Guy Carawan
Encyclopedia
Guy Carawan is an American folk
musician
and musicologist
. He serves as music director and song leader for the Highlander Research and Education Center
in New Market, Tennessee
.
Carawan is famous for introducing the protest song
"We Shall Overcome
" to the American Civil Rights Movement, by teaching it to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
(SNCC) in 1960. A union organizing song based on a black spiritual, it had been a favorite of Zilphia Horton
(d. 1956) wife of the founder of the Highlander Folk School. Carawan reintroduced it at the school when he became its new music director in 1959. The song is copyrighted in the name of Horton, Frank Hamilton
, Carawan and Pete Seeger
.
Carawan sings and plays banjo
, guitar
, and hammered dulcimer
. He frequently performs and records with his wife, singer Candie Carawan. Occasionally he is accompanied by their son Evan Carawan
, who plays mandolin
and hammered dulcimer
. Carawan and his wife live in New Market, near the Highlander Center.
, South Carolina
, was the resident poet at Winthrop College (now Winthrop University) in Rock Hill, South Carolina
, and his father, a veteran of World War I
from North Carolina
who worked as an asbestos
contractor. He earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Occidental College in 1949 and a master's degree in sociology from UCLA. Through his friend Frank Hamilton
, Carawan was introduced to musicians in the People's Songs network, including Pete Seeger
and The Weavers
. Moving to New York City
, he became involved with the American folk music revival
in Greenwich Village
in the 1950s. He also traveled abroad, visiting England, attending a World Festival of Youth and Students
in the Soviet Union in 1957, and continuing on to the People's Republic of China.
, who had died in an accident in 1956. When college students in Greensboro, NC, began the lunch-counter sit-in movement on Feb. 1, 1960
, Highlander's youth program took on a new urgency. Highlander's seventh annual college workshop took place on the first weekend in April, with 83 students from twenty colleges attending. As part of a talent show and dance, Carawan taught the students the song "We Shall Overcome
." Two weeks later, on April 15, two hundred students assembled in Raleigh, NC, for a three-day conference at Shaw University
. Called by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
(SCLC) to develop a youth wing, the students instead organized the independent Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
(SNCC). They invited Carawan to lead the singing, and he closed the first evening with "We Shall Overcome." The audience stood, linked hands and sang—and went away inspired, carrying the song to meetings and demonstrations across the South.
Movement leader Rev. C. T. Vivian
, a lieutenant of Martin Luther King reminisced:
At Highlander's April workshop, Carawan had met Candie Anderson, an exchange student at Fisk University
in Nashville, from Pomona College
in California, who was one of the first white students involved in the sit-in
movement. They were married in March 1961.
. In turn, Carawan introduced both John McCutcheon
and Malcolm Dalglish
to the instrument.
Personal Recordings
Included on Albums with Others
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and musicologist
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
. He serves as music director and song leader for the Highlander Research and Education Center
Highlander Research and Education Center
The Highlander Research and Education Center, formerly known as the Highlander Folk School, is a social justice leadership training school and cultural center located in New Market, Tennessee. Founded in 1932 by activist Myles Horton, educator Don West, and Methodist minister James A. Dombrowski,...
in New Market, Tennessee
New Market, Tennessee
New Market is a town in Jefferson County, Tennessee, United States. It is part of the Morristown, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,234 at the 2000 census.-Geography:New Market is located at ....
.
Carawan is famous for introducing the protest song
Protest song
A protest song is a song which is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs . It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre...
"We Shall Overcome
We Shall Overcome
"We Shall Overcome" is a protest song that became a key anthem of the African-American Civil Rights Movement . The title and structure of the song are derived from an early gospel song by African-American composer Charles Albert Tindley...
" to the American Civil Rights Movement, by teaching it to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ' was one of the principal organizations of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. It emerged from a series of student meetings led by Ella Baker held at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina in April 1960...
(SNCC) in 1960. A union organizing song based on a black spiritual, it had been a favorite of Zilphia Horton
Zilphia Horton
Zilphia Horton was American musician, community organizer, educator, Civil Rights activist, and folklorist. She is best-known for her work with her husband Myles Horton at the Highlander Folk School where she is generally credited with turning such songs as "We Shall Overcome", "Keep Your Eyes on...
