February 1 2022
Always a Song: Meet Ellen Harper and Sam Barry — authors of the story of folk music revival
A Note from Hope Katz Gibbs, producer, Inkandescent Radio — What an honor it is to feature this new book by Ellen Harper and Sam Barry, entitled: Always a Song: Singers, Songwriters, Sinners & Saints. A collection of stories from Ellen, a singer, and songwriter, who is the folk matriarch and mother to the Grammy-winning musician Ben Harper. Ellen shares vivid memories of growing up in Los Angeles through the 1960s among famous and small-town musicians raising Ben (pictured below) and the historic Folk Music Center.
Jackson Browne says of the book: “An eloquent searching account of a life lived for truth, love, and music.”
Roger McGuinn, leader of the Byrds, writes: Ellen Harper is folk music royalty, growing up with Pete Seeger and Joan Baez around the dinner table. Her story is heartrending and a pleasure to read.”
Jonathan Lethem, New York Times bestselling author of Chronic City and Motherless Brooklyn, says: “Ellen Harper’s unique vantage as a red-diaper baby, folk connector, counterculture witness, and maven of family and community is matched by her memory, wit, and compassion.”
With the help of Sam, an author and musician who is a founding member of the book band The Rock Bottom Remainders (learn more about him below), readers take a ride through folk music history:
- Harper takes readers on an intimate journey through the folk music revival.
- The book spans a transformational time in music history and American culture.
- Covers historical events from the love-ins women’s rights protests and the assassination of John F. Kennedy to the popularization of the sitar and the ukulele.
- Includes full-color photo insert.
Ellen shares: “Growing up, an endless stream of musicians and artists came from across the country to my family’s music store. Bess Lomax Hawes, Joan Baez, Sonny Terry, and Brownie McGee—all the singers, organizers, guitar and banjo pickers and players, songwriters, painters, dancers, their husbands, wives, and children—we were all in it together. And we believed singing could change the world.”
Be sure to listen to our interview and watch the video on the April 2021 cover of BeInkandescent Health & Wellness magazine.
Music lovers and history buffs will enjoy this rare invitation into a world of stories and songs that inspired folk music today.
- A must-read for lovers of music history and those nostalgic for the acoustic echo of the original folk music that influenced a generation.
- Harper’s parents opened the legendary Folk Music Center in Claremont California as well as the revered folk music venue The Golden Ring.
- A perfect gift for people who are obsessed with folk music all things the 1960s learning about musical movements or California history.
Great for those who loved Small Town Talk: Bob Dylan The Band Van Morrison Janis Joplin Jimi Hendrix and Friends in the Wild Years of Woodstock by Barney Hoskyns and Girls Like Us: Carole King Joni Mitchell Carly Simon—and the Journey of a Generation by Sheila Weller.
About Book Doctor Sam Barry: Sam is an author musician and publishing professional. He is the author of How to Play the Harmonica: and Other Life Lessons. He coauthored Write That Book Already! The Tough Love You Need to Get Published Now with his late wife Kathi Kamen Goldmark and Always a Song: Singers Songwriters Sinners and Saints—My Story of the Folk Music Revival with Ellen Harper.
As a member of the literary rock band, the Rock Bottom Remainders, Sam edited and coauthored Hard Listening: The Greatest Rock Band Ever (of Authors) Tells All with his bandmates Stephen King Amy Tan Mitch Albom Dave Barry Roy Blount Jr. Matt Groening Greg Iles James McBride Roger McGuinn Ridley Pearson and Scott Turow.
Sam is currently a freelance editor book doctor and publishing consultant. Previously he was an ordained Presbyterian minister who worked for HarperCollins and later created and directed Book Passage’s Path to Publishing program and wrote the popular Author Enabler column in BookPage. Sam lives writes and plays music in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Click here to read more about this great book and the authors: The cover story of the April 2021 issue of BeInkandecent Health & Wellness magazine!
