Image Union, episode 0004: People And Their Music

Compilation episode of Image Union called "People and Their Music," featuring a documentary about fiddlers by Victoria Hamburg, Dana Hodgdon, and John Peaslee, "Celebrating Fifty Years of Tamburitza Music" by Mirko Popadic and Gordana Trbuhovich Grasa, "Chicago Blues" by Jim Passin and Nancy Grosse, "It Ain't City Music" by Tom Davenport, a tribute to Chicago blues by Raul Zaritsky, Jim Morrissette, and Linda Williams, "Music from the Heart" by Victoria Spivey, and "The Luckies" by Fred Colon.

00:00Copy video clip URL Commercials for previous/upcoming shows.

01:23Copy video clip URL Image Union opening sequence.

02:30Copy video clip URL Old time fiddler’s convention in Union Grove, North Carolina. An older man talks about learning to play drums in the army and his history in music. He plays “Roving Gambler” on the harmonica and sings. J.P. Frehley plays “Wild Rose of the Mountain” on the fiddle with his wife accompanying him on guitar.

7:50Copy video clip URL The next fiddler, Tiny Pruitt, plays “Lee Highway Blues” with guitar accompaniment.

10:06Copy video clip URL The reserve fiddler of the festival (2nd best) is Tiny Pruitt. He receives his award. The winner of the festival is J.P. Frehley. For the finale, the Rocky Mountain Boys, take the stage and play “Hitchhiker’s Blues.” By Victoria Hamburg, Dana Hodgdon, and John Peaslee.

14:10Copy video clip URL “Celebrating Fifty Years of Tamburitza Music.” Lexington House, Hickory Hills, September 17, 1978. Footage of Tamburitza players on Chicago’s south side. The Kapugi Brothers, Tamburitza wonders, thank the party for joining them for their 50th anniversary. Marty Kapugi really livens up the crowd with a few jokes before the band breaks into song. They play two classics, then a large crowd gathers to play lively songs onstage. By Mirko Popadic and Gordana Trbuhovich Grasa.

24:49Copy video clip URL “Chicago Blues” excerpt, Jim Passin, Nancy Grosse, May 1978. Shot in Jimmy Walker’s basement, Woodlawn, Chicago. Jimmy Walker talks about the blues and plays music with his drummer, Mickey Martin, in his basement.

29:25Copy video clip URL “It Ain’t City Music” by Tom Davenport. Filmed at the National Country Music Contest, Warrenton, Virginia. A man says, “Country music is everybody’s music… Now they got the big cities, so they’re taking the country music uptown… You sit on your back porch, fight the flies and play-that’s country music.” People gather from all over for a huge country music festival. Groups rehearse for the big contest, sometimes less than five feet from one another.

37:00Copy video clip URL Mid-program identification.

37:25Copy video clip URL Excerpt from Raul Zaritsky, Jim Morrissette, and Linda Williams’ tribute to Chicago Blues. Arvella Gray is a 72-year-old blind street singer who performs on Maxwell Street. Gray sings a song about riding the B&O Railroad and getting moved around by a roustabout. He sings acapella folk-blues accompanied by claps. He follows the song up with John Henry, self-accompanied on guitar. He talks about making a living playing on the street.

45:10Copy video clip URL “Music From The Heart.” Victoria Spivey, who died in 1976, sings the blues at a women’s music festival in Champaign, IL. Black and white footage of women gathering. Several women talk about the excitement of being at an event with so many other girls. One older woman says, “They’re more free and open and happy than I was at their age.” Interviews are intercut with women singing. Malvina Reynolds (1902-1977), an older woman, sings a song accompanied on guitar for a group of girls. Holly Near talks about music as a tool to organizing women. By Sharon Karp, 1977, BattleAxe Productions.

55:35Copy video clip URL “The Luckies.” A Puerto Rican band plays at Luckies Social Club on Chicago’s Northwest side. By Fred Colon.

59:45Copy video clip URL End credits.

1:02:34Copy video clip URL End of tape.