Dave's relationship to music

Excerpted from the liner notes to "Songs of the West" an album released in 1961 by Folkways Records.

My father . . . was a cowboy and agricultural worker until he joined the Navy in WW I, my mother from the San Joaquin Valley in California where her family was one of the early settlers. As a boy . . . I spent just about every vacation period, summer, winter, spring, . . . farm of one of my uncles. I ended up learning a little bit about dairy farming , but much more about music, for the San Joaquin Valley was one of the areas settled by the migrants from the dust bowl regions in the 30's, hence the music was all around me and I was singing since very young. I sang unaccompanied most of the time, until about 1947 when I hauled out my father's old mail-order guitar . . . and learned a few chords. When I started college in 1944, I learned that "Okie" music as it was called, was not much in favor, and I turned to folk music, starting with Burl Ives, naturally . Suddenly I discovered Woody Guthrie on record and went back to my "Okie" and "hillbilly" and "cowboy" singing, . . . I do not consider myself to be a folk-singer; more I am a singer of old-time songs. . . .

I have been singing for my own pleasure for twenty-five years or more, and some of these years, I like to believe that some other people got some pleasure from it. But regardless of who listens, it is highly probable that twenty-five years from now, granted the physical possibility, I'll still be singing for my own pleasure [Dave Fredrickson].

Songs of the West sung by Dave Fredrickson (Folkways Records 1961)

Album Cover and Liner notes courtesy of Larry Felton (PDF)

Listen to samples of Songs of the West at davefredrickson.net

Lyrics to Fairwell Fair Ladies (PDF) -  44 KB PDF. “One of Davie's favorites and one that he recorded” (Will Spires 2013).

Four Cords by Dave Fredrickson (2005)

This was Dave's last official album record in Dave and Vera-Mae's home. To find out more about this album visit http://www.davefredrickson.net/

Tough Love & Hopes (2007)

“This CD [Tough Love & Hopes] is what songs were left over after having professionals putting together “Four Cords.” … Some of these I had rejected, but recently decided that they were – all of them – samples of my singing, etc.” Dave.