Ever wonder where the Grateful Dead learned their songs? This is episode 10 of Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song. Thank you to Sarah at the Caffe for compiling the list of artists and songs. Michael Cooney had traveled the country , and knew how to play almost any song. He became a popular draw at a particular Palo Alto club in 1963. It was there he met a high school band, teaching them the songs they’d eventually be known for playing as the Grateful Dead. The lure of the "Mystic East" was

In her teens, she won a scholarship to study drama at college in North Carolina, but dropped out to pursue a singing career. This is episode 9 of Caffe Lena 60 Years of Song. Thank you Sarah Craig for picking the artists and songs to showcase the special nature of the Caffe's history with music discovery. In 1968, Emilylou Harris headed to New York's Greenwich Village , where she worked as a waitress by day and played gigs in the evenings. There she married her musician boyfriend Tom Slocum, and

When the producers of The Monkees passed on it, The Greenbriar Boys were the band to take the first chance on Michael Nesmith's "Different Drum." This is episode 8 of Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song. Thank you to Sarah At the Caffe for her help compiling the list of artists and songs. They met and jammed in Washington Square Park. The trio often played the Greenwich Village scene. They were listed as guests on two Joan Baez records. The Greenbriar Boys were notable enough to be the first Northern

Growing up Arlo Guthrie was surrounded by renowned artists like Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, Ronnie Gilbert, Fred Hellerman (The Weavers), Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, and Rambliní Jack Elliott, to name a few. This is the sixth episode of Caffe Lena : 60 Years of Song . Each week, we advance a year as we hear significant artists who played the Caffe that year, followed by a recent discovery. Thank you to Sarah Craig at the Caffe for her help compiling of the lists of artists and songs. In 1965, a

Freddie the Fireman and the L&M Cigarette Man, folk singer and disc jockey, Ed McCurdy has a dream. This is the sixth episode of Caffe Lena : 60 Years of Song . Each week, we advance a year as we hear significant artists who played the Caffe that year, followed by a recent discovery. Thank you to Sarah Craig at the Caffe for her help compiling of the lists of artists and songs. Ed McCurdy set out on his path to be a singer at age 18. He got his start singing and as a DJ at a gospel station

Nicknamed the Mayor of McDougal Street, he was an important figure in the American folk music revival and New York City's Greenwich Village scene in the 1960s. His name? Dave Van Ronk. This is the fifth episode of Caffe Lena : 60 Years of Song. Each week, we advance a year as we hear significant artists who played the Caffe that year, followed by a recent discovery. Thank you to Sarah Craig at the Caffe for her help compiling of the lists of artists and songs. Trying to sum up a character larger

From 1958 until Robert Beers' death in an automobile accident in 1972, The Beers Family sang and played together. This is the fourth episode of Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song. Each week, we advance one year as we hear significant artists who played the Caffe in the year, followed by a recent discovery. Thank you to Sarah Craig at the Caffe for her help with the compiling of the lists of artists and songs. The Beers Family was Robert, his wife Evelyne and daughter Martha. They hosted many folk

In March 1961, at the age of 24, Jean Redpath arrived in the United States with just eleven dollars in her pocket. Her first performance was in San Francisco. Later, she met up with Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Bob Dylan in Greenwich Village. Jean would go on to become world famous as a singer of Scottish folk songs, particularly the songs of Robert Burns. In 1962, Jean made her way to Saratoga to sing at Caffe Lena. Lena’s Caffe was just in its 3rd year. One year later in 1963, following a concert

Before he was Bob Dylan, in 1961, he played at Caffe Lena. This is the second episode of Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song. Each week, we advance one year as we hear significant artists who played the Caffe in the year and a recent discovery. Thank you to Sarah Craig at the Caffe for her help with the compiling of the lists of artists and songs. Bob Dylan has since become a musical icon, but in 1961, he was still finding his footing on the stage. Dylan's first album, Bob Dylan, released March 19,

Jackie Washington Landron , folksinger, actor. He was one of the first to set foot on Lena and Bill Spencer's stage. This is the first episode of Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song. Each week, we advance one year as we hear significant artists who played the Caffe in the year and a recent discovery. Thank you to Sarah Craig at the Caffe for her help with the compiling of the list of songs. Jackie Washington grew up in the Boston neighborhood of Roxbury. He studied at Emerson College as a Theater Arts