Preserve
Preserving American Music History through Education
An exciting expansion of our efforts is the ongoing development of our educational and preservationist programs to educate both young and old about the contributions and impact of unknown American music artists. Through our partnership with New Orleans’ Ogden Museum of Southern Art, we’ve launched a concert series that adds the “Stomp” flavor to the weekly award-winning Ogden After Hours program. One or two weeks each month, The Ponderosa Stomp Foundation presents an American music legend at the Ogden. We conduct a live interview at the museum, between sets, which is recorded as part of our ongoing oral history project; these recordings will serve as an essential resource to American cultural historians for years to come.
Ponderosa Stomp Foundation co-Founder and President, Dr. Ike, conducting a live oral history at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art
The Ogden Museum of Southern Art/University of New Orleans and the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation have also combined their efforts to create a program bringing musicians into the school system. The Ogden Museum’s Ogden After Hours has proven to be an excellent format for educating an audience about the musicians around the country. In the same vain, Ponderosa Stomp has been able to introduce young people to musicians that have never been given the attention deserved.
The artists’ time in a school, brings an unparalleled, vivid experience of American history into the classroom. In today’s post Katrina education system, music and the individuals behind it, is being left behind from much of the curriculum. This collaboration is bringing those musicians, and music education back into the schools and into the lives of the children and the future of the city of New Orleans. Currently, this program is conducted at The Good Shepherd School in New Orleans.
Xavier Students with Little Freddie King for an in-class oral history.
This past semester, The Ponderosa Stomp Foundation was thrilled to add a partnership with Xavier University to our educational programming. We worked with a group of 75 freshman throughout this semester, engaging them in a cultural service-learning project. Their work entailed meeting local musicians, watching and conducting live, in class, oral histories, and researching key locations and people for an American Music Mapping Project the Foundation will undertake in the coming year.
Preserving the American Music Story: Oral History Project
A key component to honoring the history of the of American music is to capture, document and archive the stories of the men and women who were there – the musicians who provided Little Richard with the backbeat for his fiery debut recordings, backed Elvis Presley on the road and in the studio and taught Ray Charles how to mix the sacred and profane to create rock ‘n roll.These are the type of stories the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation brings to light.
Too often the opportunity to capture the lives behind the songs are missed. The Ponderosa Stomp Foundation works to document the disparate stories behind the music while they can still be heard, before it is too late and these treasures of American history are lost forever. This is American history, not just music history, and we are at risk of not having a complete and honest version of it.
- Rockie Charles, 2007. Image (c)Jacob Blickenstaff
To date, we have collected Oral Histories from almost 50 American musicians, such as: Joe Clay, Earl King, Rockie Charles and Teenie Hodges. Interviews are conducted throughout the year and throughout the country, as possible.
The regular interviews done at the Ogden After Hours and the numerous ones recorded at the Ponderosa Stomp Music Conference, have allowed us to greatly expand this program in the last several years. These histories will be among the rich materials donated to partnering organizations, such as The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, dedicated to preserving them.
Engaging Living History: Ponderosa Stomp Music Conference
? doing a live oral history at the 2009 Conference; Photo (c) Joseph A. Rosen
In 2008, the foundation partnered with the Louisiana State Museum, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame to launch the first-ever music conference dedicated to the unsung heroes of American music and their influence on contemporary music and culture.
Photo Copyright Jacob Blickenstaff, 2008.
Every year, the Ponderosa Stomp’s lineup draws some of the country’s most respected music critics and historians. Last year, we decided to put them to work at our first annual Music History Conference at the Louisiana State Museum’s Cabildo for a two-day collection of live panel discussions and oral histories that was a resounding success.
The Ponderosa Stomp Foundation’s Music History Conference is not your average day at school. Last year, Smokey Johnson and Bob French had dueling memories about who pawned whose bass drum, Harold Battiste and other founding members of AFO Records remembered the visionary label’s earliest days, and fans gathered at the feet of J&M Studio’s legendary Cosimo Matassa (literally – all the chairs were taken.)
Because of last year’s success, this year we added a third full day to the conference, as well as several film screenings. Returning as panel moderators this year were Peter Guralnick (Sweet Soul Music, Dream Boogie) John Broven (Rhythm & Blues In New Orleans), Nick Spitzer (American Routes radio) and Holly George-Warren (Public Cowboy No. 1.), joined by first-time participants like Robert Gordon (Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story film) and Miriam Linna (Norton Records) among others. They spoke with some of this year’s amazing subjects: Cowboy Jack Clement, Wanda Jackson, Cosimo Matassa, Joe Bihari, Wardell Quezergue, Dennis Coffey, Question Mark, Gayle Dean Wardlow, Dan Penn, James Blood Ulmer and others.
