Show #24: BOB CAREY formerly of The Tarriers
Show #1 of 2
Full Audio & Transcript
Go to the Master List of Shows (Home Page)

Listen to the Show

 (24.:26)

Transcript:

MEL BERNAM (ANNOUNCER): Here is Radio New York Folk Music Worldwide, a program devoted to the best in folk music throughout the world. Showcasing the top performers and authorities in the field. Now your host for Folk Music Worldwide, Alan Wasser.

ALAN WASSER (HOST): Hello again, and welcome to Folk Music Worldwide. With us today in our studios at Radio New York Worldwide is Bob Carey, formally of The Tarriers, now out on his own, a rising name in folk music.

And why don't we play a piece of his music even before we get to talking with him? Here's a good sample, Calumet City.

[Song Performance: "Calumet City", Bob Carey]

Lyrics:

In a town called Calumet City
Yes, I was traveling on my way
Then I ran into a detour
And I'm still here 'til this day

Her hair it was such a light brown color
It's black cherries on the tree
And when I saw this fair young maiden,
I said, yes, you belong to me

When I asked her if she would marry,
Lord, she said I know, yes, I know you're a traveling man
And if you want me, if you want me for your true love,
You have to stay here and hold my hand

Lord, no, I was born in Calumet City
And I was traveling on my way
Then I ran smack dab into a detour
And I'm still right here 'til this day

You know I was born in Calumet City

(end of music)

ALAN WASSER: Calumet City, done by Bob Carey. You know, doing radio shows, we record these things, we usually have no audience at all.

It's not like most going to show business, we can gauge how the performance is going. There's only one person in the audience, the engineer. And in this case, Joe Garafalo. It's fine because he's a very good audience, and I was watching him doing... while the song was on, he was bouncing up and down to the music. It must be a very good song.

BOB CAREY: Yes, I was quite confident. I think the highest compliment can be a man who's in the business who can sit behind that thing over there and to be attached to the music. Thank you very much, Joe.

ALAN WASSER: Bob, where is Calumet City?

BOB CAREY: Calumet City, that's one of the wildest towns... was. I should say past tense. One of the wildest towns right near Chicago.

There was a whole, big scandal out there in Calumet City. And when I worked in Chicago, we took a drive out to Calumet City.

And I just drive through real quickly and drive back to Chicago. And I sort of got the idea for the song from just working in Chicago and driving to Calumet City.

ALAN WASSER: Where did the song come from originally? From Calumet City, written?

BOB CAREY: Now, you really want to get into the folk roots now, I think.

ALAN WASSER: Yeah.

BOB CAREY: Well, let's see. This song comes from a very, very old melody, very old folk melody which we call... I guess it goes back to "East Virginia."

The melody has changed, and of course, the words are changed. But the structure of the song can go back to the old ballad "East Virginia."

ALAN WASSER: Do you do mainly this kind of upbeat music? Do you handle anything different kind of tempo?

BOB CAREY: Yes. Well, I think in a pretty... a nice balanced program, you need some up stuff, and you need a ballad here, or a change of pace of song to get a performance all over well.

When you're working on the floor, you try to open with a song, and you come down a little bit. And then you, say, go into a ballad or a lullaby or something like that.

ALAN WASSER: Well, do you have any good lullabies on this record?

BOB CAREY: I just happen to have a lullaby called "His Majesty." It's a song that a friend of mine wrote. And I've known this song for about five or six years.

And I taught it to my little boy, and he used to sing it to me. I sang it to him, and he sang it to me. And I used to fall asleep, and he was up all night long.

ALAN WASSER: Well, now that we've talked about this long, I'm sure Joe has got it queued up. So Joe, would you like to play "His Majesty"?

[Song Performance: "His Majesty", Bob Carey]

Lyrics:

His majesty sits in the highest chair
He wears his robe with a kingly air
His hear is brown like his mother's hair
And silver is his spoon

His majesty rules with a tiny hand
He doesn't talk, but we understand
His every wish is a sweet command
And he could have the moon

His majesty has a wooly horse
He rides on the nursery path
And every night he inspects his yacht
That floats in the royal bath

His majesty has but a teddy bear,
His greatest friend and his greatest care
And if he wakes, mommy’s there
Long live his majesty

His majesty has that rocking horse
He rides on the nursery path
And every night he inspects his yacht
That floats in the royal bath

His majesty has, oh, but a teddy bear,
His greatest friend and his greatest care
And if he wakes mommy’s there
Long live his maje...
Long live his majesty
Oh, yeah

(end of music)

ALAN WASSER: Bob Carey doing "His Majesty." Bob, it occurs to me the one thing we haven't talk about here, not that we're that far into the show yet, but we haven't talked at all about you. Why don't you give us some idea of your background?

