Logan English
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Logan Eberhardt English (November 29, 1928 – March 9, 1983) was an American
folk singer 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 ...
, poet, actor, and playwright. As MC at Gerde's Folk City in
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
, he was influential in
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 ...
's early career, and also recorded one of the earliest albums produced as a tribute to
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 ...
.


Life

He was born in
Henderson, Kentucky Henderson is a home rule-class city along the Ohio River and is the county seat of Henderson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 28,757 at the 2010 U.S. census. It is part of the Evansville Metropolitan Area, locally known as t ...
, later moving to a farm in Bourbon County. Liner notes for ''Gambling Songs''
Wirz.de, Retrieved 3 April 2014
His mother, Corilla (née Eberhardt), was a former
opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
singer. Both his father, Logan B. English, and his maternal grandfather, Fredrick W. Eberhardt, were
Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
ministers; Eberhardt was a published author, and Logan B. English was a farmer and prominent civic leader. English family papers, 1884-1986, University of Kentucky
Retrieved 3 April 2014
Logan E. English later said that his grandfather's preachings, and the songs of the field hands on his father's farm, were vital in shaping his love of
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 ...
and the
theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
. He attended the Millersburg Military Academy before studying acting and speech at
Georgetown College Georgetown College is a private Christian college in Georgetown, Kentucky. Chartered in 1829, Georgetown was the first Baptist college west of the Appalachian Mountains. The college offers 38 undergraduate degrees and a Master of Arts in educat ...
. After serving in the
US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
in
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
, he returned to complete a
Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
in Fine Arts at
Yale School of Drama The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in e ...
. He started to pursue an acting career in New York, and also began singing traditional folk songs in clubs in
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
and elsewhere. English had what was described as a "startlingly melodious voice, and a winning personality"; he was a talented guitarist, but did not write his own songs. Biography by Bruce Eder
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
. Retrieved 3 April 2014
He began singing professionally in 1956. The following year, he recorded two
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 co ...
s for the Folkways label - ''Kentucky Folk Songs and Ballads'', and ''The Days of '49: Songs of the Gold Rush'', the latter with banjoist Billy Faier - and a third album, ''Gambling Songs'', for the Riverside label. Stefan Wirz, "Logan English: Discography"
Retrieved 3 April 2014
His recordings and regular performances of traditional songs, in New York and
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, helped put many of the traditional songs into wider circulation; his version of "Geordie", for example, was heard by
Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...
who performed and recorded the song in 1962. English performed at the opening night of Gerde's Folk City club in Greenwich Village in 1960, together with Carolyn Hester. Smithsonian Folkways: ''American Folk Ballads''
Retrieved 3 April 2014
He knew
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 ...
through mutual friends Bob and Sid Gleason, and was instrumental in securing Bob Dylan his first appearance at Gerde's in 1961. His widow Barbara Shutner said:
My husband Logan English and I met Bob Dylan at Bob and Sid Gleason's house... One night we were all sitting around and Woody said something like, "Play something" to this kid sitting on the couch. The kid was Bob Dylan, and he sang and it was just beautiful. So Logan said, "I'm working at Gerde's. I'm the MC. We'll get you to play there." So that Monday night, Bob came in and did his first set.
He sang at Carnegie Hall, toured extensively in the US and Canada, Deirdre A. Scaggs, Andrew W. McGraw, ''The Historic Kentucky Kitchen'', University Press of Kentucky, 2013, pp.150-151
Retrieved 3 April 2014
had a radio show on station
WBAI WBAI (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic music. ...
, and appeared in several plays, both on and off-Broadway. He also wrote poetry. Two of his verses, ''The Wind That Shakes The Barley'' and ''Beware You Sons of Sorrow'', appear in ''The Kentucky Anthology: Two Hundred Years of Writing in the Bluegrass State'', in which English is described as "Bourbon County's poet-errant, a man who loved Kentucky but who could never live for very long in the land that formed and nourished him and provided him with material for his poetry, plays and songs." He appeared on several compilations and live recordings of folk music in the early 1960s, including ''The
Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
Treasury of American Folk Music''. In 1962 he recorded the album ''American Folk Ballads'' for Monitor Records. The songs included
sea shanties A sea shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large merchant sailing vessels. The term ''shanty'' most accurately refers to a specific ...
and
children's songs A children's song may be a nursery rhyme set to music, a song that children invent and share among themselves or a modern creation intended for entertainment, use in the home or education. Although children's songs have been recorded and studied ...
, with English writing a short description or story about each song in the
liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desc ...
. He wrote:
From the wild-flower dusks of mountain twilights, out of steamy southern mud-flats and dusty midland prairies, off the sun-silver steel of cinder-blown railroad tracks and out of the chill damps of prison cells - from churches and saloons, cradles and gravesides come the songs of America that must be sung.
He recorded the album ''Logan English Sings the Woody Guthrie Songbag'' for 20th Century Fox Records in 1964. Released three years before Guthrie's death, and described as "an unselfish effort to boost the awareness of the iconic folk legend", it contained versions of thirteen of his songs, and led to English's identification as one of Guthrie's major interpreters. However, English's unwillingness to write his own songs, coupled with a chronic drinking problem, also made it increasingly difficult for him to maintain a successful performing or recording career. He later moved to
Saratoga Springs, New York Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...
, where he taught and gave occasional public performances. In 1974, he released his final album, ''Woody Guthrie's Children's Songs'', for the Folkways label. In 1979, he published a long autobiographical poem, ''No Land Where I Have Traveled: A Kentucky Poem'', which was reprinted in 2001. He also wrote two full-length plays, and was commissioned by the Actors Theatre of Louisville to write a play based on the life of Kentucky politician Cassius Marcellus Clay, which was unfinished at the time of his death. He died in Saratoga Springs in 1983, at the age of 54, when he was hit by an automobile while walking.


Discography

* ''Kentucky Folk Songs and Ballads'' (Folkways, 1957) * ''The Days of '49: Songs of the Gold Rush'' (with Billy Faier) (Folkways, 1957) * ''Gambling Songs'' (Riverside, 1957) * ''American Folk Ballads'' (Monitor, 1962) * ''Logan English Sings The Woody Guthrie Songbag'' (20th Century Fox, 1964) * ''Woody Guthrie's Children's Songs'' (Folkways, 1974)


References


External links


Guide to the English Family papers, 1873-1983
housed at the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center {{DEFAULTSORT:English, Logan 1928 births 1983 deaths American folk singers People from Henderson, Kentucky Military personnel from Kentucky Folk musicians from Kentucky Poets from Kentucky 20th-century American poets 20th-century American singers Singers from Kentucky Folkways Records artists