(d. 1956) wife of the founder of the Highlander Folk School. Carawan reintroduced it at the school when he became its new music director in 1959. The song is copyrighted in the name of Horton, Frank Hamilton
Frank Hamilton
Frank Hamilton may refer to:*Frank Hastings Hamilton , U.S. surgeon*Frank Fletcher Hamilton , Canadian Progressive Conservative MP...
, Carawan and Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
.
Carawan sings and plays banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, and hammered dulcimer
Hammered dulcimer
The hammered dulcimer is a stringed musical instrument with the strings stretched over a trapezoidal sounding board. Typically, the hammered dulcimer is set on a stand, at an angle, before the musician, who holds small mallet hammers in each hand to strike the strings...
. He frequently performs and records with his wife, singer Candie Carawan. Occasionally he is accompanied by their son Evan Carawan
Evan Carawan
Evan Carawan is a hammered dulcimer player in Knoxville, Tennessee. He is the son of folk musicians Candie and Guy Carawan . Evan Carawan learned to play hammered dulcimer from his father, who was a pioneer in reviving American interest in the instrument...
, who plays mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
and hammered dulcimer
Hammered dulcimer
The hammered dulcimer is a stringed musical instrument with the strings stretched over a trapezoidal sounding board. Typically, the hammered dulcimer is set on a stand, at an angle, before the musician, who holds small mallet hammers in each hand to strike the strings...
. Carawan and his wife live in New Market, near the Highlander Center.
Early life
Carawan was born in California in 1927, to Southern parents. His mother, from CharlestonCharleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, was the resident poet at Winthrop College (now Winthrop University) in Rock Hill, South Carolina
Rock Hill, South Carolina
Rock Hill is the largest city in York County, South Carolina and the fourth-largest city in the state. It is also the third-largest city of the Charlotte metropolitan area, behind Charlotte and Concord, North Carolina. The population was 71,459 as of . Rock Hill has undergone rapid growth between...
, and his father, a veteran of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
from North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
who worked as an asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
contractor. He earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Occidental College in 1949 and a master's degree in sociology from UCLA. Through his friend Frank Hamilton
Frank Hamilton
Frank Hamilton may refer to:*Frank Hastings Hamilton , U.S. surgeon*Frank Fletcher Hamilton , Canadian Progressive Conservative MP...
, Carawan was introduced to musicians in the People's Songs network, including Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
and The Weavers
The Weavers
The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. They sang traditional folk songs from around the world, as well as blues, gospel music, children's songs, labor songs, and American ballads, and selling millions of records at the height of their...
. Moving to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, he became involved with the American folk music revival
American folk music revival
The American folk music revival was a phenomenon in the United States that began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Richard Dyer-Bennett, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie, John Jacob...
in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
in the 1950s. He also traveled abroad, visiting England, attending a World Festival of Youth and Students
World Festival of Youth and Students
The World Festival of Youth and Students is an international event, organized by the World Federation of Democratic Youth , a left-wing youth organization, jointly with the International Union of Students since 1947....
in the Soviet Union in 1957, and continuing on to the People's Republic of China.
Career at Highlander Center
Carawan first visited the Highlander Folk School in 1953, with singers Ramblin' Jack Elliot and Frank Hamilton. At the recommendation of Pete Seeger, he returned in 1959 as a volunteer, taking charge of the music program pioneered by Zilphia HortonZilphia Horton
Zilphia Horton was American musician, community organizer, educator, Civil Rights activist, and folklorist. She is best-known for her work with her husband Myles Horton at the Highlander Folk School where she is generally credited with turning such songs as "We Shall Overcome", "Keep Your Eyes on...
, who had died in an accident in 1956. When college students in Greensboro, NC, began the lunch-counter sit-in movement on Feb. 1, 1960
Greensboro sit-ins
The Greensboro sit-ins were a series of nonviolent protests which led to the Woolworth's department store chain reversing its policy of racial segregation in the Southern United States....
, Highlander's youth program took on a new urgency. Highlander's seventh annual college workshop took place on the first weekend in April, with 83 students from twenty colleges attending. As part of a talent show and dance, Carawan taught the students the song "We Shall Overcome
We Shall Overcome
"We Shall Overcome" is a protest song that became a key anthem of the African-American Civil Rights Movement . The title and structure of the song are derived from an early gospel song by African-American composer Charles Albert Tindley...
." Two weeks later, on April 15, two hundred students assembled in Raleigh, NC, for a three-day conference at Shaw University
Shaw University
Shaw University, founded as Raleigh Institute, is a private liberal arts institution and historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1865, it is the oldest HBCU in the Southern United States....