BOB CAREY: Yeah, let's see now. Where do I start? I was born and raised in New York City. And I guess my influence in folk music came through going to camp and listening to my counselor sing.

And then I became very much involved with Josh White. Josh White at that time was the folk singer, and we used to go, all of us, down to town hall and to his concerts. And then we used to go to the wingdings and hootenannies up in Webster Hall where The Weavers first started.

I went to Brooklyn College in New York City, and I was drafted into the army. And I was sent overseas. I was stationed in Germany.

ALAN WASSER: Where were you stationed, by the way? We may have listeners there.

BOB CAREY: Oh, yeah, right. I was stationed in Würzburg, Frankfurt, then Augsburg, right outside of Munich. And it's... I had a ball. It was fantastic.

I'd like to go back again. Luckily, they found out that just before I went into the service, I was on the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scout Show. And I won the show. And they asked me would I perform as a contestant with the all-army talent contest that they have in Europe.

And I performed and I won. And I got to the finals in Munich. I didn't wear a uniform for about six months. I was out singing all over Europe, and it was a ball.

Then I came back to New York City, and I met Erik Darling, who we know is the lead of The Rooftop Singers, his record “Walk Right In”. And Alan Arkin, who is now a big Broadway star with "Exit Laughing" on Broadway.

We got together, and we worked for about, oh, seven or eight months. Nothing really happened. We had a whole pile of material. We couldn't do anything with it. Nobody would record us. We were too far ahead of our time.

And until one company, Glory Records, said, "Okay, we'll sign you." And we put out "The Banana Boat Song" in 1957, and "Cindy, Oh Cindy" with Vince Martin. And all of a sudden, we had great big hit records.

The group, through those years, have changed. Eric Weissberg joined us, who's a fantastic banjo player; Clarence Cooper, who has the most beautiful voice in the world; and Marshall Brickman, who's a very adept musician and a very fine instrumentalist on his own; and myself formed the quartet. And we call ourselves The Tarriers.

Just this past June, I left the group and started working as the emcee of one of the hootenanny shows traveling throughout United States. Right now, I met you at St. John's Folk Contest.

ALAN WASSER: Yeah, perhaps I better establish this. I'd recently judged a folk music contest, or one of the three judges, the folk music contest out at St. John's University in Brooklyn. And Bob was one of the other judges.

And another guy, the third judge was somebody you've already met on Folk Music Worldwide, Izzy Young, who's director of the Folklore Center here in New York, and he was on one of our earliest shows. Anyway, that's how Bob and I decided to do this show.

BOB CAREY: It's great. Thank you, Alan.

ALAN WASSER: I think it's time for some more music, Bob. We've been talking for a while. And I'm curious about this "Writing on the Wall." It's a song I don't know.

BOB CAREY: Yeah, it's a kind of... oh, it's a funny song because I sit and listen to it, too. It says that if you've done anything wrong, you better... you're gonna pay your dues and you might as well realize it.

And it's there. It's there in your mind. The song was written by Bob Gibson, who I think is a very fine... he's a good friend of mine, and also a very fine artist, and Mr. Shel Silverstein, who draws the cartoons for Playboy Magazine. It's kind of a weird combination, but that's another story.

ALAN WASSER: Well, before we get into the other story, why don't we play "Writing on the Wall" as done by Bob Carey?

[Song Performance: "Writing on the Wall", Bob Carey]

Lyrics:

Well, I think I give boys that smile in me
I see the writing on the wall
And I think I see two eyes that beckon me
I see the writing on the wall

It's written, they're written clear and slow
wake up you sinner before you go
You're living high and you're having fun
But pay your dues for the things you've done

I think, I feel a hand that's watching me
I see the writing on the wall

You've never reached out a helping hand
And you close your eyes to the cries of man
Now, read these words and read them well
You're going to burn in the fires of hell

And I think, I feel a spirit move in me
I see the writing on the wall

A hand that's watching me
That spirit move in me
A hand that's blocking me
That spirit move

(end of music)

ALAN WASSER: "The Writing on the Wall" as done by Bob Carey. I think let's take a moment out here for a message. After which, we'll be right back with Bob Carey on more Folk Music Worldwide.

(short pause)

Okay, this is Alan Wasser again back at Folk Music Worldwide. Bob, you may have wondered what this piece of paper in front of me is. This is a letter from Raymond Keys in Peru, Indiana, and I just wanted to thank him very much for the letter.

