THEODORE BIKEL
While I’m Here
Red House Records
(This is an expanded version of a review published in the September
26, 2016 issue of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin.)
There is no doubt
that Theodore Bikel – who died last
year at age 91 – was one of the greatest Jewish actors and folksingers of our
time. This new 2-CD collection highlights both aspects of Theo’s distinguished
career.
The first CD is a
compelling 62-minute set of spoken word pieces, recorded not long before he
died, in which Theo – with his actor’s skill – tells stories from his long life
and career. Among other stories, we hear about his relationship to Judaism, his
move as a young man to pre-state Palestine, his early years as an actor in Israel
and London, his move to America, his passion for social justice causes, his
love of Yiddish language and culture and more.
The second CD is a
collection of folk and Broadway songs – more than half of them specifically
Jewish folksongs sung in Yiddish, Hebrew and Ladino – drawn from various
sources recorded over many years. Many of them are recent recordings, which
show that Theo never lost any of his ability to communicate the essence of a
song, while some date back to the 1960s.
“Partizaner-Marsh,”
“Erev Shel Shoshanim,” “Un Az Der Rebi Tantz,” and “Oh Freedom,” the
African-American civil rights anthem Theo recorded at a 1965 synagogue
concert, are just a few of the many highlights from these songs. Others include
“Wasn’t That a Might Day,” Theo’s song about Hurricane Katrina that he based on
“Wasn’t That a Mighty Storm,” a song about the hurricane and flood in Galveston,
Texas in 1900 that killed thousands of people, and “When I’m Gone,” Phil Ochs’ song about needing to get
things done and living life to its fullest while we can. The album’s title, While I’m Here, comes from the refrain to
Phil’s song.
Theodore Bikel
accomplished so much while he was here and these two CDs are a wonderful
summation.
Kudos to producers
Michael Stein, Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer
for assembling this excellent set and to music historian Mary Katherine Aldin for her excellent notes.
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--Mike Regenstreif
Theo Bikel had a huge impact on folk music in the esrly 60s, often paired up with a very young Judy Collins. In a concert of that era I attended, he had us in his hands. Masterful story teller, wonderful singer who could switch accents between Yiddish anf Scottish, what intrigued me at the time was that he played folk music (very well) on a classical guitar. This collection sounds a bit too specialized for me, but I'm delighted to hear it does him justice.
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