. Called by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...
(SCLC) to develop a youth wing, the students instead organized the independent Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ' was one of the principal organizations of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. It emerged from a series of student meetings led by Ella Baker held at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina in April 1960...
(SNCC). They invited Carawan to lead the singing, and he closed the first evening with "We Shall Overcome." The audience stood, linked hands and sang—and went away inspired, carrying the song to meetings and demonstrations across the South.
Movement leader Rev. C. T. Vivian
C. T. Vivian
Cordy Tindell Vivian is a minister, author, and was a close friend and lieutenant of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. during the American Civil Rights Movement. Vivian continues to reside in Atlanta, Georgia and most recently founded the C. T. Vivian Leadership Institute, Inc. Rev...
, a lieutenant of Martin Luther King reminisced:
I don’t think we had ever thought of spirituals as movement material. When the movement came up, we couldn’t apply them. The concept has to be there. It wasn’t just to have the music but to take the music out of our past and apply it to the new situation, to change it so it really fit.... The first time I remember any change in our songs was when Guy came down from Highlander. Here he was with this guitar and tall thin frame, leaning forward and patting that foot. I remember James BevelJames BevelJames L. Bevel was an American minister and leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement who, as the Director of Direct Action and Director of Nonviolent Education of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference initiated, strategized, directed, and developed SCLC's three major successes of the era:...
and I looked across at each other and smiled. Guy had taken this song, “Follow the Drinking Gourd” — I didn’t know the song, but he gave some background on it and boom — that began to make sense. And, little by little, spiritual after spiritual began to appear with new words and changes: “Keep Your Eyes on the Prize, Hold On” or “I’m Going to Sit at the Welcome Table.” Once we had seen it done, we could begin to do it.
At Highlander's April workshop, Carawan had met Candie Anderson, an exchange student at Fisk University
Fisk University
Fisk University is an historically black university founded in 1866 in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. The world-famous Fisk Jubilee Singers started as a group of students who performed to earn enough money to save the school at a critical time of financial shortages. They toured to raise funds to...
in Nashville, from Pomona College
Pomona College
Pomona College is a private, residential, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. Founded in 1887 in Pomona, California by a group of Congregationalists, the college moved to Claremont in 1889 to the site of a hotel, retaining its name. The school enrolls 1,548 students.The founding member...
in California, who was one of the first white students involved in the sit-in
Sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of protest that involves occupying seats or sitting down on the floor of an establishment.-Process:In a sit-in, protesters remain until they are evicted, usually by force, or arrested, or until their requests have been met...
movement. They were married in March 1961.
Hammer dulcimer
Carawan first heard the hammer dulcimer played by Chet ParkerChet Parker
Chet Parker was a hammered dulcimer player from Michigan.Chet Parker was born the son of a blacksmith. His first instruments were the snare drum and the fife. He also learned to play the fiddle and to read music. He was introduced to the hammered dulcimer by a friend, who loaned him one, in 1900...
. In turn, Carawan introduced both John McCutcheon
John McCutcheon
John McCutcheon is an American folk music singer and multi-instrumentalist who has produced 34 albums since the 1970s. He is regarded as a master of the hammered dulcimer, and is also proficient on many other instruments including guitar, banjo, autoharp, mountain dulcimer, fiddle, and...
and Malcolm Dalglish
Malcolm Dalglish
Malcolm Dalglish is an American hammered dulcimer player and builder, composer, and choral director.A virtuoso performer on the hammer dulcimer, he is a former member of the folk/Celtic trio Metamora and has performed frequently with the percussionist Glen Velez...
to the instrument.
Discography
Documentary Recording Projects- May Justus, summer 1953, Horton living room in Monteagle, TN; 1961 at May’s Summerfield home. (unpublished).
- Nashville Sit-In Story. Folkways Records, FH#5590, 1960. Recorded by Guy Carawan, assisted by Mel Kaiser at Cue Studio.
- Hamper McBee, Cumberland Moonshiner. Prestige Records, 1965. Recorded by Guy Carawan in Knoxville, TN, April 6, 1962.
- Freedom in the Air: Albany Georgia, 1961-62. SNCC #101. Produced by Vanguard Records for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. Recorded by Guy Carawan. Produced by Guy Carawan & Alan LomaxAlan LomaxAlan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
. - We Shall Overcome, Songs of Freedom Riders and the Sit-Ins. Folkways Records, FH#5591, 1963. Includes Nashville Quartet and Montgomery Trio. Recorded in New York City.