He mentions the fact he just got a short wave for Christmas, and he was listening to the program and enjoyed it. I enjoyed his letter very much. I hope everybody else out there will write in. Write into Folk Music Worldwide, Radio New York Worldwide, New York 19, New York, USA. That's Radio New York Worldwide, New York 19, New York.

And we really appreciate the letters. Please keep them coming. It's the only way we know to tell if there's anybody out there. And if there is anybody out there, I imagine they're going to want to hear some more music.

Bob, the stuff we've done has been reasonably modern. I see "Twelve Gates to the City" which is about as old and traditional as it can get.

BOB CAREY: Right, right. I still brought this tune up to this sort of modern idiom. I used two guitars, a bass, and a drummer. And I used three girls on this. And it keeps the same feeling, but it has a little modern touch to it.

[Song Performance: "Twelve Gates to the City", Bob Carey]

Lyrics:

Three gates in the east
Three gates in the west
Three gates in the north
Three gates in the south

That makes twelve gates to the city, hallelujah

Oh, what a beautiful city
Oh, what a beautiful city
Oh, what a beautiful city
Twelve gates to the city, hallelujah

Oh, what a beautiful city
Oh, what a beautiful city
Oh, what a beautiful city
Twelve gates to the city, hallelujah

The rich and the poor will be welcome to the city
The strong and the weak will be welcome to the city
The young and the old will be welcome to the city
Twelve gates to the city, hallelujah

Now, oh, what a beautiful city
Oh, what a beautiful city
Oh, what a beautiful city
Twelve gates to the city, hallelujah

You can come up from the north
You can come up from the east
You can come up from the south
You can come up from the west

That makes twelve gates to the city, hallelujah

Now, oh, what a beautiful city
Oh, what a beautiful city
Oh, what a beautiful city
Twelve gates to the city, hallelujah
Twelve gates to the city, hallelujah

(end of music)

ALAN WASSER: "Twelve Gates to the City" done by Bob Carey. Bob, these songs we've been hearing are from, well as I know, an acetate for a record that will be coming out very shortly. You haven't mentioned what the title of the record will be and how they can go about getting it.

BOB CAREY: Oh, let's see. The title will be "The Soul of Folk" by Bob Carey, and probably the quickest way of getting it is to run quickly into your music store and say, "May I have a copy of 'The Soul of Folk' by Bob Carey?" It should be out about the middle of January.

ALAN WASSER: And under what label?

BOB CAREY: Under 20th Century Fox.

ALAN WASSER: Fun. Well, it looks like we've got time for one more song if we move quickly. How about one of my old favorites, "They Call the Wind Mariah."

[Song Performance: "They Call the Wind Mariah", Bob Carey]

Lyrics:

Oh, way out here they got a name
For rain and wind and fire
The rain is Tess, the fire is Joe
And they call the wind Mariah

Mariah blows the stars around
And sends the clouds a-flying
Mariah makes the mountains sound
Like folks were up there dying

Mariah, Mariah
They call the wind Mariah

Before I knew Mariah's name
And heard her wail and whining
I had a girl and she had me
And the sun was always shining

But then one day I left my girl
I left her far behind me
And now I'm lost, yes, so very lost
Not even God can find me

Mariah, Mariah
They call the wind Mariah

Out here they got a name
For wind and fire only
But when you're lost and all alone
There ain't no word but lonely

And I'm a lost and lonely man
Without a star to guide me
Mariah, blow my love to me
I need my girl beside me

Mariah, Mariah
They call the wind Mariah

Mariah, Mariah
They call the wind Mariah

(end of music)

ALAN WASSER: Bob, that was a great rendition of "They Call the Wind Mariah." And we are completely out of time. And all songs we've done in this show have been songs you've done by yourself.

Can you come back perhaps next week, and we'll do a show devoted to the music of The Tarriers, which I think would also be very good.

BOB CAREY: I would love to, Alan. Anytime you say, I'll come down.

ALAN WASSER: Okay, until then, this is Alan Wasser saying so long for Folk Music Worldwide.

MEL BERNAM (ANNOUNCER): This has been Folk Music Worldwide. Devoted to the best in folk music throughout the world, spotlighting top performers and authorities in the field.

If you have any suggestions, requests or comments, why not write in to Folk Music Worldwide, Radio New York, WRUL, New York City 19, USA. This has been a Music Worldwide presentation of Radio New York Worldwide.

Go to the second Bob Carey interview

Go to the Master List of Shows (Home Page)

Learn About the Program

---

Copyright © Alan Wasser

Privacy Policy & Terms of Use