re: Old Timey -- a thread for pre-rock country, folk, and blues

To Hear Your Banjo Play (1947 short film)



I admit I'm a bit over my time boundaries here, but this is a special film for those interested in the music of the period (so please don't RA me)

I don't know how much film footage exists of Woody Guthrie ("This Land Is your Land") performing, but I doubt if there's a whole lot. That's what makes this late '40s short so great, as you get to see this iconic figure in action. In one number he's accompanied by the legendary duo of Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry.


Woody Guthrie (left) in To Hear Your Banjo Play



The narration, written by archivist Alan Lomax and spoken by Pete Seeger -- both legendary figures as well -- is predictably academic and rather patronizing, but at least it treats the music and culture with respect, which was fairly rare in those days.





Cinematographer Richard Leacock -- who just died last year -- would become a major player in the cinema verite movement and shot the famous rockumentary Monterrey Pop. Co-director Irving Lerner would later direct the classic noir B movie Murder By Contract.