Play Your Guitars, American Friends
1975 · Paredon P-2001 · USA
- Artist
- Alfonso Ray Riate
- Title
- Play Your Guitars, American Friends
- Release
- What Now, People?
- Year
- 1975
- Label
- Paredon # P-2001
- Format
- LP · Compilation
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Genre
- Folk · Contemporary Folk
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation
What Now People? Volume 1 (Paredon Records # P-2001), released on the label founded by Barbara Dane and Irwin Silber in 1969, whose objective was to "seek out the music and speech, documentary or dialogue, that spring from the conscious artist who relates to people's movements, and which pour from all people in struggle". (1) This record label released several albums either about the Vietnam War or that contained a Vietnam War song, which are discussed on this list. See the note below. Also note that in 1969 Dane and Sliber published the book "The Vietnam Song Book" which included the notation and lyrics of one hundred anti-war songs collected from around the world. This album contained four songs that dealt with Vietnam War issues. These are "It Could Have Been Me" by Holly Near about the Kent State, Ohio demonstration, which also appeared on her LP A Live Album (see the sub-list); Oscar Brand's "A Very Nice Country" about Americans living in Canada in exile (because of draft avoidance and opposition to the war); "Ballad of the Unknown Soldier" by Barbara Dane. Finally, it included the song "Play Your Guitars, American Friends" by Alfonso Ray Riate, a Vietnam veteran who had been…
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
Alfonso Ray Riate (1945-1984), born in Sebastopol, California to a Filipino father and Karuk mother, was a US Marine captured in Quang Tri Province in 1967 and held POW until 1973, becoming a member of the antiwar 'Peace Committee' of captured servicemen; he wrote 'Play Your Guitars, American Friends' in captivity and recorded it for the compilation 'What Now, People?' on Barbara Dane's Paredon Records (1975). He died in Lynwood, California in 1984. [Source: Wilber & Lembcke, 'Dissenting POWs' (Monthly Review Press); POW Network]