Yesterday I received one of those cool out of the blue emails that one sometimes receives as a result of having a blog with an email address attached to it.
H. Jerusha Korim wrote to me to say that she and her husband had been watching Reverand Gary Davis and Mississippi John Hurt on YouTube, which led them to start singing "Oh What a Beautiful City" together, which led them to go back on line in search of alternative lyrics for "Oh What a Beautiful City, which led them to me, presumably first here and then here.
Now the reason why I'm telling you all of this is that it seems to me that anyone who hasn't seen the Reverend Gary Davis clip on YouTube ought to check it out. The clip is of Davis singing "Children of Zion" on Rainbow Quest, Pete Seeger's short lived TV show from the mid-60s. Reverend Gary Davis is mesmerizing and, as an added bonus, Pete joins in on his banjo towards the end. Anybody want to hazard a guess at who the two younger musicians are, looking on from the side? The one on the bench looks like he is having a life changing experience.
By the way, H. Jerusha Korim is a recording artist. She records and performs as Jerusha. You can find her CD and listen to some clips over at CD Baby. Her stuff sounds quite cool.
UPDATE: In the comments, Michael figured out that the two younger guys looking on at Rev. Gary Davis are Donovan (w/the big hair) and Shawn Phillips (on the bench).
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I, too, found that video on YouTube not so long ago, and it is something else. I will try to embed a great Mississippi John Hurt one below.
The closer of them is Donovan. Here is evidence. From here, the other one must be Shawn Phillips although I do not know who he is.
Great internet research, Michael. Thanks for piecing together the answer to my question.
I know the MS John Hurt videos, too. There are at least two that I’ve seen, also from Rainbow Quest, if I recall correctly. Definitely worth mentioning them, I agree.
Very nice post. Thank you!