Len Chandler (b. 1935)
Len Hunter Chandler, Jr. 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 the 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.
Chandler is currently the director of the Los Angeles songwriters showcase.
Len Chandler. Photo by Diana Davies.
The Best of Broadside: 40. "I'm Going to Get My Baby Out of Jail" with Bernice Johnson Reagon
One of the tactics of the Civil Rights Movement was to get protesters arrested to fill the jails in order to highlight the injustice of segregation laws and the justice system. This song expresses the uncertainty and anxiety faced by the relatives and friends of those taken to jail, many of whom refused to plea bargain. A pregnant Gloria Rackley (now Gloria Rackley Blackwell), a teacher from Orangeburg, South Carolina, went to a white hospital and was arrested for refusing to move to a "colored" waiting room. When the police realized she was pregnant, they lowered her bond, but she refused to pay bail. They gave her a quick trial and a low fine, which she refused to pay. An appeal trial was quickly arranged, and the verdict was reversed. Shortly thereafter, however, both she and her husband were dismissed from their jobs.
Len Chandler used the melody of one of his favorite compositions, "I Had to Stand and Stare," for this song. This was recorded at the November 1964 Broadside Hootenanny.
Text extracted from the notes by Jeff Place accompanying The Best of Broadside.
Smithsonian Folkways recordings featuring Len Chandler:
WNEW's Story of Selma (FW05595)
Lest We Forget Vol.3: Sing for Freedom (FW05488)
Broadside Ballads Vol.6 (FW05315)
Broadside Ballads Vol.3 (FW05305)