GBH Openvault
Say Brother; Roots Music; Larry Johnson and Jack Jackson perform "John Henry"
Part of Say Brother.
03/07/1974
Larry Johnson is a New-York-City-based blues singer and acoustic guitarist; John Jackson a Virginia-based rural blues singer, who, like Leadbelly, accompanies himself on guitar. Together they perform "John Henry" in the studio. The program overall focuses on three performers of "roots" (or blues) music, a community-based, Black art form originating in the United States. Host Topper Carew conducts a group interview with three blues musicians: Victoria Spivey (a New-York-City-based urban blues vocalist in the tradition of Bessie Smith), Larry Johnson (a New-York-City-based blues singer and acoustic guitarist), and John Jackson (a Virginia-based rural blues singer, who, like Leadbelly, accompanies himself on guitar). Program includes musical performances by each musician, including "Black Snake Blues" (Spivey), "Charlie Stone" (Johnson), "Key to the Highway" (Johnson), and "John Henry" (Jackson and Johnson). Interview segments revolve around the questions of how the musicians started playing, who their influences are, and African American musical traditions. Produced by Topper Carew. Directed by Conrad White.
License Clip
- Series
- Say Brother
- Program
- Roots Music
- Program Number
318
- Title
Larry Johnson and Jack Jackson perform "John Henry"
- Series Description
Say Brother is WGBH's longest running public affairs television program by, for and about African Americans, and is now known as Basic Black. Since its inception in 1968, Say Brother has featured the voices of both locally and nationally known African American artists, athletes, performers, politicians, professionals, and writers including: Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, Thomas Atkins, Amiri Baraka, Doris Bunte, Julian Bond, Stokely Carmichael, Louis Farrakhan, Nikki Giovanni, Odetta Gordon, Henry Hampton, Benjamin Hooks, Jesse Jackson, Hubie Jones, Mel King, Eartha Kitt, Elma Lewis, Haki Madhubuti, Wallace D. Muhammad, Charles Ogletree, Babatunde Olatunji, Byron Rushing, Owusu Sadaukai, and Sonia Sanchez. Series release date: 7/15/1968
- Program Description
Program focuses on three performers of "roots" (or blues) music, a community-based, Black art form originating in the United States. Host Topper Carew conducts a group interview with three blues musicians: Victoria Spivey (a New-York-City-based urban blues vocalist in the tradition of Bessie Smith), Larry Johnson (a New-York-City-based blues singer and acoustic guitarist), and John Jackson (a Virginia-based rural blues singer, who, like Leadbelly, accompanies himself on guitar). Program includes musical performances by each musician, including "Black Snake Blues" (Spivey), "Charlie Stone" (Johnson), "Key to the Highway" (Johnson), and "John Henry" (Jackson and Johnson). Interview segments revolve around the questions of how the musicians started playing, who their influences are, and African American musical traditions.
- Asset Type
Clip
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- Music--Performance
- Blues (Music)
- Blues musicians
- African American musicians
- African American singers
- Spivey, Victoria
- Jackson, John, 1924-2002
- Johnson, Larry, 1938-
- Genres
- Magazine
- Topics
- Race and Ethnicity
- Creators
- Carew, Topper (Producer)
- White, Conrad (Director)
- Barrow-Murray, Barbara (Associate Producer)
- Contributors
- Carew, Topper (Host)
- Johnson, Henry (Filmmaker)
- Cross, June (Assistant To The Producer)
- Davis, Tony (Assistant To The Producer)
- Publication Information
- WGBH Educational Foundation
- Citation
- Chicago: “Say Brother; Roots Music; Larry Johnson and Jack Jackson perform "John Henry",” 03/07/1974, GBH Archives, accessed December 21, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_41BE3586AA204083A3B2EB2528919373.
- MLA: “Say Brother; Roots Music; Larry Johnson and Jack Jackson perform "John Henry".” 03/07/1974. GBH Archives. Web. December 21, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_41BE3586AA204083A3B2EB2528919373>.
- APA: Say Brother; Roots Music; Larry Johnson and Jack Jackson perform "John Henry". Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_41BE3586AA204083A3B2EB2528919373