Monday, April 14, 2014

The Ballad of Geeshie and Elvie, NY Times

I know, I know: after warning you of reduced posting, here I go again.

But seriously: if you haven't read the fabulous Ballad of Geeshie and Elvie, which ran in yesterday's NY Times Magazine, do yourself a huge favor and run right over there. It is a great story: music, obsessive collectors, mystery, friendship, and John McPhee-level journalism.

3 comments:

Chanterelle said...

Agree -- a fascinating lost tale, a wonderful read, and I love the links to the recordings.

Anonymous said...

Fascinating. I knew nothing of these performers until I first heard the Kronos arrangement of "Last Kind Words" not long ago (I'd seen "Crumb", but the music in its original form washed off me entirely), and I had to look Wiley up to mention her in a review.

Two things undiscussed in the article which strike me:

1) Evidently there were several more than the original 3 records, now completely lost - unless they're still hiding out there somewhere?

2) If McCormick has long been famous in the field for his hoard of unreleased data, why didn't somebody think of poking him about these women long ago?

Lisa Hirsch said...

"Lost recordings" can always be out there somewhere. Do you know the story of the Julius Block cylinders?

Re McCormick, it's possible people have tried to poke him and he wouldn't talk. He is STILL not talking in full. I wish he would do a complete brain dump on tape or something because he is not getting any younger.