Tom Winslow
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tom Winslow | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Thomas Griffin Winslow |
| Also known as | Thomas Winslow, "Brother" Tom Winslow |
| Born | 1940 |
| Genre(s) | Blues, Folk, African American music |
| Instrument(s) | singer, guitar, banjo |
| Years active | 1960 to present |
| Label(s) | Biograph |
| Associated acts | Thomasina Winslow, The Winslows, Rev. Gary Davis, Peter Seeger, Al Polito, Guy Davis |
Tom Winslow (born 1940) is a prominent American folk singer and writer, who is best known as a "disciple" of Reverend Gary Davis and a former member of Pete Seeger's band. He has performed with his family as The Winslows and recorded with Al Polito. His career as a performing artist has lasted over forty years. However, he is most notable as the author of Hey Looka Yonder (It's The Clear Water) (It's the Clearwater), a now-classic folk song that has been the anthem of the Sloop Clearwater. While he has toured throughout the United States, he continues to perform in Upstate New York into his 60's.
Tom Winslow is also the father of two other notable performing artists, Thomasina Winslow and Gary Winslow.
Contents |
[edit] Early career
Winslow was a band member - or "disciple" - of the Reverend Gary Davis, a legendary country-folk musician from the first half of the 20th century. He toured throughout the United States during the 1960s and 1970s, sometimes as a solo act, as well as with his family act, The Winslows. In the 1960s, he worked off-season as a construction worker at Albany, New York's Empire State Plaza.[citation needed]
[edit] Hey Looka Yonder (It's the Clearwater)
Winslow's great enduring fame comes from penning and performing the now-classic ballad, Hey Looka Yonder, which is know also as It's the Clearwater and It's the Clear Water. This song, recorded by Biograph Records in 1969, is about the fundraising for the sloop Clearwater, and in particular how "black and white" got together to create a floating environmental education school. Its mission was to clean up the water of then-polluted Hudson River. [1] [2] [3]
This song is significant and historic in several ways:
- It was the first environmental song by an African-american song-writer, predating Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) by two full years.
- It was Peter Seeger's and Tom Winslow's major collaboration.
- It was first recording by the The Winslows -- which included Tom's entire family, including toddler Thomasina Winslow, now a notable blues singer in her own right, singing and playing instruments in the background.
A huge hit for a musical tradition outside of the popular music mainstream, the LP and single of It's the Clearwater are coveted still by collectors of old-time folk music. [4]
[edit] Folk music circuit
Winslow has been part of the folk music circuit for four decades. His music has been described as "classic blues and spirituals" by "a seasoned craftsman". [5]
Tom is an old-school country bluesman, picking and singing in a classic style. He studied with Rev. Gary Davis, collaborated with Pete Seeger, and released an album on the Biograph label. He first came to Saratoga to work with the horses and has for many years enjoyed playing gigs around the area, including at Lena’s.
Winslow was a mentor for a number of musicians, including his children and Guy Davis.[citation needed]
[edit] Recent career
In recent years, Tom has not travelled far from his home in New Baltimore, New York, due to care-taking for his wife, Edral, who passed away in January 2007. [6] Often, he could be seen busking at street fairs such as on Lark Street in Albany, New York or the surrounding towns.[7]
Winslow played frequently at the People's Voices Cafe on 33rd St. in New York City in the 1980s. [8] [9] He has also performed at the Towne Crier Cafe in Beekman, New York. [10]
He was featured on WFMU's program, Shrunken Planet, for a full show. [11]
In 2001, he performed at a Lincoln Center Out of Doors Reverend Gary Davis tribute show, performing with an all-star line-up. [12]
Winslow has performed frequently at Caffe Lena, the folk and blues venue in Saratoga Springs, New York. [13] His most recent show was on September 16, 2007, at which he was joined by his daughter Thomasina Winslow. [14]
He plays regularly in Troy, New York at Washington Park [15] [16] [17] and the Troy Farmer's Market,[18] [19] [20] most recently on April 26, 2008.[21] Tom has been called an "Edu-tainer Par Excellence!" [22] His shows at the Troy Farmer's Market helped earn it the "Best Farmer's Market - Best Goods" awards from Metroland, the Capital District weekly newspaper, and his performance was lauded specifically. [23] He also shared in a "Best live regional entertainment" award. [24]
[edit] Discography
Tom Winslow (Biograph 1969)
- Includes Bring Them Home (a Peter Seeger tune). [25] [26]
Its the Clear Water (Biograph 1969, re-released 1992) BLP-12018
- Available at many places on line. [27] [28] [29] [30] [31]
- This is still sold on Vinyl in 2nd hand stores. [32]
- This is available on MP3 format. [33]
- This is featured on the Clearwater site. [34]
Sunday Morning in Exile (compilation)
- Tom Winslow performs "I The Living". [35]
Al Polito
PBS documentary, 'Til the River Runs Clear (soundtrack)
- Anthem or theme music. [39]
With Gary Winslow:
[edit] References
- ^ History of Biograph records web page
- ^ Seeger Sessions
- ^ Clearwater Music web page
- ^ sample of autographed LP for sale
- ^ Caffe Lena Web site
- ^ See Search engine for deaths
- ^ Lark Street BID official web site Festivals web page
- ^ People's Voice's Cafe web site
- ^ Voice's Cafe history web page
- ^ Town Crier web site
- ^ WFMU Programming list of artists web page
- ^ Lincoln Center Out of Doors web page
- ^ caffe Lena write-up
- ^ Caffe Lena web site calendar page
- ^ Washington Park Association official web site
- ^ Public web calendar
- ^ Washington Park Association newsletter pdf format
- ^ RPI Blog
- ^ Capital Region Living Magazine
- ^ Troy Record web site
- ^ Troy Market official web site. Accessed April 28, 2008.
- ^ City of Troy official web site
- ^ Metroland Best of 2007 article
- ^ Read Media web site
- ^ Seeger Sessions notes
- ^ Democratic Underground web site
- ^ records by mail web site
- ^ MCN.com Music web site
- ^ I-Biblio web site
- ^ Earth Platform web site about Pete Seeger/Tom Winslow's collaboration
- ^ Biograph Records music history web site
- ^ Last Vestige web site
- ^ MP3 web site
- ^ Clearwater official web site Music page
- ^ Digital Podcast of Sunday Morning in Exile
- ^ Al Polito official web site
- ^ Indie 911 directory
- ^ Broad Jam web site
- ^ Shop PBS official web site