- Birmingham, Alabama, 1963. Mass Meeting. Folkways Records, FD#5487, 1980. Includes Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
, Ralph AbernathyRalph AbernathyRalph David Abernathy, Sr. was a leader of the American Civil Rights Movement, a minister, and a close associate of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Following King's assassination, Dr. Abernathy took up the leadership of the SCLC Poor People's Campaign and...
, Birmingham Movement Choir. Recorded by Guy Carawan in Birmingham, AL. - The Story of Greenwood, Mississippi. Folkways Records, FD#5593, 1965. Includes Bob MosesRobert Parris MosesRobert Parris Moses is an American, Harvard-trained educator who was a leader in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement and later founded the nationwide U.S. Algebra project.-Biography:...
, Fannie Lou HamerFannie Lou HamerFannie Lou Hamer was an American voting rights activist and civil rights leader....
, Medgar EversMedgar EversMedgar Wiley Evers was an African American civil rights activist from Mississippi involved in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi...
, Dick GregoryDick GregoryRichard Claxton "Dick" Gregory is an American comedian, social activist, social critic, writer, and entrepreneur....
. Recorded by Guy Carawan in Greenwood, MS. - Sea Island Folk Festival: Moving Star Hall Singers. Folkways Records, FS#3841, 1966. Includes Alan Lomax speaking at festival. Recorded and produced by Guy & Candie Carawan.
- Been in the Storm So Long: Spirituals, Shouts, Folk Tales and Children’s Songs of Johns Island, South Carolina. Folkways Records, FS#3842, 1967. Recorded and produced by Guy & Candie Carawan.
- Earl Gilmore: From the Depths of My Soul. June Appal RecordingsJune Appal RecordingsJune Appal Recordings was established by Appalshop to record and distribute music of and from Central Appalachia. Artists with June Appal releases include Buell Kazee, Morgan Sexton, Lee Sexton, Carla Gover, Nimrod Workman and others. Over the last thirty years, June Appal has released more than...
, JA0022, 1967. Produced and edited by Guy Carawan for June Appal Recordings. Includes Rupert Oysler on harmonica. Recorded by Jack Wright and Jeff Kiser. - Come All You Coal Miners. Rounder Records, #4005, 1974. Includes Nimrod Workman, Sarah Gunning, George Tucker, Hazel DickensHazel DickensHazel Jane Dickens was an American bluegrass singer, songwriter, double bassist and guitarist. She was the eighth child of an eleven-child mining family in West Virginia. Her music was characterized not only by her high, lonesome singing style, but also by her provocative pro-union, feminist songs...
. Recorded by Roger and Lucy Phenix at Appalachian Music Workshop at Highlander Center, October 1972. Produced by Guy Carawan. - George Tucker, Kentucky Coal Miner. Rounder Records, #0064, 1975. Collected and recorded by Guy Carawan in Beaver, KY.
- China: Music from the Peoples’ Republic. Rounder Records, #4008, CD, 1976. Recorded in China by Guy and Candie Carawan.
- Sing for Freedom, Southwide Workshop. Folkways Records, FD#5488, 1980. Produced by Guy & Candie Carawan, Highlander Center. Recorded at the Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta, GA, at a workshop with Freedom Singers, Birmingham Movement Choir, Georgia Sea Island Singers, Doc Reese, Phil OchsPhil OchsPhilip David Ochs was an American protest singer and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice...
, and Len ChandlerLen ChandlerLen Hunt Chandler, Jr. , better known as Len Chandler, is a folk musician from Akron, Ohio.-Biography:He showed an early interest in music and began playing piano at age 8. Studying classical music in his early teens, he learned to play the oboe so he could join the high school band, and during...
. - They’ll Never Keep Us Down: Women’s coal mining songs. Rounder Records, #4012, 1983. Includes Hazel Dickens, Sarah Gunning, Florence Reece, Phyllis Boyens, Reel World String Band. Dedicated to Sarah Gunning who died October 14, 1983. Produced by Guy & Candie Carawan for Rounder.
- Sing for Freedom. Smithsonian Folkways, SF#40032, CD, 1990. A compilation of material from the six LPs. Selected by Guy & Candie Carawan.
- Been in the Storm So Long. Smithsonian Folkways, SF#40031, CD, 1990. A compilation of material from the two LPs. Selected by Guy & Candie Carawan.
