Today I Learned...

[susandennis]

That Holly Near and Kevin Bacon are first cousins. Their mothers are twin sisters! I had no idea.

In fact, truth be told, I actually hadn't even thought about Holly Near in a while. She was the voice of my early adulthood and I hung on her every word and every note she sang.

She was the subject of an American Masters episode that aired here last week. I just watched it ... twice. It was amazing to see her again and see videos of the past.

And man does she ever look good. Talk about aging well. She is exactly my age but wears it ever so much better.

It was a cool piece to see.

Comments

[lostincandyrain.livejournal.com]

I had never heard of Holly Near before, probably because my parents lived in England when she was "big", so I grew up with pretty much just British music from that time. Luckily, I work for a music company now, so could look her up... Her Pandora bio sounds awesome, although now I have to look up more phrases I've never heard of before, "A red-diaper baby of leftist parents," what is that supposed to mean?

[lostincandyrain.livejournal.com]

Oh: "A red diaper baby is a child of parents who were members of the United States Communist Party (CPUSA) or were close to the party or sympathetic to its aims."

All these things I didn't know...

[susandennis]

ha. I had not heard that phrase in years. it's from back in the day when saying someone was member of the CPUSA was an accusation.

she was the voice of feminist music back before there was such a thing. she was our leader and all things good.

[fauxklore]

I had no idea she was Kevin Bacon’s cousin.

I saw her perform with Arlo Guthrie, Ronnie Gilbert, and Pete Seeger in Berkeley in the early 80’s.

For a long time I thought she had died, but I had her confused with Kate Wolfe.

[susandennis]

Arlo Guthrie, Ronnie Gilbert, and Pete Seeger with Holly Near? That's like my perfect concert ever.

[fauxklore]

It was called The H.A.R.P. tour. I think it was recorded. And, yeah, pretty great.

[rosegardenfae.livejournal.com]

I had not thought of her in years. Thanks for the memory.