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Barbara Dane, 1927 – 2024

Oct 21

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Folk and jazz singer and guitarist Barbara Dane, 97, died on Oct. 20. Dane was one of the politically active folkies of the 1950s-60s, mixing her music with anti-war, pro-union protests. The movie-star pretty blonde never had any hit songs, but released 16 albums from 1957-2018. She was married to folk singer Rolf Cahn and political activist Irwin Silber; her three children also became musicians. Dane and Silber founded Paredon Records (“I was free to choose when and where I worked, able to spend lots more time with my three children and doing political work, and even brought home more money in the end, by not going for the ‘big time.’ I did make some really nice records, because I was able to choose and work with wonderfully gifted musicians.”). Philip Elwood of the San Francisco Examiner wrote that Dane “has an immense voice, remarkably well-tuned . . . capable of exquisite presentations regardless of the material. As a gut-level blues singer, she is without compare.”



Oct 21

1 min read

3

91

2

Comments (2)

Guest
Oct 21

I highly recommend reading the book, "Whole World in an Uproar" by Aaron J Leonard. This book is all about the folk singers and protest songs of the 1950s and '60s and does feature Miss Dane throughout this whole interesting book.

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Guest
Oct 21
Replying to

Thanks! My parents were real folkies, so that will be interesting.

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