I was thinking about the WGBH radio program "The Spider's Web" that I listened to (in both Boston and New York) during the 1970s, and I was, sadly, unable to find the recording they used of the theme song, which I believe was sung by Odetta.
A great big thanks goes to these girls, who are teaching others how to harmonize it on YouTube.
And here's a recording of the song by an unnamed grown-up, who, kindly, is sharing the words and chords online.
I wrote two posts about the radio show back in 2009.
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6 comments:
I loved that program, Elaine, but, boy do we remember the theme differently.
In my memory it was James Taylor who sung the theme.
I don’t remember James Taylor singing the theme, but there might have been different people who sang it over the years. I imagine that our memories are both correct.
Livingston Taylor sang the theme song. My Mother asked him at a concert if it was on any of his CDs available to purchase. He told her it was not but maybe she could find it on youtube. I purchased it a couple of years ago when it finally became available included in a large 5 cd dvd 50 Years of Livingston Taylor boxed set from his web site for ~$90.00. I listened to the show all of the time when I was a child and now I have a recording of the opening song. I had been looking for old cassettes from when I had originally listened to the show but I was unable to locate any that my Mother had recorded. I am happy to have it.
I guess Kevin was half right! It was a different Taylor! Thank you so much.
Dear anonymous, my wife and I listened to that show when we were first together in the 70s. We've been married 42 years but now she's passing. Any chance I could get a copy of that song? I'd like to play it for her now, and also at her service. Philip...lindyandphilip@gmail.com
I spent hours listening to "The Spider's Web" in the years 1972–1975, while attending a boarding school in eastern Massachusetts. Some time . . . during those years, maybe, but maybe later . . . I was a at a gathering when, somehow, I found myself talking to an outgoing man who turned out to be Timothy Sheldon, who'd done, or was still doing, the reading on the show. I loved the theme music and was pretty sure that the voice must belong to one of those Taylor brothers. Eventually--don't know how--I became convinced that the voice had been Livingston's. Many years later, my wife and I got to chat with him after a gig he'd done at the Old Town School of Folk Music, in Chicago. I'd had the "Spider's Web" theme stuck in my head, in a grossly simplified form, for about 25 years, and had made up some silly new words for it, for use as a lullaby for our daughter. I don't remember whether I asked him to confirm that he'd recorded a theme for a radio show originating in BostonI am dee-lighted to have found this chat thread and to have found that the digital download of all the music from that five-disc set is still available. Thanks for posting the information!
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