Dave Bartholomew at the 2009 Conference; Photo (c) Edgar Mata, 2009.
The 2nd annual Ponderosa Stomp Music Conference took place from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., April 27th, 28th, and 29th 2009 at the Louisiana State Museum’s historic Cabildo in Jackson Square.
Featured speakers have included Ponderosa Stomp-certified performers Sonny Burgess, Barbara Lynn, Lazy Lester, Dale Hawkins and Roy Head, as well as acclaimed authors Peter Guralnick, Holly George-Warren and Robert Gordon, and music biz legends Joe Bihari (founder of RPM and Modern Records), and Bob Sullivan (original engineer for the Louisiana Hayride) among others. Each session is recorded and donated for preservation in the archives of the Louisiana State Museum and the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame.
Conference Schedule 2009:
MONDAY APRIL 27TH 2009
ARSENAL: THIRD FLOOR
11:30 – 12:30
Oral History: Gayle Dean Wardlow & Mark Hoffman
12:30 – 1:00 flip room
1:00 – 2:00
Oral History: Classie Ballou & Ben Sandmel
2:00 – 2:30 flip room
2:30 – 3:30
Engineering Panel: Mark Bingham, Joe Bihari, Rick Hall, Cosimo Matassa, Bob Sullivan
3:30 – 4:00 flip room
4:00 – 5:00
Oral History: Dave Bartholomew and guests
FIRST FLOOR
11:00 – 12:30
Film: Dirt Road to Psychedelia (72 min) Q&A with director Scott Conn
12:30 – 1:00 flip room
1:00 – 2:30
Film: Shakespeare Was A Big George Jones Fan (90 min)
2:30 – 3:30
Discussion: Peter Guralnick, Robert Gordon & Cowboy Jack Clement
3:30 – 4:00 flip room
4:00 – 5:00
Louisiana Hayride Panel: Nick Spitzer, Maggie Warwick, Bob Sullivan, Dale Hawkins
TUESDAY APRIL 28TH 2009
ARSENAL
11:00 – 12:00
Oral History: Johnny Powers & Hurtt
12:00 – 12:30 flip room
12:30-1:30
Memphis Soul Panel: Robert Gordon, Scott Bomar, Otis Clay, Teenie Hodges, Roosevelt Jamison
1:30-2:00 flip room
2:00 – 3:00
Brice Nice/Dennis Coffey/DJ Soul Sister
3:00 – 3:30 flip room
3:30 – 4:30
Oral History: James Blood Ulmer with Dr. Ike
FIRST FLOOR
11:00 – 12:30
Joe Lauro Historic Films
12:30-1 flip room
1:00 – 2:00
Marshall Chess, John Broven, Joe Bihari
2:00 – 2:30
Film: The Legend of Bo Diddley (30 min)
2:30-3:00
Discussion: Lady Bo & Hurtt & Holly
3:00-3:30 flip room
3:30 – 5:00
Film: America’s Lost Band (60 min) Q&A with Barry Tashian
WEDNESDAY APRIL 30TH 2009
ARSENAL
11:00 – 12:00
DJ Play My Record Panel: John Broven, Rick Coleman, Dizzy Lizzy, Larry McKinley, Isaac Bolden
12:00 – 12:30 flip room
12:30 – 1:30
Muscle Shoals Panel: Peter Guralnick, Dan Penn, Rick Hall, Jimmy Hughes
1:30-2:00 flip room
2:00 – 3:00
Question Mark and Miriam Linna
FIRST FLOOR
12:30 – 1:40
Film: The Sweet Lady With The Nasty Voice (70 min)
1:40-2:40
Discussion: Holly George-Warren with Wanda Jackson
2:40 – 3:00 flip room
3:00 – 4:30
Wardell Quezergue, Mac Rebennack, Bob French
Celluloid Heroes: Rock ‘n’ Roll on Film
Shot from Dirt Road to Psychedelia, one of the films at this years event
This year, The Ponderosa Stomp launched the first annual Celluloid Heroes– Rock ‘n’ Roll on Film, a film screening series dedicated to uncovering the hidden histories of rock in sight and sound. Celluloid Heroes featured screenings and artist and critic-led discussions of four of our fave recent documentaries that relate to past and present Stomp performers.
