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ARTIST: UNCLE RUTHIE BUELL
TITLE: THE JACARANDA TREE
LABEL: SELF RELEASED
RELEASE DATE: FALL 2010
Full Disclosure: I Love Uncle Ruthie
By Ross Altman
 For obvious reasons, I should not be reviewing Uncle
Ruthie's new double CD; full disclosure: we have been friends for twenty-five
years, she has cooked noodle kugel for me, I have sung at all of her husbands'
memorial services, she has confided in me about each of her boyfriends and
assured me that the only reason she was interested in them is because I wasn't
available, and I have been a guest on her classic KPFK radio program Halfway Down the Stairs for more times
than I can remember-usually losing a nights' sleep to get there at 7:00am to
prepare for her 8:00am start time.
Thus, not only is objectivity out of the question; I am not
even able to be impartial, or anything less than avowedly pro-all things-Uncle
Ruthie, due to the simple fact that I love her.
ARTIST: UNCLE RUTHIE BUELL
TITLE: THE JACARANDA TREE
LABEL: SELF RELEASED
RELEASE DATE: FALL 2010
Full Disclosure: I Love Uncle Ruthie
By Ross Altman
For obvious reasons, I should not be reviewing Uncle
Ruthie's new double CD; full disclosure: we have been friends for twenty-five
years, she has cooked noodle kugel for me, I have sung at all of her husbands'
memorial services, she has confided in me about each of her boyfriends and
assured me that the only reason she was interested in them is because I wasn't
available, and I have been a guest on her classic KPFK radio program Halfway Down the Stairs for more times
than I can remember-usually losing a nights' sleep to get there at 7:00am to
prepare for her 8:00am start time.
Thus, not only is objectivity out of the question; I am not
even able to be impartial, or anything less than avowedly pro-all things-Uncle
Ruthie, due to the simple fact that I love her.
But I also love the high ground of journalism, and have
written on another occasion that even from this lowly perch, I am proud to
uphold the high standards of this profession. So what am I to do? I tried to
abstain from this assignment, to recuse myself as it were from having to
compromise my fourth estate credentials due to this conflict of interest. But
as Uncle Ruthie is my friend, and she personally asked me to do this, I am
forced to choose between an abstract principle and a personal commitment, for
that is what friendship is.
On that score, I find that it is not a difficult choice to
make: friendship trumps journalism. So with that proviso, here is my take on The Jacaranda Tree, Uncle Ruthie's
magnificent new double CD of songs for children: If you like Uncle Ruthie, you
will like this album. And what's not to like? Have you not listened to her
faithfully for over fifty years on KPFK's flagship children's show, Halfway Down the Stairs? Have you not
watched your children's eyes open wide with delight as Uncle Ruthie takes you
down the rabbit hole of imaginative journeys through every culture and
conceivable kind of human encounter that they are heir to? Have you not quietly
thanked her with gratitude that every Saturday morning her show enlightens and
entertains, informs and inspires, and always in good taste? Have you not been
equally grateful that she never fails to find exceptional guests (present
company excluded) to add just the right song or story or additional
instrumental accompaniment to her rainbow stew of delights?
Of course you have. Before there was Sesame Street, there
was Uncle Ruthie, breathing life into the printed page, and suspense into the
written word. She didn't need a puppet-it was all there in her voice-that
singular voice that needs only a microphone to fill your mind with characters
and scenes from every walk of life.
Were all the children's books of the last century to burn in
a Ray Bradbury nightmare, a good many of them would survive and still be
available on Uncle Ruthie's collected tapes from her show, beautifully
enunciated in her clear, soothing voice. But did you know she also wrote songs?
Not that it matters; her indomitable legacy is secure; the songs are just icing
on the cake of Halfway Down the Stairs. But she does write songs, about the
sacred and the profane-about how you should walk your dog, and how she dealt
with the ravages of breast cancer (In
Loving Mammary-on her adult album, "The Mystery of Time"); about Rosa Parks
and Martin Luther King, and about how you should not let others dictate what a
family is. Uncle Ruthie is fully engaged with her times, and with eternity as
well.
Who else would name their dog Godot? Who else would or could
host a poetry reading at Workmen's Circle every month, not to read her own
poems, but to encourage every literary wannabe in town to read theirs? Who else
would devote their day job to the education of special needs children, and then
burn the midnight oil to edit down the raw tapes of last year's live broadcast
for Black History Month into this year's perfectly sculpted show for a new
Black History Month-that included the story of America's first black president?
There ain't no one else out there-that's who. Not that KPFK
realizes the treasure they have. They are always trying to cut her show down to
a half hour, moving her precious time slot earlier and earlier, hoping that no
one will be listening and they can finally justify abandoning her altogether;
after all, this 80 year old thrice-widowed Jewish grandmother with one breast
doesn't fit any contemporary demographic.
And yet, unaccountably, people continue to listen, and get
up earlier and earlier not to miss her show. Perhaps that's why Uncle Ruthie
got the prestigious Magic Penny Award this year from the Children's Music
Network. Named for Malvina Reynold's classic children's song, the one that
says, "Love is something if you give it away...you end up having more," this
award could not have found a more worthy recipient. Uncle Ruthie has been
giving it away since KPFK (90.7 FM) started broadcasting in 1959, and has never
made a dime off her priceless weekly show. We should all be immensely grateful
for both her talent and her dedication, and should give her more love in
return. One way of expressing this would certainly be to buy her new CD-The Jacaranda Tree.
Worth the price of admission is Uncle Ruthie Buell's
powerful new anti-spanking song, which extends Martin Luther King's philosophy
of nonviolence to childrearing, without exception showing parents there's a
better way to discipline than with the back of one's hand, without losing the
sense of humor that makes even painful subjects a source of imaginative
pleasure. There is an almost-X-rated cow song, a Green Christmas song for the
holidays, and one of Uncle Ruthie's trademark forays into the mind of a child.
She has an uncanny ability to project herself into the world that children
actually live in-where rejection is always just around the corner-here captured
in The Anti-Lydia Club.
Uncle Ruthie's albums are always well produced, and feature
an array of some of the best children's artists who are honored to be her
musical collaborators. You will recognize their names: Dan Crow, J.P.
Nightingale (John and Pam Wood), Fred Sokolow (on dobro, banjo, mandolin,
autoharp and guitar) and Gary Poirot on piano help make this generous
collection of 35 songs sparkle in a thrilling variety of musical settings, all
held together by Uncle Ruthie's humane, whimsical and life-affirming
sensibility that has enriched our lives for more than half a century.
It is dedicated to her late husband, sculptor Stanley
Schwartz, whose wood recreations of the animal kingdom gave Uncle Ruthie a
profound appreciation of a world just beyond the borders of human speech. He
would certainly be honored to have this beautiful collection of children's
songs presented in his memory-with a number of photos of them together in the
richly illustrated enclosed booklet. You always get more than you pay for with
Uncle Ruthie; she is old school value that you can trust-from its cover
painting of a jacaranda tree filled with turtledoves to its two CDs-one for
younger kids, and one for the older. You can grow up with Uncle Ruthie at your
side. I did. We all did.
Ross Altman has a Ph.D. in English. Before becoming a full-time
folk singer he taught college English and Speech. He now sings around
California for libraries, unions, schools, political groups and folk festivals.
You can reach Ross at
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