Gene Shay (born Ivan Shaner; March 4, 1935 – April 17, 2020) was an American radio personality. Shay was born in Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

to a Jewish family and was a representative of the city's

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

scene. He produced weekly folk radio shows since 1962 (now on

WXPN WXPN (88.5 FM) is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) radio format, along with many other format shows ...

and his final show on WXPN was on February 1, 2015; previously heard on

WDAS-FM WDAS-FM (105.3 MHz) is a commercial radio station, licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It carries an urban adult contemporary radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia. WDAS-FM is widely regarded as one of the originators of the Urban ...

WMMR WMMR (93.3 FM, "93-3 WMMR") is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group, through licensee Beasley Media Group, LLC, and broadcasts an active rock radio format. ...

WIOQ WIOQ (102.1 FM) is a commercial radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station broadcasts a Top 40 (CHR) radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia. The studios and offices are on Presidential Boulevard in Bala Cynwyd. The station c ...

and

WHYY-FM WHYY-FM (90.9 MHz, "91 FM") is a public radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its broadcast tower is located in the city's Roxborough neighborhood at () while its studios and offices are located on Independence Mall in C ...

). A founder of the annual

Philadelphia Folk Festival The Philadelphia Folk Festival is a folk music festival held annually at Old Pool Farm in Upper Salford, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia. The four-night, three-day festival, which is produced and run by the non-profit Philadelphia Fo ...

and its emcee since its inception, he has been called the "Dean of American folk DJs" by '' The Philadelphia Daily News'' and "The Grandfather of Philadelphia Folk Music" by ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

''. Shay also served as a host for the online "Folk Alley" stream originating at

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in ...

station

WKSU WKSU (89.7 FM) is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve Kent, Ohio, featuring a public radio format. Owned by Kent State University and operated by Ideastream Public Media, WKSU's primary signal encompasses the Akro ...

and carried on WXPN's website.

Career

Some of his early recorded interviews with Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, John Denver,

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

, Phil Ochs, Bonnie Raitt and Judy Collins were bootlegged. Shay was the first to bring

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

to Philadelphia in 1963 for his debut concert. As an advertising writer and producer, he wrote the original radio commercials for

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...

. He helped design the famous "smiling banjo" logo for the

and years later came up with the name '' World Cafe'' for the nationally syndicated series produced by WXPN and distributed by

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

. For a few years he edited and published ''Singer-Songwriter'', a newsletter that had subscribers in the United States, Canada and Japan.

Awards and achievements

He received a lifetime achievement award from the Delaware Valley Music Poll in 1994 and was inducted into

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

's Radio, TV & Theater Hall of Fame on October 25, 2005. He was a partner in Sliced Bread Records and produced a number of folk music collections for that label. The most notable may have been ''What's That I Hear, The Songs Of Phil Ochs'', a

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

featuring Phil Ochs songs interpreted by more than a score of popular folksingers, and the ''Philadelphia Folk Festival 40th Anniversary Anthology'', a historic four CD collection of recorded Festival performances from

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

, Bonnie Raitt, Fairport Convention,

John Prine John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. He was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death. He ...

Arlo Guthrie Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his father, Woody Guthrie. Gu ...

and many others. The ''Moses Rascoe Blues'' album he produced for

Flying Fish Records Flying Fish Records was a record label founded in Chicago in 1974 that specialized in folk, blues, and country music. In the 1990s the label was sold to Rounder Records. Bruce Kaplan, the label's founder, was a native of Chicago and the son of ...

was considered for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

nomination. Shay served as a Charter Board Member of the

North American Folk Alliance Folk Alliance International (previously the ''North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance'') is a non-profit organization that produces an annual conference that is the world's largest gathering of the folk music industry and community. Founded ...

, served on the Board of '' Sing Out! Magazine'', the national folk music quarterly founded by

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...

and

in the late 1940s, and he was a voting member on the Board of Governors of NARAS in Philadelphia.

Death

Shay died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania Lower Merion Township is a township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Philadelphia Main Line. The township's name originates with the county of Merioneth in north Wales. Merioneth is an English-language transcription of the ...

, on April 17, 2020, at the age of 85.

References

External links

* (archived)
Gene Shay on Facebook
* * ''Gene Shay's secrets of magic'' ( Running Press), 1977, {{DEFAULTSORT:Shay, Gene 1935 births 2020 deaths Temple University alumni Radio personalities from Philadelphia American Jews American radio personalities Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania