Al Brundage and Pete Seeger
Today, it's easy to think of Al Brundage and Pete Seeger as inhabiting two different world, Brundage the popular caller of modern square dances and Seeger the singer and banjo player associated with the folk music community. But in 1946, those two were featured on the first set of records released on the Folkraft label. The four tracks with Brundage's calls can be heard on the Internet Archive and a sample instrumental track is here.
Tony Parkes notes: "At this stage of his career, Al pronounces “promenade” in the French style, though he switches to the long “A” once for comic effect, rhyming it with “lemonade.” He also points out that caller Ed Durlacher helped produce the album; Durlacher was a fan of tune medleys, which helps explain that each dance features two tunes.
The year after this recording, Pete Seeger hosted a program (To Hear Your Banjo Play) that featured a group of dancers from Margot Mayo's American Square Dance Group. Three years years after this recording, in 1949, Brundage attended Lloyd Shaw's summer classes in Colorado Springs; he quickly moved from the style of traditional "Eastern" calls here to embracing the new "Western" style and popularizing it in New England and in his travels as a caller.
Subjects: General - Dance and Culture
Tags: Al Brundage, Folkraft, Pete Seeger
Item Relations
| This Item | is related to | Item: To Hear Your Banjo Play - 1947 |
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Tony Parkes notes: "At this stage of his career, Al pronounces “promenade” in the French style, though he switches to the long “A” once for comic effect, rhyming it with “lemonade.” He also points out that caller Ed Durlacher helped produce the album; Durlacher was a fan of tune medleys, which helps explain that each dance features two tunes.
The year after this recording, Pete Seeger hosted a program (To Hear Your Banjo Play) that featured a group of dancers from Margot Mayo's American Square Dance Group. Three years years after this recording, in 1949, Brundage attended Lloyd Shaw's summer classes in Colorado Springs; he quickly moved from the style of traditional "Eastern" calls here to embracing the new "Western" style and popularizing it in New England and in his travels as a caller.