Welcome to Our New Catalog

The library has just switched to a new catalog. All the content is still there, but the interface is new. Even though it does offer improvements such as auto-suggest, we realize that its merely being different can make it difficult. We are more than happy to help you.

• Come in and stop at the desk.
• Phone us at 617-747-8002.
• Email us or use Google Talk to chat with us at askalibrarian@berklee.edu.

Ask a Librarian: Now via Google talk

Chat reference is now available through Google talk. Because all Berklee students, faculty and staff have accounts through Google, a big advantage over our previous Meebo service is that we will already have your email address if you are no longer online when we answer your question.

The Google talk section is located at the bottom left of your Berklee Gmail web browser window. If you don't see it, look in your email settings under Chat and make sure it is turned on.

As always, you can click on the Ask a Librarian link on the library home page, and you can also email us with your reference questions.

Billy Bragg on Woody Guthrie

July 14 marks the 100th anniversary of Woody Guthrie's birthday.

As part of the festivities, Billy Bragg is touring in support of Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions, his recordings with Wilco of Woody Guthrie's unrecorded lyrics, and played the Somerville Theater recently.

Bragg's concerts have always included just as much talking as singing, and he devoted his first set to Woody Guthrie material and discussion about it. Nora Guthrie, Woody's daughter, approached Bragg, a socialist punk-influenced folky, and Wilco with the project out of concern that her father's legacy had been reduced to a 2-dimensional character. Guthrie was known only for writing "This Land Is Your Land" and for influencing Bob Dylan, and Bragg embraced the opportunity to showcase the many aspects of his work. Besides displaying the range of Guthrie's lyrics, he also emphasized the range of Guthrie's life experiences. Although the Dust Bowl-era Oklahoma native is thought to have embodied Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath (PS3537.T3234 G7 1993), he lived in Coney Island after WWII, where Bragg explained that his life resembled On the Town, the 1949 Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra musical about sailors on leave in New York. In describing a song with the tempo marking "supersonic boogie," Bragg recalled a story from Guthrie's son Joady, that Woody was always fascinated by gadgets and that he asked Joady to bring him an electric guitar when he was hospitalized with Huntington's Disease; Bragg joked that had Guthrie been in better health and lived longer, he could have pissed off Pete Seeger at Newport.

Bragg also commented that Guthrie had become the captive of academics, and that Bragg was thrilled to rescue him. While our Woody Guthrie Centennial does include scholarly analysis of his life, work, and cultural impact, it also includes scores of his songs. So check out some Guthrie scores and breath new life into this American icon.

NPR Salutes Woody Guthrie

Stan Getz Library aren't the only ones honoring the Woody Guthrie centennial.

NPR's Talk of the Nation devoted a segment to him, noting:

While Guthrie left a lasting mark on music, culture and politics, he struggled with family poverty, tragedies and personal demons.

Jeff Place, head archivist of the Smithsonian Folklife Collection, and Bob Santelli, executive director of the Grammy Museum, joined NPR's Neal Conan on the National Mall to celebrate the Guthrie centennial. Smithsonian Folkways recording artist Elizabeth Mitchell joined them there to play some of Guthrie's most memorable songs.

Woody Guthrie's Indelible Mark On American Culture

In addition Terry Gross interviewed Neil Young for Fresh Air about his new album Americana (CD 34182), which includes Young's version of Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land." Young discusses the forgotten, controversial verses to the song.

Neil Young's Fascination With 'Americana'

Explore Classic Albums with the 33 1/3 Series

Ever wanted to find out more about your favorite albums? Take a look at Continuum's 33 1/3 book series. Each volume offers an in-depth exploration of a single album. The coverage ranges from the classic to the cult classic; Let It Be by both the Beatles (ML421.B4 M195 2004) and the Replacements (ML421.R47 M45 2004) get the treatment. Authors include music journalists, such as Seattle-based writer Gillian G. Gaar's tackling Nirvana's In Utero (ML421 .N58 G33 2006), and musicians such as Buffalo Tom's Bill Janovitz taking on the Rolling Stone's Exile on Main St. (ML421.R66 J36 2005).

The topics go far beyond what you'd find in liner notes to put the albums in context, not just a track-by-track analysis but also a look at the creative inspiration and an argument for the importance of less-obvious choices. John Dougan includes a history of Britain's pirate radio stations that influenced The Who Sell Out (ML421 .W46 D68 2006). In exploring the Pixies' Doolittle (ML421.P578 S57 2006), Ben Sisario interviewed central figures such as Charles Thompson (a.k.a. Black Francis) and Joey Santiago, who reveals that he learned to play guitar by checking out records from the library, as well as Berklee faculty member Burt Price, who offered recollections from his work as a second assistant engineer on the album.

The books are slim and compact, around 150 pages and not much bigger than a CD case. So in a quick read you can get the full story on an album you know by heart or wonder why it is so esteemed.

Stevie Wonder's Harmonica

We're saluting the harmonica in our current display Harmonica Power and even giving one away. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has an impressive one in their collection, Stevie Wonder's, and it is also part of their online display Spotlight Artifacts.

If you need ideas for the harmonica contest, consider some songs that have featured Wonder's playing:

• "Fingertips, Part 2" on Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971 (Motown, 1992) (CD 1354-1357 Disc 1)
• "Isn't She Lovely" on Songs In the Key of Life (Universal/Motown, 2000, 1976) (CD 5204-5205 Disc 2)
• "Boogie On Reggae Woman" on Fulfillingness' First Finale (Motown, 1974) (CD 2395)
• "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" on Too Low for Zero by Elton John (MCA, 1983) (CD 5907)

A to Z of Pirate Radio: 40 Watts from Nowhere (book review)

As 40 Watts From Nowhere begins, the author Sue Carpenter recalls how she got tired of having to listen to the same popular songs played on her local commercial radio station over and over again. This prompts her to start her own radio station in 1995, thinking, how hard can it be? With this somewhat naive and adventurous attitude she sets up the first pirate radio station to feature music in the San Francisco area, KPBJ. When she subsequently moves to Los Angeles, she sets up another pirate radio station, KPLT, again from her small apartment. One of the many challenges Carpenter faces in setting up a radio station is the manufacture of a transmitter that can reach a significant population of her neighborhood. In addition, she has to find DJs to run it. The number one threat to the station she learns is that by not paying the required radio license fee to the FCC, she risks being fined $20,000 and/or spending a year in prison. Despite these risks Carpenter continues to promote her station, and before long the station has over 100 DJs and is influential in the punk and alternative music scene in L.A.

40 Watts from Nowhere is a fascinating, quick read. The author sees the humor in her often stressful and chaotic life at the station. It is interesting to read how Carpenter and her DJ friends experience fame and popularity one hand, while understanding the importance of remaining underground about their station’s actual existence.

• 40 Watts From Nowhere by Sue Carpenter (HE8697.65 .C37 2004)