- Coal Mining Women. Rounder Records, #4025, CD, 1997. Selections from two previous coal LPs. Conceived and selected by Guy and Candie Carawan.
Personal Recordings
- Songs with Guy Carawan, vol. 1, Folkways RecordsFolkways RecordsFolkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
, FG 3544, 1950. - Guy Carawan Sings: Something Old, New, Borrowed and Blue, Folkways Records, FG 3548, 1959.
- This Little Light of Mine, Folkways Records, FG 3552, 1960.
- The Best of Guy Carawan, Prestige International, #13013, 1961.
- A Guy Called Carawan, E.M.I. Records, Middlesex, England, SX 6065, 1965.
- Freedom Now! Songs for a New America (with Candie Carawan), Plane Records, Germany, #55301, 1968.
- The Telling Takes Me Home, Cur Non Records, cnl 722, 1972.
- Sitting on Top of the World & Mountain Songs (double album), Intercord Xenophon, Germany, Int. 181.012, 1974.
- Sitting on Top of the World, American version (with Candie Carawan), self produced, 1975.
- Green Rocky Road, June Appal RecordingsJune Appal RecordingsJune Appal Recordings was established by Appalshop to record and distribute music of and from Central Appalachia. Artists with June Appal releases include Buell Kazee, Morgan Sexton, Lee Sexton, Carla Gover, Nimrod Workman and others. Over the last thirty years, June Appal has released more than...
, JA 0021, 1976. - Jubilee, June Appal RecordingsJune Appal RecordingsJune Appal Recordings was established by Appalshop to record and distribute music of and from Central Appalachia. Artists with June Appal releases include Buell Kazee, Morgan Sexton, Lee Sexton, Carla Gover, Nimrod Workman and others. Over the last thirty years, June Appal has released more than...
, JA 0029, 1979. - Songs of Struggle and Celebration, Flying Fish Records, FC 27272, 1982.
- My Rhinoceros and Other Friends, (children's songs), A Gentle Wind, GW 1023, 1983.
- High on a Mountain, self-produced (cassette only), 1984.
- Hammer Dulcimer Music (with Evan Carawan), Flying Fish Records, FF 329, 1984.
- The Land Knows You're There, Flying Fish Records, FF 391, 1986.
- Old Blue & Other Favorites, self-produced (cassette only), 1990.
- Tree of Life (Arbol de La Vida), Flying Fish Records, FF 525, 1990.
- Homebrew (The Carawan Family), Flying Fish Records, FF 609, 1992.
- Sparkles & Shines, Ponder Productions, 1999.
Included on Albums with Others
- Several albums released in England in the late 1950s, including America at Play with Peggy SeegerPeggy SeegerMargaret "Peggy" Seeger is an American folksinger. She is also well known in Britain, where she lived for more than 30 years with her husband, singer and songwriter Ewan MacColl.- The first American period :...
. - Songs for Peace, Folk Freak Records, FF 4010, 1983.
- I’m Gonna Let it Shine: A Gathering of Voices for Freedom, Round River Records, RRR 401, 1990.
- Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Songs of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement, Folk Era, FE 1419, 1994.
- Classic Protest Songs from Smithsonian Folkways, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, SFW40197, 2009.
Video References
- We Shall Overcome, Ginger Group Productions, 1988; PBS Home Video 174, 58 min. Pete SeegerPete SeegerPeter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
, Bernard LafayetteBernard LafayetteBernard Lafayette Jr. is a longtime civil rights activist and organizer, who was a leader in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement...
, Julian BondJulian BondHorace Julian Bond , known as Julian Bond, is an American social activist and leader in the American civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the early 1960s, he helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating...
, and Bernice Johnson ReagonBernice Johnson ReagonBernice Johnson Reagon is a singer, composer, scholar, and social activist, who founded the a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock in 1973.-Early life and education:...
comment on Guy Carawan's role in teaching the song "We Shall Overcome." - The Telling Takes Me Home, Heatcar Productions (http://www.heatcar.com/), 2005; produced, directed and edited by Heather Carawan, 29 min. Music and memory tell the story of Guy and Candie Carawan, activists and folk singers who have carried their work from the deep south of the Civil Rights Movement into today's daunting struggle for peace. Interweaving past and present, the filmmaker integrates her own reflections on growing up in a rich musical and political landscape with her parents' views on race relations, community organizing, and the sustaining power of song.