American Pastimes, January 17, 2023

American Pastimes features The Slocan Ramblers (jamming with some friends), local musicians Make It So performing at the Home-Grown Music Festival, a rare recording of Tennesse Senator Albert Gore, Sr. on fiddle tearing up "Soldier's Joy" in 1938, Al Hopkins & His Buckle Busters (a string band with a piano!) recorded in 1925, and contemporary, caffeinated string bands that change KZFR to KZ effin' R! And let's not forget the set of folk tunes performed by Dorris Henderson with guitarist John Renbourn. Her story is below: 


One of the more obscure jewels of the 60’s folk music scene was the talented and impetuous singer Dorris Henderson (1933-2005). 

 Dorris was born in Florida and raised in New Jersey and Los Angeles.  By the early 1960’s she was working for the City of Los Angeles and catching live music - mostly jazz - at various venues.  It was at the Ash Grove that her career and life changed direction when she saw Odetta perform.  She bought an autoharp and a copy of Alan Lomax’s “The Folk Songs of North America,” and within a few months she was stepping on stage for open-mic nights and then making appearances at the Ash Grove and The Troubadour where she sang with visiting professionals like Sonny Terry, Willie Dixon and Memphis Slim.  She was offered a job performing at a café in Topanga Canyon and it was there that the hipster poet social commentator and raconteur Lord Buckley met her and invited her to join him for his appearances at the Ivar Threater in L.A.  He introduced her as “The Lady Dorris” and she sang behind one of his most well-known pieces, his interpretation of the story of Jesus, “The Naz.”  Their performance was recorded and released on World Pacific Records.  From that point on she appeared at every major folk music venue in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Dorris walked away from her civil service day job and traveled to New York for a vacation. Although she was only in NYC for a short stay, while there she settled into the Greenwich Village folk scene performing at every club and hanging with all the major players: Fred Neil, Dave Van Ronk, Mark Spoelestra, Paul Simon and Bob Dylan (you can catch a glimpse of her in the Dylan documentary “Don’t Look Back”).

At the recommendation of her brother Dorris sailed alone to England.  It was 1965.  “In the States,” Dorris said in an interview years later, “I felt that I wasn’t getting as far as I wanted because I sang songs that I wasn’t supposed to sing, Appalachian mountain ballads. But they’re beautiful songs, the words are fantastic. I just fell in love with the music.”  She stayed in a hostel and performed at all the folk clubs she found listed in Melody Maker magazine.  She’d just show up with her autoharp and when the opportunity arose, get up on stage and perform Appalachian ballads and “…the folk club people were a bit more receptive, they didn’t really expect me to sing ‘colored’ music.”

At one club Dorris was approached by a BBC television producer who invited her to perform on his music show that had the sophisticated high-brow title of “Gadzooks, It’s All Happening!” After her initial performance she was given a six-month contract to perform her choice of American folksongs each week. Often performing while dressed in jeans, sitting on a haystack as the show’s dancers performed their interpretation of a hoe-down, Dorris also shared the studio stage with the top pop stars of the day: Tom Jones, Lulu, Sandie Shaw, Georgie Fame and the Everly Brothers.  It paid the bills and got her out of the hostel.

In between TV shows she was still making the rounds of the London folk clubs.  At The Roundhouse on Wardour Street Dorris met guitarist John Renbourn and they began to work together, performing in clubs, touring, appearing on “Gadzooks” and then recording an album “There You Go” in 1965.

Renbourn was a classically trained guitarist who fell under the spell of American finger picking blues guitarists in the 1950’s and spent the early 1960’s performing solo or with other musicians.  Just prior to recording with Dorris he made his own record “John Renbourn” (1965) and later also recorded “Bert and John” (1966) with guitarist Bert Jansch.  Dorris and John recorded their second record “Watch the Stars in 1967 but stopped performing together when Renbourn joined the seminal folk-jazz band The Pentangle. He went on to record dozens of records in a variety of musical genres, earned a degree in composition, and composes and teaches at Cambridge and at other colleges.

Dorris appeared at clubs and festivals throughout Britain and sometimes toured the European mainland.  She was approached by the folk rock group Eclection; their vocalist had quit, she was asked to join.  With Eclection, Dorris performed regularly at colleges and clubs and appeared at the famous 1969 Isle of Wight rock festival. When the band couldn’t get a new recording contract Dorris signed as a solo performer with Warner Brothers. She made a number of demos and un-released singles (including a version of Ralph McTell’s “Streets of London” -- prior to McTell’s best-selling record) but her contract expired without any releases.

The 1970’s found Dorris resurrecting Eclection and adding an emphasis on jazz to the band’s sound. Later she focused primarily on jazz and performed with a variety of British jazz bands. She also continued her work in BBC television and radio, recording commercial jingles and film soundtracks. Dorris married Mac McGann a Scottish folk singer and songwriter, guitarist, barrelhouse blues pianist, harmonica player, graphic artist, wood carver and cartoonist.  She withdrew from performing; staying at home in England raising their family until she re-emerged musically in the 1990’s performing and recording.  

Here’s Dorris singing “The Naz” behind Lord Buckley at the Ivar Theater in Los Angeles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA1VQxaRQOI

Here’s a soundtrack Dorris recorded for the film “Rotterdam Blues”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dJifvHWC1A

On American Pastimes:  Selections from Dorris Henderson & John Renbourn’s two albums “There You Go” (1965) and “Watch the Stars” (1967).

