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Note-FEATURED SONG---
The Pine Barrens Song
This was the most requested song of my father that I performed. It was used in videos as a sound track and a link to a site where you can find the words, may be found at www.merce-ridgway.com It is a look into the |
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Tuesday, June 27th, 2006
Two Pictures
Outside of the school system, there were only two civil War songs that I heard, while growing up in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. One was Marching through Georgia, and the other was two Pictures. When I published this song with Maramac Recording, I learned that it was originally called Little Boy In Blue and was written by Raymond A. Brown and Theodore F. Morse. My father would play this song with a kind of chopping rhythm. I asked him about that and he said, I think it is supposed to represent the drums beating in the street.
Fiddle--Glen Borden
Harmony Vocal-Banjo Arlene Ridgway
Mandolin--Lenore Franzen
Rhythm Guitar--Tom Gille
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Note-FEATURED SONG---
The Pine Barrens Song
This was the most requested song of my father that I performed. It was used in videos as a sound track and a link to a site where you can find the words, may be found at www.merce-ridgway.com It is a look into the past of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, and the vanishing culture that lived there.
All proceeds from the sale go to my mom,and your donations are appreciated.
---SOMEBODY SWEET---
Dad always sang this song last. It was a love song to mom, and when he sang it ,The concert was over.
Dad said he heard it on the radio one time, but we have never found any trace of it.
Soon, I am going to open an account with isound and my fathers music will cost .99 cents to download. I have published his music by the power of attorney given to me by the holder of his copyrights, My Mother. All funds from any transactions with my Dads music will go to my Mom. She is a dear Lady, 80 years old soon, and I am sure she could use a few extra bucks. More than that, the music my father wrote, had character and grace. It is hard to put it in a class, I would say it is ethnic folk music from the Jersey Pine Barrens and shares traits with country, folk, blues, ect.
---I will be looking at re tagging Dads music as we go along. If you have a problem with tags, let me know and I will get on it.
---Thanks for stopping by, Peace and Good Health to Your Lodge---Merce---
I was born in the New Jersey Pine barrens. I am a third generation Musician from that area. I play Guitar. Banjo, Fiddle, and Mandolin. I played from the Twin Towers in New York, to the Mall in Washington DC. for the Smithsonian. I also played for many schools, colleges, Parks and events up and down the Jersey shore. I am the founder of Albert Hall In Waretown New Jersey, Named the show, The Sounds Of The Jersey Pines, and served as the first and tenth president of the Pinelands Cultural Society, that administers to the show to this day. I had two tapes published by Maramac Recording, which is now defunct. I am the author of a book Called the Bayman and published by down the shore publishing, which recounts my early life as a Bayman on Barnegat Bay.
My goal is to publish the original songs of my father, Merce Ridgway SR., My original music, and some of the traditional music, that I heard a youngster in the Pines of South Jersey. You can find a link there that will lead you to the words and storys that go with this music at www.merce-ridgway.com also check my blog for information on the featured song. Thank you for stopping by---Merce---
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| Tuesday, June 27th, 2006
Two Pictures
Outside of the school system, there were only two civil War songs that I heard, while growing up in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. One was Marching through Georgia, and the other was two Pictures. When I published this song with Maramac Recording, I learned that it was originally called Little Boy In Blue and was written by Raymond A. Brown and Theodore F. Morse. My father would play this song with a kind of chopping rhythm. I asked him about that and he said, I think it is supposed to represent the drums beating in the street.
Fiddle--Glen Borden
Harmony Vocal-Banjo Arlene Ridgway
Mandolin--Lenore Franzen
Rhythm Guitar--Tom Gille
Posted By Merce Ridgway and the Pinehawkers @ 6:22 AM |
| Monday, June 19th, 2006
Two Maidens
This is a neat little tune that I had a few words to, in my head for years. I wasn not sure if it was a new song trying to get out, or part of something I had heard once. One night my father started to play and sing it. He said this is a song my mother used to sing to you when you were a baby. She loved to carry you about singing, and this was her favorite song. At long last the music was resolved in my head. Thank you Grandma Leek.
Posted By Merce Ridgway and the Pinehawkers @ 12:21 PM |
| Monday, June 12th, 2006
Mount Holly Jail
This is another traditional folk song from South Jersey. I learned it from my father, who sang it with the original Pinehawkers in the early 1940's. I was lucky enough to meet DR. Herbert Halpert at a cocktail party, after a performance at Rutgers. He had collected music from the Pine Barrens as a student, and told me it was known as a hard time's song and found pretty much all over the United States. He said it had originally come from England, and proceeded to sing his version of the song. It was the same tune with some different words. He told me it was traditional to sing it and use the name of whatever the local jail was called. In our case it seemed it was the Mount Holly jail in New Jersey that got the honors.
This song was recorded, under my direction, in the temporary Albert Hall in the Waretown Plaza. It was released in a tape, entitled, Songs of The Jersey Pines and Shore, by Mamarac Recording in 1985. For a link to see the original liner and notes, go to
www.merce-ridgway.com
Featured here are,
Merce Ridgway--Guitar--lead vocal
Glen Borden--Fiddle--Harmony vocal
Arlene Ridgway--Vocal
Tom Gille--Guitar
Lenore Franzen--Mandolin--harmony vocal
Joe Horner--Bass
Mary McCrink--Harmony vocals
Russ Horner--Guitar
Posted By Merce Ridgway and the Pinehawkers @ 11:13 PM |
| Friday, June 9th, 2006
Spanish Fandango
This is a traditional tune from the south Jersey shore and Pines area. In the day when the Spanish pirates sailed into Barnegat Bay, they would sometimes have wild party's on Long Beach Island. According to local legends, they would drink, sing, dance and play music. It was an isolated area, but one night some locals happened to be about and crept up on them to watch and listen. One of them remembered this tune from that night and it was played about and passed in that manner down to today. In this version, the banjo was not up enough in the mix. We decided to use it anyway, but down the road I will give you an updated version to enjoy. Thanks for listening---Merce---
Posted By Merce Ridgway and the Pinehawkers @ 11:10 AM |
| Friday, May 26th, 2006
Pine Barrens Music
This is the place to find original and traditional music from the New Jersey pine Barrens. Other folks may be offering music that they say is from the Pine Barrens,But this is the real thing. To find out more about the music you hear on this site, please visit www.merce-ridgway.com I am working on getting my links to work, so please be patient as we go along. Another way to find out more about me, Just go to Google and type in Merce Ridgway. you will see about 3 pages of links that will lead you to sites, including my home page, that I hope you will find interesting.
Posted By Merce Ridgway and the Pinehawkers @ 5:17 AM |
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