LEE HAYS
Lee Hays (March 14, 1914 – August 26, 1981) was an American folk-singer and songwriter, best known for singing bass with The Weavers. Throughout his life, he was concerned with overcoming racism, inequality, and violence in society. He wrote or co-wrote “Wasn’t That a Time?”, “If I Had a Hammer”, and “Kisses Sweeter than Wine”, which became Weavers’ staples. He also familiarized audiences with songs of the 1930s labor movement, such as “We Shall Not be Moved”. (More from Wikipedia)
In the same time period that he released Dust Bowl Ballads, Woody Guthrie was one of the co-founders of the Almanac Singers, which were active between 1940 and 1943. The other founders were Millard Lampell, later a television and film screenwriter, plus Pete Seeger and Lee Hays, who were in the folk group the Weavers that formed later in the decade.
(March 2015)
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Arlo Guthrie starred as himself in a movie called Alice’s Restaurant (1969) that brought the song “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” to life better than anyone could have expected. It was directed by Arthur Penn whose other films include Bonnie and Clyde and Little Big Man. Other cast members include Pat Quinn, James Broderick, and M. Emmet Walsh. Stockbridge police chief William Obanhein (“Officer Obie”) appears as himself, as does the blind judge, James Hannon. Pete Seeger and his bandmate in the Weavers, Lee Hays are also in the film. Alice Brock has a cameo in the movie; as the song says, the name of her restaurant was never “Alice’s Restaurant” – originally it was called The Back Room.
(March 2016)
