This Bell Still Rings

Barbara Dane, born in 1927, is an American folk, blues, and jazz singer-songwriter. She was prominent in the movements for peace and justice as the struggle for civil rights spread and opposition to the Vietnam War mounted, singing at demonstrations throughout the United States and all over the world. In 1966 she became the first US musician to tour post-revolutionary Cuba. By the early 1970s Dane had started Paredon Records with her husband, the late Irwin Silber, in their adopted hometown of Oakland, California. Specializing in international protest music, she produced fifty albums, including three of her own. The label is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. Dane is the recipient of numerous honors, and the New York Times featured a full-page profile of her in 2021. Bob Dylan said of her: “The world needs more people like Barbara, someone who is willing to follow her conscience. She is, if the term must be used, a hero.”

"Barbara is someone who is willing to follow her conscience. She is, if the term must be used, a hero."—Bob Dylan"I first met Barbara when I was seventeen. She taught me that 'Wild women don't worry, wild women don't get the blues.'"—Linda Ronstadt“What a life of service in the fight for civil rights and human dignity. Barbara Dane's music lifted us as it lifted me when we were together in Mississippi in 1964 to register African American voters. Thank you for keeping the faith all these years."—Judy Collins“Barbara Dane has always been a role model and a hero of mine, both musically and politically, and for her lifelong commitment to truth, justice, equality, and representation for all.”—Bonnie Raitt“An important read: the amazing story of Barbara Dane, a powerful radical citizen-artist whose magnificent voice, and uncompromising dedication to freedom, social justice, and global liberation continues to ring.”—Danny Glover“A true unsung hero of American music [with] a jazz musician's sense of rhythm, a blues singer's deep investment in the material, and a folk stylist's attention to authenticity."—James Reed, The Boston Globe“Barbara Dane is a long-haul kind of woman: committed, loyal, gifted, and steadfast in the struggle for deep social change. And here's something none of you know: She persuaded me to make the movie Klute."—Jane Fonda"This book is medicine for the soul in these dark times; not a book of songs but a book that sings. It tells the story of movements that have transformed American consciousness, told from the perspective of a life lived for giving."—Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author of An Indigenous Peoples's History of the United States"Barbara Dane has led the way, showing us, through the choices she made throughout her life, how to use music as a tool for more than just entertainment. She knew it best, that when we sing about what matters, songs can change hearts, and changed hearts will change minds. This is how music changes the world: one changed heart at a time."—Mary Gauthier"Dane’s new memoir This Bell Still Rings offers a fascinating look at a time when Berkeley nurtured a bohemian culture that would come to shape the nation in the following decade."—Berkeleyside"What leaps out from Dane's memoir is her spirit—loving, cooperative, collective-minded, generous, risk-taking, humble, and warmly contemplative." —People's World"The notion that organization and collectivity are prerequisites of revolutionary politics is a sentiment that Dane expresses again and again in This Bell Still Rings. In music as in politics, Dane stressed the primacy of collaboration. She never recounted a musical performance or recording without elaborate descriptions of the key roles played by her fellow musicians." —Jacobin

• ContentsPart One: Let My Little Light Shine1. Memories Don’t Fade2. A Chronic Truant Sings3. The Atomic Age Begins4. Everything Changes5. Postwar Dreams6. From People’s Songs to the Home Front7. California, Here It Comes!8. The Party’s Over9. Digging Underground10. Byron Dances In11. Gateway Swings to Berkeley12. Yonder Come the Blues13. San Francisco Bay Blues14. Trouble in Mind Part Two: On My Way15. From the Alley to the Grove16. From Breakout to Blacklist17. Livin’ with the Blues18. Priorities19. Strange Bedfellows20. Riding High on Sugar Hill21. Buzz, Biz, Boom, Blam!22. On the Emes, This Is True23. Wake Up and Sing!24. Do You, Mister Jones?25. Which Side Are You On?26. The Times, They Are a-Changin’ Part Three: My American Dream27. Irwin Calls, Lightnin’ Strikes, Mississippi Beckons28. Go Tell It on the Mountain29. Navigating Obstacles Blanketed in Bliss30. You Don’t Know Me31. Hard Rains Are a-Fallin’32. Three-Mile Walk of Hope33. Good Morning Blues34. Cuba Sí, Yanqui No!35. Paul Becomes Pablo36. He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands37. Singers of the World, Unite!38. Levitate the Pentagon!39. United We Are Strong40. Unidentified Flying Object41. Play Your Guitars, American Friends42. La Voce dell’altra America43. Building a Big Wall of Music44. Free the Army!45. Solidarity Forever Crossing Borders46. Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues47. Give Peace a Chance Part Four: Nobody Gonna Turn Me ’Round48. Pack Up Your Sorrows49. A Musical Road Trip to Nowhere50. You Just Can’t Make It by Yourself51. Will the Circle Be Unbroken?52. Take It Slow and Easy53. Throw It Away Some Rules for the Road Ahead GratitudeBarbara Dane Discography, Key Links, and MoreIndexAbout the Author