Sing Out, Warning! Sing Out, Love!: The Writings of Lee Hays

Synopsis

For fans and scholars of American Folk Music, particularly the folk song movement, this has some essential reading, much of which has previously not been published. Lee Hays (1914--1981) is remembered today as the bass singer of the Weavers, the popular folksinging quartet that included Pete Seeger and was blacklisted during the early years of the cold war. Hays is especially well known for his collaborations with Seeger on a number of political songs, including "The Hammer Song," and for his central role in producing Wasn't That a Time!, the 1981 film documentary about the Weavers. But he was also a talented, multifaceted writer of prose. In "Sing Out, Warning! Sing Out, Love!" Robert S. Koppelman brings together a selection of Hays's published and unpublished literary output and places the author and his work in historical context. In these writings, Hays emerges as a learned, incisive, and witty advocate of a new aesthetic that he helped introduce to American culture--an aesthetic grounded in the music of both the Methodist church of his father and the black churches of his Arkansas neighbors. Hays honed his participatory, inspirational musical style and his skills as a song leader while working in the southern labor movement, where he became acquainted with the left-wing notion of "Art as a Weapon." Yet as the autobiographical pieces in this collection make clear, it was not until he moved to New York City, teamed up with such iconic folk figures as Woody Guthrie and Seeger, and began performing before a mass public that he fully matured as a musical artist with a political message. In addition to documenting the trajectory of Hays's career, the volume includes samples of his well-crafted work as a writer of fiction and creative nonfiction. Together these writings reveal Hays to be an artist of diverse personal talents and deep social commitment. Robert S. Koppelman is assistant professor of English at Broward Community College and a banjo player and singer.

Copyright:

2003

Book Details

Book Quality:

Excellent

Book Size:

275 Pages

ISBN-13:

9781558494237

Publisher:

University of Massachusetts Press

Date of Addition:

10/17/11

Copyrighted By:

University of Massachusetts Press

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

Entertainment, Nonfiction, Biographies and Memoirs, Music

Submitted By:

Richard James

Proofread By:

Lori C.

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.