Tony Saletan

Tony Saletan
Birth name	Anthony D. Saletan
Born	(1931-06-29) June 29, 1931 New York City, New York
Genres	folk
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer, folk dance caller/leader
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, banjo
Years active	1955–present
Labels	Folk-Legacy Records, Prestige Records
Associated acts	Pete Seeger, Peggy Seeger, Joe Hickerson, Kossoy Sisters

Tony Saletan is an American folk singer and educator, who is responsible for the modern rediscovery of two of the genre's best-known songs, Michael Row the Boat Ashore and Kumbaya. Born and raised in New York City, he attended the Walden School and received his bachelors and masters degrees from Harvard University. For a brief period during his childhood, Saletan's piano teacher was a young Leonard Bernstein. He was involved as a teen in the Henry Wallace presidential campaign of 1948, in which original music in the folk style was important. Saletan settled in the Boston area, where for several years he appeared on educational television (WGBH), taught music in the Newton, Massachusetts public schools and gave private guitar lessons. He also became involved in folk dancing and calling of contra dances. Saletan has often taught at Pinewoods Camp, in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Later in life, Saletan moved to Tacoma, Washington.

Shaker Village Work Camp

Main article: Shaker Village Work Camp

In 1954, Tony Saletan had been working as folksong leader at the Shaker Village Work Camp, and was searching the Widener Library of Harvard University for material to teach the Villagers that summer. He adapted the song Michael Row the Boat Ashore from the 1867 songbook Slave Songs of the United States to create the version that's well-known today. "I judged that the tune was very singable, added some harmony (a guitar accompaniment) and thought the one-word chorus would be an easy hit with the teens (it was). But a typical original verse consisted of one line repeated once, and I thought a rhyme would be more interesting to the teenagers at Shaker Village Work Camp, where I introduced it. So I adapted traditional African-American couplets in place of the original verses." He also spent the summer of 1953 at Buck's Rock Work Camp leading the campers in regular folk song sessions throughout the Summer.

That summer, Saletan taught Michael Row the Boat Ashore to Pete Seeger, who later sang it with the Weavers, one of the most important singing groups leading the American folk music revival of the 1950s to mid-1960s. Saletan's adaptation was included in the Village's 1956 songbook, Songs of Work. A single based on Saletan's version was released in 1960 by the American folk quintet the Highwaymen under the abbreviated title, Michael, and reached #1 on the U.S. and British hit parades in September 1961. Joe Hickerson, co-founder of the Folksmiths, credits Saletan for introducing him to the song Kumbaya in 1957 (Saletan had learned it from Lynn Rohrbough, co-proprietor with his wife Katherine of the camp songbook publisher Cooperative Recreation Service). The first LP recording of Kumbaya was released in 1958 by the Folksmiths. Folksinger Peggy Seeger was also taught several songs by Saletan, which she later recorded.

Television and recording career

Following a 1959-1960 world tour sponsored by the U.S. State Department, Saletan released the album I'm a Stranger Here on Prestige Records (1961 or 1962). During their marriage, Saletan and Irene Kossoy (formerly and subsequently of the Kossoy Sisters) performed together as Tony and Irene Saletan. In 1970, they released an album, Tony and Irene Saletan: Folk Songs and Ballads on Folk-Legacy Records. Tony and Irene performed together at the Fox Hollow Folk Festival in 1971, as well as with Irene's sister, Ellen, and Ellen's then husband, Robin Christenson. Saletan hosted a public television series for children, Let's All Sing with Tony Saletan, with an associated album mostly drawn from American folksongs, including those discovered and developed for teaching young Shaker Villagers. The first album to emerge from the show, Song Bag with Tony Saletan, likewise had an associated teacher's guide and songbook. Saletan also recorded Songs and Sounds of the Sea (National Geographic Society 1973), Revolutionary Tea (with the Yankee Tunesmiths, Old North Bridge Records 1975), and George & Ruth (songs of the Spanish Civil War, Educational Alternatives 2004).

Discography

• I'm a Stranger Here (1961)
• Folksongs & Ballads (with Irene Saletan) (1970)
• Songs and Sounds of the Sea (1973)
• Song Bag with Tony Saletan (1974)
• Revolutionary Tea (1975)
• Let's All Sing with Tony Saletan (1976) Episode available for viewing now on YOUTUBE
• George & Ruth (2004)

See also

• Shaker Village Work Group
• Michael Row the Boat Ashore
• Kossoy Sisters
• Kumbaya

References

• — Includes "Michael Row the Boat Ashore." "Paul Campbell" was a pseudonym adopted from 1950 to 1953 for Ronnie Gilbert, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman and Peter Seeger (source).
• — Includes short biographies of Saletan (pp. 204–05) and other folksingers, including reference in Pete Seeger bio to 1948 Wallace campaign (p. 211).
• — With an associated phonograph album (OCLC 12897503) or cassette tape (OCLC 26290685).
• — Phonograph album.
• — Pete Seeger attributes the song "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore" to Tony Saletan.
• — Book of musical scores, compiled by Tony Saletan. Includes the song Michael Row the Boat Ashore.
• Folksmiths. (1958). We've Got Some Singing To Do. New York: Folkways Records (F-2407). OCLC 14186458. — 33 rpm phonograph album. Track 12 is Kum Bah Yah. The liner notes credit Tony Saletan for teaching the Folksmiths several songs. Re-released on audio CD as: We've Got Some Singing to Do: The Folksmiths Travelling Folk Workshop. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Folkways (FW02407). OCLC 47801193.
• — A quote from Saletan on the origins of the song, including his work at the Shaker Village Work Camp. The text is from a personal email by Saletan to the author of the webpage, Richard Kopp.
• — Album was released 2003 on Appleseed Records. Notes refer to Tony Saletan and the Shaker Village Work Camp of 1954.
• — Saletan explains the Work Group's activities and shows a music and dance performance by the teenagers (more information). This video is included on the DVD "The Shakers On Television."
• — Joe Hickerson credits Tony Saletan for teaching him the song Kumbaya, which he had learned from Lynn Rohrbough.

External links

• WGBH Alumni
• Folksongs & Ballads