  • 7:30pm Plastic Banana by The Slocan Ramblers & Trey Hensley on unknown ( unknown)
  • 7:34pm I Don't Know by The Slocan Ramblers on Up the Hill and Through the Fog (SLOMUSIC)
  • 7:38pm Bring Me Down Low by The Slocan Ramblers on Up the Hill and Through the Fog (SLOMUSIC)
  • 7:42pm The Sloop John B. by The Dicey Doh Singers on Classic Maritime Music from Smithsonian Folkways (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings)
  • 7:44pm Joshua Gone Barbados (2002) by Eric Von Schmidt on Living On The Trail (Tomato Records)
  • 7:49pm I'll See You In C-U-B-A by Any Old Time String Band on I'll See You In C-U-B-A (WMG - Arhoolie Records)
  • 7:54pm Rivers of Babylon by Steve Earle on Rivers of Babylon (WMG - Warner Records Label)
  • 8:01pm Watch the Stars (feat. John Renbourn) by Dorris Henderson on Watch the Stars (feat. John Renbourn) (MERLIN - Fledg'ling)
  • 8:03pm The Time Has Come (feat. John Renbourn) by Dorris Henderson on Watch the Stars (feat. John Renbourn) (MERLIN - Fledg'ling)
  • 8:05pm Mist On The Mountain by Dorris Henderson & John Renbourn on There You Go ( )
  • 8:08pm Darling Corey Aka A Banjo Tune by Dorris Henderson & John Renbourn on There You Go ( )
  • 8:10pm No More My Lord (feat. John Renbourn) by Dorris Henderson on Watch the Stars (feat. John Renbourn) (MERLIN - Fledg'ling)
  • 8:13pm Soldier's Joy by Mark O'Connor on Liberty! (SME - Sony Classical)
  • 8:18pm Racing with the Sun (Live) by The Wailin' Jennys on Live at the Mauch Chunk Opera House (MERLIN - Outside Music)
  • 8:23pm Why Am I Leaving Home? by Scott Cook on Tangle of Souls ( unknown)
  • 8:23pm I Know What it Means to be Lonesome by Tim May & Steve Smith on Tim May & Steve Smith ( )
  • 8:28pm Hard Times by The Swamp Brothers on Tennessee Sessions (Itchy Sabot Records)
  • 8:31pm Granny Wontcha You Smoke Some Marijuana by Sam Bush on Radio John: Songs of John Hartford (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings)
  • 8:34pm Glory Train by bobby Giles on unknown ( unknown)
  • 8:38pm Across the Great Divide by Make It So on Home Grown Music Festival, 1993 (Butte Folk Music Society)
  • 8:39pm Colleen Malone by Make It So on Homegrown Music Festival 1994 ( Butte Folk Music Society)
  • 8:48pm My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains by Bela Fleck on Echo In The Valley (UMG - New Rounder)
  • 8:52pm Soldier's Joy by Senator Albert Gore, Sr on unknown ( unknown)
  • 8:56pm Eighth Of January by Fox Chasers on Serenade The Mountains: Early Old Time Music On Record, CD A (JSP Records)
  • 9:01pm Sally Ann by Hill Billies on The Hill Billies / Al Hopkins & His Buckle Busters Vol. 1 (1925-1926) (Document Records)
  • 9:04pm Walking In The Parlor by Hill Billies on The Hill Billies / Al Hopkins & His Buckle Busters Vol. 1 (1925-1926) (Document Records)
  • 9:07pm The Hickman Rag by Hill Billies on The Hill Billies / Al Hopkins & His Buckle Busters Vol. 1 (1925-1926) (Document Records)
  • 9:10pm Cinda by Hill Billies on The Hill Billies / Al Hopkins & His Buckle Busters Vol. 1 (1925-1926) (Document Records)
  • 9:13pm Skies Are Blue by The Acoustic Medicine Show on Steel String Line (The Acoustic Medicine Show)
  • 9:17pm Mannington 9 by The Early Mays on Chase the Sun (Bird on the Wing Records)
  • 9:21pm Insofarasmuch by Two High String Band on Insofarasmuch (ORCHARD - Blue Corn Music)
  • 9:26pm Yum Yum Blues by Old Hollow String Band on Old Time Music from North Carolina ( unknown)
  • 9:28pm Dixie Rag by Old Hollow String Band on Old Time Music from North Carolina ( unknown)
  • 9:33pm Fall On My Knees by Old Hollow String Band on Old Time Music from North Carolina ( unknown)
  • 9:36pm River Stay Away from My Door (feat. Skip Gorman, Tom Carter, Hal Cannon & Leonard Coulson) by Rhode Island Mudflaps on River Stay Away From My Door (Okehdokee Records)
  • 9:39pm My Old Cow Died on Bear Creek (feat. Skip Gorman, Tom Carter, Hal Cannon & Leonard Coulson) by Rhode Island Mudflaps on River Stay Away From My Door (Okehdokee Records)
  • 9:41pm Hell Amongst the Yearlings by Big Possum Stringband on Big Possum Stringband (Big Possum Stringband)
  • 9:43pm George Washington by Big Possum Stringband on Big Possum Stringband (Big Possum Stringband)
  • 9:46pm Blue Eyed Gal by Big Possum Stringband on Big Possum Stringband (Big Possum Stringband)
  • 9:48pm Kiss Me Quick My Papa's a Coming by Tall Poppy String Band on Tall Poppy String Band (Tall Poppy String Band)
  • 9:51pm Gonna Make a Killing by Tall Poppy String Band on Tall Poppy String Band (Tall Poppy String Band)
  • 9:55pm The Coo Coo by Tall Poppy String Band on Tall Poppy String Band (Tall Poppy String Band)
  • 9:57pm Tippin' Back the Corn by The Slocan Ramblers & Brad Kolodner on unknown ( unknown)
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