The Broadside Singers
The Broadside Singers were a group of nine singer-songwriters who had songs published in Broadside. They were not identified on the recordings.
The Best of Broadside: 3. "Paths of Victory"
"Paths of Victory" is one of Bob Dylan's early compositions. He didn't release it commercially until 1991. He performed it on a Westinghouse television special in 1963. After its appearance in Broadside, the song was picked up and performed by many other folk performers. The Broadside Singers chose to record it as part of their session for Broadside Ballads, Volume 3.
The singers at this session, organized by Phil Ochs, were Patrick Sky, Len Chandler, Tom Paxton, David Blue, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Peter La Farge, Pete Seeger, Eric Andersen, and Ochs. The song's hymn-like quality owes to its derivation from an old spiritual, "Deliverance Will Come (The Wayworn Traveler)," with its chorus, "then palms of victory, crowns of glory, palms of victory I shall wear." The hymn is sometimes credited to Methodist Minister John B. Matthias (1767-1848) and had been recorded by country artists such as the Carter Family and Uncle Dave Macon.
The Best of Broadside: 6. "The Times I've Had"
This antiwar song was recorded in a Broadside Singers session with Phil Ochs leading the group. The song was written by Mark Spoelstra, who recalls this as one of his early compositions. He remembered traveling to Ohio for a concert with Rambling Jack Elliott. On the way back, they stopped for refreshments and ran across a group of young men in army fatigues talking about how they could not wait to go to war -- a feeling that was in direct conflict with Spoelstra's own feelings and ideology (personal communication, 2000).
The Best of Broadside: 38. "Father's Grave"
This song was written when Len Chandler accompanied Cordell Reagon (1943-1996) to visit his family home. Reagon was the leader of the Freedom Singers and an active member of SNCC. Len Hunter Chandler, Jr., (1935- ) was born and raised in Akron, Ohio. He began his music career with piano at age eight, moving to the oboe in high school in order to join the band. In his senior year of high school, he joined the Akron Symphony Orchestra. While in college, one of his professors introduced him to folk music and artists such as Josh White and Lead Belly.
After he moved to New York City to pursue a master's degree at Columbia University, he started playing folk music at Washington Square Park. After learning to play the guitar, he landed a steady gig at the Gaslight and began to play at other clubs in Greenwich Village. Chandler became increasingly involved in the Civil Rights Movement and wrote his first topical song in 1962. He attended a conference with other freedom singers in Atlanta in 1964 and was inspired by what he heard there. He spent many weeks in the South involved in demonstrations and marches for equal rights for African Americans.
The Best of Broadside: 42. "Carry It On Gil"
Gil Turner spent many months in the South as a song leader during the civil rights era; and this is probably his most famous song from that period.
The Best of Broadside: 50. "More Good Men Going Down"
There are many songs about the dangers of working in the coal mines. This one was written by S. David Cohen (1941-1982), who was better known throughout his career by the stage name David Blue. Blue was a cohort of both Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs and was one of the writers who hung around Greenwich Village in the early 1960s. He recorded for Elektra, Reprise, and Asylum Records. His song "Wanted Man" was recorded by the Eagles. This song was recorded as part of the Broadside Singers' 1964 session; Pat Sky sings the lead vocal.
Text extracted from the notes by Jeff Place accompanying The Best of Broadside.
Smithsonian Folkways recording featuring The Broadside Singers
Broadside Ballads Vol.3 (FW05303)