Tue 16 Nov 2010
Ramblin’ Jack Elliott takes turns performing with Corey Goodman and Maria Muldaur at amazing fundraiser in Marshall
Posted by DavidMitchell under General News
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Sunday’s Trailer Stash, a musical fundraiser at Marconi Conference center to buy supplies for the Marshall Disaster Council’s emergency trailer, turned into a star-studded event.
Ted Anderson’s traditional Irish music, followed by Ingrid Noyes and the Marshall Community Chorus and Kazoo Band, began the bash, which ended with two songs by legendary folksinger Maria Muldaur. As a fundraiser, the event was both a musical and financial triumph. More than $2,500 was raised to outfit the trailer.
Maria Muldaur, who is probably still best known for her 1974 recording of Midnight at the Oasis, continues touring and dropped by with no advance publicity. She and another folk music great, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, together sang Richland Woman Blues by Mississippi John Hurt. She also treated the audience in the center’s Buck Hall to an a cappella version of It’s a Blessing by Mississippi Fred McDowell. In 2005, she recorded this “field holler,” as she called it, with Bonnie Raitt.
Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, who happens to live in Marshall, likewise performed with little advance notice (except on this blog). Ramblin’ Jack played San Francisco Bay Blues accompanied by Corey Goodman on piano and sang the traditional song The Cuckoo, She’s a Pretty Bird, accompanied only by himself.
There were other surprises as well. The boogie and ragtime music of a young pianist named George Fenn greatly impressed the crowd, who responded with enthusiastic applause.
Two organizers of the event, Paul Kaufman (on piano) and Kristi Edwards (on flute), performed a happy parody of the 1926 song It All Depends on You. (“I can be happy, I can be sad, I can be good, I can be bad, It all depends on you. I can be lonely out in a crowd, I can be humble, I can be proud, It all depends on you.”)
In Paul and Kristi’s version, which the audience joined in singing, the words were: “We can be safe, We can be glad, We can be nervous, And we can be sad, It all depends on you. We will need lanterns, We will need shovels, Bolt cutters, hammers, To fix our hovels, It all depends on you.”
I happened to be sitting in the second row when Rick Pepper of Marshall (on steel guitar), accompanied by David Harris (on harmonica), cut loose with some gravelly voiced blues.
Not long after Pepper began belting out two Robert Johnson songs, someone sat down beside me.
I was concentrating on the performance, so I didn’t immediately look over to see who it was.
When I finally took a moment to see who had joined me in the second row, I discovered it was Ramblin’ Jack. “This is great,” exclaimed the Grammy Award winner as he listened to Rick and David.
A bit of a surprise for those who do not know him well, Corey Goodman, chairman of Marin Media Institute which has bought The Point Reyes Light, is also a first-rate jazz pianist.
The biotech entrepreneur from Marshall is perhaps best known in West Marin for being the first to expose Park Service misrepresentations regarding the Drakes Bay Oyster Company.
Corey is seen performing with Tim Weed, West Marin’s accoustic virtuoso, who plays everything from guitar to classical banjo. Tim’s collection of classical works for the five-string banjo, Milagros, is regularly featured on National Public Radio.
Also a singer and songwriter, Tim performs in many places. This Sunday, Nov. 21, he’s scheduled to play from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Station House Café.
Despite having a magnificent lineup, the Trailer Stash fundraiser didn’t draw a huge crowd. I’d guess only 75 to 100 folks found their way to this extraordinary concert, and notwithstanding the similarity of names, none was trailer park trash.
Hello to all my West Marin friends. Glad to see my old friend Ramblin’ Jack is still around and making music. Same goes for Rick Pepper and Ingrid Noyes. Lived for some years in Tomales and the Mendoza ranch in Marshall. Been in Costa Rica for 15 years now. Didn’t know you were still around, Dave. Figured you went somewhere a little warmer when you sold the paper. Please tell Jack if you see him Michael (friend of Kurt’s) said hello. Same for Rick and Ingrid..