Lou Gottlieb (1923-1996) was the comic lead and bass player for the Limeliters, one of the most popular folk song groups in the 1960s. The other two members of the trio were Alex Hassilev on banjo and Glen Yarbrough on guitar. Gottlieb was a Ph.D. musicologist (he studied with Arnold Schoenberg) working as an arranger for the Kingston Trio when he met his bandmates in 1959. They were strong on harmonies and on funny, high-brow banter, and produced sixteen records during their six years together.
He then bought the 32-acre Morning Star Ranch near San Francisco, which became headquarters for some time of the commune that helped provide free food and health services to hippies in Haight-Ashbury and at the Woodstock Festival.
In 1969, Gottlieb tried to donate his ranch to God, but the court ruled that God would have to appear in person to accept the gift.
We listened to the Limeliters a lot back in the 1960s and enjoyed their renditions of Lonesome Traveler, Those Were the Days, Wabash Cannonball, and the song that they enjoyed performing most in folk clubs, Have Some Madeira, M'dear.
Gottlieb used Yiddish expressions in some of the Limeliters songs. Here is their rendition of the Yiddish classic Rumania Rumania with funny asides during the running English translation that he provided.
Enjoy!
(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS: THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY. YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)
#Throwback Thursday #TBT
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Loved those guys, still have their CD with kids, and saw Glen & Alex on PBS folk show [ they were having a fund raiser.
ReplyDeleteGreat version of this Yiddish classic.
ReplyDelete