Wasn't That a Time?: The Best of the Weavers

Wasn't That a Time?: The Best of the Weavers Artist: The Weavers
Label: Umvd Import
Category: Music



Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1


UPC: 008811166625
EAN: 0008811166625
ASIN: B000024SZ4


Release Date: 1997-06-27

Related Categories:

General General
Related | Folk | Styles | Music
Traditional Folk Traditional Folk
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Tracks:

  1. On Top Of Old Smokey
  2. Hard, Ain't It Hard
  3. Goodnight Irene
  4. Around The Corner (Beneath The Berry Tree)
  5. Old Paint (Ride Around Little Dogies)
  6. (The Wreck Of The) John B.
  7. The Roving Kind
  8. Tzena, Tzena, Tzena
  9. Wimoweh
  10. Kisses Sweeter Than Wine
  11. So Long (It's Been Good To Know You)
  12. Midnight Special
  13. Rock Island Line
  14. Sylvie
  15. Lonesome Traveller
  16. When The Saints Go Marching In
  17. Bay Of Mexico
  18. Hush Little Baby
  19. I Know Where I'm Going
  20. Suliram
  21. Along The Colorado Trail
  22. Greensleeves (Instrumental)

Similar Items:

  1. The Weavers at Carnegie Hall
  2. The Weavers at Carnegie Hall, Vol. 2
  3. Songs of Protest
  4. American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 3
  5. The Weavers - Greatest Hits

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Another solid collection of the best of the Weavers.......2005-08-03

Little did I know when I was growing up listening to the Smothers Brothers do their versions of "Tzena Tzena," "Michael Row the Boat Ashore," and "Marching to Pretoria" that the boys were doing songs they had learned from the Weavers. Now I know that even if you ignored the folk music revival you have probably heard songs the Weavers were doing in the 1950s, albeit by different names. You might not recognize "Wimoweh," but you have heard a version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," while "Wreck of the John B." is probably more familiar as "Sloop John B." But it is folk artists such as Peter, Paul & Mary that have kept alive a lot of the songs the Weavers made popular (e.g., "If I Had a Hammer").

The Weavers were Pete Seeger, tenor and banjo; Ronnie Gilbert, alto; Lee Hays, baritone and bass; and Fred Hellerman, baritone and guitar. "Wasn't That a Time: The Best of the Weavers" is one of several solid collections of the songs this seminal folk group made popular. This 22-track collection should not be confused with the larger box set also entitled "Wasn't That a Time." Still, this has the core songs that are on anybody's short list of Weavers songs, which would be the ones mentioned above plus "On the Top of Old Smokey," "Goodnight Irene," "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine," "The Midnight Special," "Rock Island Line," "Lonesome Traveler," and "When the Saints Go Marching In." Really, the only song that I can say is missing that would be on my list is "Follow the Drinking Gourd," but that is not enough to quibble and if that song is high up on your list keep looking because it is out there to be found.

The other part of the equation is that this collection offers some other songs by the Weavers that do not pop up as often, such as "Around The Corner (Beneath The Berry Tree)," "Old Paint (Ride Around Little Dogies)," and "Along the Colorado Trail," all of which serve to remind you how subversive this group was and why they were denounced as Communist sympathizers (I find it interesting that the Weavers were also denounced by the left for being sellouts at the same time they were being viewed with suspicion by the right because of their politics). Unfortunately, if you are hoping to hear what all the fuss was about in terms of the political controversy, forget about it. For that you probably have to check out the solo recordings of Seeger, who would continue to be political thorn in the side of the system for some time to come.

5 out of 5 stars You can't go wrong with this set!.......2000-10-06

This 4 CD set covers the gamut of the Weavers career, and contains versions of just about all the hit songs that are associated with them. While disk 3 that features Erik Darling in place of Pete Seeger is a bit weaker, if you want a smattering of all phases of their career, this is the definitely the set to get. The booklet that comes with this set contains recent interviews with the (surviving) Weavers, and is also worthwhile.

If you already know that you like (or love) the Weavers, than I would say Go for It!

Music CD:

  1. At It Again ~ John Carty
  2. The Incredible String Band ~ The Incredible String Band
  3. The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion ~ The Incredible String Band
  4. The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter ~ The Incredible String Band
  5. Acoustic Years 1993-97 ~ Albion Band
  6. What If a Day... ~ Whirligig
  7. It Don't Bother Me ~ Bert Jansch
  8. Momentum ~ Deep Sky Divers
  9. A New Tradition ~ Tanteeka
  10. The New Fast Lane ~ Deep Sky Divers

Music CD

Music CD

Music CD

River Sessions ~ Gordon Giltrap

Smokin' Valves: The Anthology ~ Holocaust

Shift ~ Nasum

I Grandi Successi Di Iva Zaniccchi ~ Iva Zanicchi

Calligraphies Vocales: l'Art du Chant Classique Persan ~ Ali Reza Ghorbani

Sus Canciones mas grandes ~ Rafael Farina

Best of ~ Kodo

Little Big League ~ Original Soundtrack

Jingle Bells and Other Favorites ~ The Starlite Orchestra

Early Classics ~ Pentangle