The film America's Lost Band focuses on Stomp performer, The Remains, above
Celluloid Heroes Producer Madeleine Molyneaux is excited by the prospect of the Stomp incorporating film into the program, seeing it as a “natural link between the daily conferences and the nightly concert line-up. We plan to grow the program in the future and possibly expand it year-round to incorporate films and videos from around the world that exemplify the renegade rock n’ roll spirit of their subjects. It will be a perfect showcase for the work of independent artists committed to capturing music stories on film.”
CELLULOID HEROES FILM LINE-UP 2009
America’s Lost Band
a film by Michael Stich and Fred Cantor
Dirt Road to Psychedelia: Austin Texas during the 1960’s
a film by Scott Conn
Shakespeare Was A Big George Jones Fan: Cowboy Jack Clement’s Home Movies
a film by Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville
The Sweet Lady with the Nasty Voice
a film by Vincent Kralyevich and Joanne Fish
“UNSUNG HEROES” EXHIBIT AT THE LOUISIANA STATE MUSEUM
Exhibit Photo courtesy of Jacob Blickenstaff. (c) 2009
In conjunction with the eighth annual Ponderosa Stomp concert and second annual Music Conference in April 2009, the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation, in partnership with the Louisiana State Museum, curated an exhibit that took a sweeping look at the rich musical heritage of Louisiana.
“The purpose of the exhibit is to show the cultural importance and influence of Louisiana music,” said Ira “Dr. Ike” Padnos, founder and ringleader of the Ponderosa Stomp organization. “It illustrates how the various regions of the state developed their own sound, while at the same time they influenced each other.”
“Unsung Heroes: The Secret History of Louisiana Rock n’Roll” is the first freestanding, continuously accessible physical repository of the Ponderosa Stomp’s extensive (and arcane) body of information about obscure and influential Louisiana music history. Surprisingly, it’s also the first museum exhibit of its kind – a much-belated celebration of the state’s formidable contribution to American music.
“Unsung Heroes showcases, for the first time, the rich – and largely unknown – musical history of Louisiana’s blues, R&B, soul and garage artists, who played a significant role in shaping popular music and culture for the last 60 years,” said Aimee Bussells, director of the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation.
“Too often, American music history is the history of the ones who ‘made it.’ ‘Unsung Heroes’ integrates some of the missing pieces into that history, revealing a fuller, more accurate account of the seminal role Louisiana played to the public.”
Many panelists and interviewees from the Stomp conference toured the exhibit between sessions. Classie Ballou, Dave Bartholomew and Cosimo Matassa were among those who were able to locate their names and albums on the walls – in the famously modest Matassa’s case, it was a whole wall dedicated to the achievements of his world-changing studio.
“Unsung Heroes” takes visitors inside the record collections, photo albums and memories of the Ponderosa Stomp’s brain trust, including founder Dr. Ike, historian John Broven, and former Louisiana Hayride engineer Bob Sullivan.
“The exhibit peels back the paint and trimmings to show you the real foundation of where Louisiana rock n’roll came from,” according to Dr. Ike.
“Where else would Homesick Homer, T.V. Slim, Lil Buck and the Top Cats, Lazy Lester ,and the Sha-Weez be celebrated in a museum?”
Artifacts from the Louisiana State Museum’s collection include James Black’s drum set; Fats Domino’s piano; Louisiana blues legend Lazy Lester’s harmonica; Earl Palmer’s drums; Dave Bartholomew’s trumpet; a Shirley & Lee concert poster from 1955; a sign from Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Cosimo Matassa’s historic J&M Record Studio (where Fats Domino, Little Richard, Ray Charles, Dr. John, and others cut groundbreaking sides) and nearly a hundred original 45 rpm records and LP’s unearthed from Dr. Ike’s personal collection. The exhibit’s video station plays original interviews with several Ponderosa Stomp artists.
In typical Stomp fashion, an entire wall celebrates the famous eccentrics of New Orleans music, including Emperor of the Universe Ernie K-Doe; outsize personality Guitar Slim, who dyed his hair to match his suits; the wing-wearing electric guitar evangelist Utah Smith, and the flamboyant rock n’roll piano pounder Esquerita.
The exhibit remains on view at the Louisiana State Museum’s Cabildo on Jackson Square until May 2010.
In the coming months, the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation plans to host a series of live interviews and concerts at the Louisiana State Museum with several of the Louisiana artists who appear in “Unsung Heroes.” Check the Stomp’s Artists and Events site for schedules and details.
