Gordon Bok (born October 31, 1939) is an American folklorist and singer-songwriter, who grew up in

Camden Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Places Australia * Camden, New South Wales * Camden, Rosehill, a heritage res ...

, Maine and is associated with music from New England.

Career

Bok's first album, self-titled, was produced by Noel Paul Stookey (Paul of Peter, Paul, and Mary) and released in 1965 on the

Verve Records Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simon ...

' Verve Folkways subsidiary. His second album, ''A Tune for November'', was released on Sandy Paton's

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

-based Folk-Legacy label in 1970. His association with Folk-Legacy has continued since that time, though his more recent work (from the early 1990s on) has been released on his own label, Timberhead Music. Some of his best-known work was done as part of a trio with Ed Trickett and Ann Mayo Muir, Trickett accompanying with the

hammered dulcimer The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion- stringed instrument which consists of strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who in more tra ...

and guitar and Muir with the harp and flute. Bok is a deep bass and plays six-string guitar (both the steel-string acoustic guitar and the nylon-string classical guitar) and 12-string guitar. He also plays a self-built instrument he calls the "cellamba," a six-string, fretted cello. As a songwriter, Bok draws on his experience in and around the working boat culture of the

Gulf of Maine , image = , alt = , caption = , image_bathymetry = GulfofMaine2.jpg , alt_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = Major features of the Gulf of Maine , location = Northeast coast of the ...

. His lyrics include stories of

fishermen A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recre ...

and other sea-folk. At times (especially in the 1970s), he reaches into the wealth of sea

myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...

of the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

. In addition to writing songs, he is also a folklorist and gatherer of songs. His repertoire includes contemporary songs from North America, Australia, and the British Isles. Additionally, Bok sings, in the original

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

s, folksongs from Italy, Portugal, Mongolia, French Canada, Latin America, and the Hebrides, among other places, and knows a huge body of old anglophone folklore. Bok is also an artist mainly dealing with sea themes done in

wood carving Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation ...

Personal life

Bok is the grandson of Edward Bok, the cousin of Derek Bok, and the uncle of

Gideon Bok Gideon Bok (born 1966) is an American painter who lives and works in Maine. He earned his B.A. from Hampshire College and his M.F.A. from Yale University. He has gone on to teach painting and drawing at Hampshire, but is on leave from his position. ...

. He is married to Carol Rohl.

Discography

Works alone and with friends

* ''Gordon Bok'' (1965) * ''A Tune for November'' (1970) * ''Peter Kagan and the Wind'' (1971) * ''Seal Djiril's Hymn'' (1972) * ''Cold as a Dog and the Wind Northeast: The Spoken Ballads of Ruth Moore'' (1973) * ''Clearwater'' (1974) * ''Bay of Fundy'' (1975) * ''Clearwater II'' (1977) * ''Another Land Made of Water'' (1979) * ''Jeremy Brown and Jeannie Teal'' (1981) * ''A Rogue's Gallery of Songs for the 12-String'' (1983) * ''Clear Away in the Morning'' (1983, a thematic compilation of previously released work) * ''Ensemble'' (1988) * ''The Play of the Lady Odivere'' (1989) * ''Return to the Land'' (1990) * ''Schooners'' (1992) * ''North Wind's Clearing'' (1995, a thematic compilation of previously released work) * ''Neighbors'' (1996, with Cindy Kallet) * ''Gatherings'' (1998) * ''In the Kind Land'' (1999) * ''Dear to our Island'' (2001) * ''Herrings in the Bay'' (2003) * ''Apples in the Basket'' (2005) * ''Gordon Bok in Concert'' (2006) * ''Other Eyes'' (2010) * ''Because You Asked'' (2012) * ''Then & Now'' (2015) * ''Together Again for the First Time'' (2017)

Works with Ed Trickett and Ann Mayo Muir

* ''Turning Toward the Morning'' (1975) * ''The Ways of Man'' (1978) * ''A Water Over Stone'' (1980) * ''All Shall Be Well Again'' (1983) * ''Fashioned in the Clay'' (1985) * ''Minneapolis Concert'' (live album, 1987) * ''The First 15 Years'' (a 2-vol. comp. from earlier recordings, 1990) * ''And So Will We Yet'' (1990) * ''Language of the Heart'' (1994) * ''Harbors of Home'' (1998)

Other appearances

* Ed Trickett, ''The Telling Takes Me Home'' * Ed Trickett, ''Gently Down the Stream of Time'' * Ann Mayo Muir, ''So Goes My Heart'' *

Margaret MacArthur Margaret MacArthur (7 May 1928 – 23 May 2006) was an American singer and player of the Appalachian dulcimer. Biography Margaret MacArthur was born in Chicago. As a youngster, she moved around with her family - in California, Louisiana, and Ari ...

, ''The Old Songs'' (1975) * Anne Dodson, ''From Where I Sit'' * Cindy Kallet, ''This Way Home'' * The New Golden Ring, ''Five Days Singing'' * The Quasimodal Chorus, ''The Songs of Jan Harmon'' * Cathy Barton, Dave Para & the Paton Family,'' ′Twas on a Night Like This (A Christmas Legacy)'' (1989)

References

External links

Official site for Bok and Timberhead Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bok, Gordon 1939 births Living people American folk musicians People from Camden, Maine Musicians from Philadelphia American baritones Curtis family Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania American folk singers American male singer-songwriters