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Interview with Caryl Weiss
John: Caryl, when we met, around 1972, you were singing with the Liverpool Judies. Can you talk about how that came about, and what it was like singing with Teresa and Mary?
Caryl: The Philadelphia Maritime Museum had been donated the 1883 tall ship Gazela Primeiro, and Stretch and Teresa Pyott though that it would be a great place to have concerts, much like South Street Seaport in New York. They contacted the museum and suggested the program, but the museum didn't know how to run this. As Stretch and Teresa were members of the Philadelphia Folksong Society and had booked the Philadelphia Folk Festival and other events, they took care of everything, and we had a loose group of folks from the Society singing atop the galley on Sunday evenings when the ship was docked next to the Ben Franklin Bridge. With the Bicentennial on the horizon, I took out an ad in the Society's newsletter, and got a group of six of us together to really work on a shanty program. Teresa dubbed us "Outward Bound", and we performed five times a week during the summer of 1976. At one point, we had a day-time gig, and the guys couldn't make it, so we three ladies went onstage as "The Liverpool Judies". The name stuck, and we used that whenever it was just the three of us. We were the country's premier female sea shanty group, and are still performing. When I first started singing with Outward Bound, I was scared to death to sing--let alone lead--anything a capella; although I had sung in choirs. Performing with Outward Bound and The Liverpool Judies increased my confidence in myself.
With Liverpool Judies, 2007, Philadelphia Folk Festival
John: You were also basist with the Juggernaut String Band sometime around then. Can you discuss working with Peter and Janet, an the repoertoire you guys had?
Caryl:
I started out playing upright bass with Juggernaut, and then switched to electric bass. When Carl quit the band, I took over as the guitar player, and formed a unique style of playing that incorporated both bass and guitar parts, mostly out of necessity. Peter Taney has a lot of energy, and would play the banjo at one speed in rehearsal; but, when getting fed energy onstage, would play the tunes about three times faster! No guitarist can keep up with that, so instead of just "bass-chuck", I would run bass lines to keep my hand from falling off. A musician friend came to see us in concert, and commented to me, "You're playing both the bass and the guitar parts!". The Juggernaut String Band did play old-timey music, but Peter and Janet wrote some incredible pieces, which I then dubbed "New-Timey". I am forever grateful to them for taking me to europe on a few tours; I had some wonderful experiences, saw things that weren't in the tourist books, and fell in love! As you probably know, Janet died of a brain tumor a few years ago, and it was truly a huge loss to the music community.
Peter Taney and Janet Bregman Taney
of Juggernaut at Philadelphia Folk Festival
John: Sometime later, we were on our way to Gene Shay's show, following a Stan Rogers concert at International House. Caere to tell about Stan and the snowbank your car was in?
Caryl: I booked Stan's first three American tours, and on one of them, he played for the Philadelphia Folksong Society at International House. It had snowed quite a bit that night, and the Philadelphia snow plows had plowed my Vega wagon in during the concert. Not one to miss a gig, Stan lifted the rear end of the car over the snow bank, and we got in and made it to Gene Shay's radio show just in time.
John: You may have covered this, but do you want to discuss some people noqw getting into Stan, and their not knowing much about, for example, Stan's dirty-joke telling abilities?
Caryl: For those of your listeners who have only heard Stan on record, you're only getting half of what the man was, musically. If you were in the room during his concert, you belonged to him. The only other performer that I ever saw who had that kind of command over an audience was Theodore Bikel. Stan was an amazing writer, and you walked away from his performances singing his tunes for days. He had a voice -- and a heart -- as big as all of Canada, and he was a raging Canadian national, especially after a few drinks. Of course, his off-color jokes were as legendary as his music, but that's not what we judge him by.
John: Again, later on, aftrer we'd left Philly for the Poconos, you got ill for a while, but seem to have completely recovered, thank you very much. Do you want to say anything about that period of your performing careeer?
Caryl:
I was in a motorcycle accident in 1981, which left me with a spinal cord and head injury. (Yes, I had a helmet on, but it cracked in half when I hit the ground!) I also broke my wrist, and my pelvis in two places, and my shoulder was in three pieces.There was no occupational therapy for folk singers at that time, so I had to do my own, working excruciatingly for hours on end with a tape recorder. I noticed that when I played lead, I was ahead of the beat, and when I played rhythm, I was behind. I had to learn how to walk and talk all over again, and how to sing and play at the same time. I will never recover from my physical injuries, but I beat the odds, as my doctor said that I wouldn't walk for six months, IF I walked again. I walked into his office on crutches two weeks after being released from the hospital; and, four weeks later, I flew up to Canada to record the "With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm" album with Paul Mills (Stan's producer, which is why Stan appears on it!).
John: Now you've turned up on Facebook, wearing the uniform of one of our Service branches. Can you describe how that came about, speaking of that part of your career arc?
Caryl:
I serve in three organizations: I'm a major in the Civil Air Patrol (US Air Force Auxiliary), where I fly search and rescue--I've been in since 1986, and have also been the administrative officer, medical officer, emergency services officer, information officer, government relations officer, and recruiting officer. I've been in the US Coast Guard Auxiliary since 2000, am a past Flotilla Commander, and serve in a crew, as an AuxCHEF, as the flotilla and division Public Affairs Officer, and am in the Photo Corps. I am also a commissioned admiral (four-star) in the Texas Navy, having been commissioned by Gov. Ann Richards in 1992.
John: Not in closing, but would you like to discuss the shanty-singing sessions you've been attending in Wheaton, MD [at the Royal Mile?] with our mutual friend Severn SAvage?
Caryl:
The shanty sings take place on the first Tuesday of the month at the Royal Mile from 8-10PM, and have been going on for about 15 years or so. They sometimes get up to 200 people in the pub, and everyone gets a chance to lead one as they go around the room, with all joining in on the choruses. It's a delight to see younger people getting involved in carrying on the tradition of the sea shanties. Severn always has some obscure (or is it original?) contribution to make, which leaves everyone in stitches.
John: Are there any questions I've left out, things you'd like to get off your chest?
For example, I saw your recent FB coment that you haven't been attending Philly since it stopped being a folk festival. Care to elaborate?
Caryl:
I'm old-school Philadelphia Folk Festival, where there was a variety of music, and the workshops were participatory, and not of the "And Then I Wrote..." variety. Us old-timers can't seem to get the mix of music that we want, as the festival is catering to the youngsters, and is more of a singer-songwriter festival. There are a lot of those around, and I wish that they'd leave "our" festival the way it was, although I'm afraid that those days are gone! I can't see driving seven hours round-trip to see one or two acts. Philadelphia used to be a really great all-around festival, as so many others are theme-based (bluegrass, Celtic, shanty, songwriter, etc.). I think that there really is a need for a musically eclectic folk festival. There are so many x-fests in the area. There was even talk of taking the word "Folk" out of "Philadelphia Folk Festival", as some people thought that that word was scaring folks away! As PFF is a 501 (c) (3) educational corporation, I believe that they have a responsiblity to give people more of an educational experience at the festival than they've been given for the past seven or eight years or so. There is a fine line between musical education and entertainment, and I feel that the education part has been pushed out and lost. Hopefully, not forever...
