Gordon Bok (born October 31, 1939) is an American folklorist and singer-songwriter, who grew up in Camden, Maine and is associated with music from New England.

Career

Bok's first album, self-titled, was produced by

Noel Paul Stookey Noel Paul Stookey (born December 30, 1937) is an American singer-songwriter who was famous for being in the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary; however, he has been known by his first name, Noel, throughout his life. Nowadays, he continues to w ...

(Paul of

Peter, Paul, and Mary Peter, Paul and Mary was an American folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival phenomenon. The trio consisted of tenor Peter Yarrow, baritone Paul Stookey, and contralto Mary Travers. The group's reperto ...

) 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 capita ...

-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 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 A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

. 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 recreati ...

and other sea-folk. At times (especially in the 1970s), he reaches into the wealth of sea myth of the North Atlantic. 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 Edward William Bok (born Eduard Willem Gerard Cesar Hidde Bok) (October 9, 1863 – January 9, 1930) was a Dutch-born American editor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. He was editor of the ''Ladies' Home Journal'' for 30 years (1889–1919). He ...

, the cousin of

Derek Bok Derek Curtis Bok (born March 22, 1930) is an American lawyer and educator, and the former president of Harvard University. Life and career Bok was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Following his parents' divorce, he, his mother, brother and siste ...

, 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 Ruth Moore (1903–1989) was an important Maine writer of the twentieth century. She is best known for her honest portrayals of Maine people and evocative descriptions of the state. Now primarily thought of as a regional writer, Moore was a sign ...

'' (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 Cindy Kallet is an American folk singer-songwriter from New England. She currently performs solo, with Grey Larsen, and as part of the trio of Kallet, Epstein & Cicone. Her first album, ''Working on Wings To Fly'' (1981), had songs about Martha ...

) * ''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 Ariz ...

, ''The Old Songs'' (1975) * Anne Dodson, ''From Where I Sit'' *

, ''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