dixon, Mississippi John Hurt, Fred Neil,
The Doors and many others. His credits include Gold albums; movie work with Francis
Ford Coppola and Woody Allen; Broadway with Murray Schisgal and Dustin Hoffman;
music for animation by Nelvana; and children's television work for The Disney
Channel. He is the author of a children's book called "J. B.'s Happy Harmonica," and
currently leads The J Band, with whom he records for Shanachie Records. John
and the Spoonful were inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.
During the past forty years, Happy Traum's avid interest in traditional and contemporary
music has brought him recognition as a performer, writer, editor, folklorist,
teacher and recording artist. He has performed extensively throughout the U.S.,
Canada, Europe, Australia and Japan, and has appeared on recordings as a featured
artist, as a member of various ensembles, and as an accompanist. He has played
and recorded with Bob Dylan, Chris Smither, Maria Muldaur, Eric Andersen, Rory
Block, Jerry Jeff Walker, Allen Ginsberg, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel
and innumerable others. Happy is the author of more than a dozen best-selling guitar instruction books, has written numerous magazine columns and articles, and for three years was editor of Sing Out! The Folksong Magazine. He and his brother, Artie Traum, have been playing as a duo since 1968. Their first two Capitol albums, "Happy And Artie Traum" and "Double Back," are widely considered to be classics. Long-time residents of Woodstock, NY, Happy and Artie co-produced several important records for Rounder, featuring some of the area's finest folk and rock musicians. These included "Mud Acres, Music Among Friends" and "Woodstock Mountains." Happy and Artie's album "Hard Times In The Country" featured liner notes by Allen Ginsberg. In 1993, Happy and Artie released their latest duet album, "The Test Of Time," featuring traditional and contemporary songs backed up by some of Woodstock's finest musicians.
Happy's solo albums include "Relax Your Mind," "American Stranger," "Bright Morning Stars" and "Friends And Neighbors." A compilation CD, "Buckets Of Songs," has been released by Shanachie Records. In 2001, “Bright Morning Stars” was reissued in CD format in the U.S. (Lark’s Nest Music) and in Japan (Slice of Life Records).
Perhaps Happy Traum's most important and lasting musical contribution has been Homespun Tapes, which he and his wife Jane founded in 1967. This dynamic and growing mail order company has a catalog of approximately 400 different music instruction lessons on audio cassette, CD and video tape, taught by top professional performing musicians. Happy produces all of the lessons, and brings to Homespun his many years of experience as a popular and productive member of the music community.