The biography of one-fourth of the famed Weavers, who brought
social-minded, topical singing to TV and nightclubs throughout
America in the early 50's. Willens, a columnist, lyricist, and
playwright, was under Hays' wing in the mid-50's as a member of the
recording group "The Babysitters." Many recall the 60's wave of
revolutionary folk-singers - Dylan, Paxton, Baez, et al. - as the
epitome of social conscience, but two decades earlier, their
spiritual teachers - Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Cisco Houston,
Leadbelly - were roaming the land preaching in melody the gospel of
unionism and socialism. Hays, a big, burly southerner out of
Arkansas, was one of those early giants (composer of "If I Had A
Hammer," "Wasn't That A Time?." and "Lonesome Traveler," among
others). Willens narrates his story in a warts-and-all fashion,
befitting a figure who thrice was jettisoned by Pete Seeger (that
gentle soul) for irresponsibility toward their singing groups (the
40's "Almanacs" and the 50's "Weavers"). Overweight, drinking too
much, suffering in later years from diabetes, Hays lived a
catch-as-catch-can existence that was always irksome to others of a
more regular nature. Still, he made a lot of the most modest of
beginnings. By age 12, he had already lived in five different
Arkansas towns, and, shortly after that, his father died a gruesome
death in a car crash. Fated to become one of the forgotten workers
of which he later sang with such gusto, Hays turned a page's job in
a Cleveland library into an opportunity to read all of the great
literature of the world for free - which got him off and running.
But there is tragedy here, too, as Lee's and the other Weavers'
leftist associations left them easy prey for the infamous blacklist
days of McCarthy. Willens' approach, while paying heed to Hays'
character flaws, is distinctly awestruck, a literary rendering of
the glory days of folk music before the image-makers took over and
packaged our entertainers. (Kirkus Reviews)
During the Great Depression, Lee Hays, the son of a Southern
Methodist minister, used his music to life the hearts of
sharecroppers and miners and union organizers. He helped bring
black music to America's consciousness. He could make people laugh
in times when there seemed little to laugh about. An Arkansas
traveler and radical minstrel, he commented wryly on events and
impaled reactionary southern congressmen on their own words. A kind
of Mark Twain of the left, people said. But Lee Hays, for all his
great size and talents and humor, was also a difficult man, plagued
by self-doubts and a driving need to discombobulate any person or
group that struck him as self-satisfied."" "Lonesome Traveler" is
the story of a prodigious talent with a zeal for changing the
world. With Pete Seeger he formed the popular folksinging group the
Weavers, which sang songs of social justice just as a tidal wave of
red-hunting hit America. The rest of his legendary story will
anger, touch, and delight.
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