John Jacob Niles - Go 'Way From My Window

[JWKeebs]

This is so great. I really wish the full version of this very performance was available. What a voice!

[Pihasanddunes1]

Epic. Man charted a singular course thru his music.

[CribBoy9]

saw this on vh1 classic last night

[FsharpAsharpInfinity]

what are the chords to this song?

[drdisks]

He lived down the road from my High School! I never got to see him live, but we did perform some of his songs from his "Songcatcher" days. He passed away either when I was in college or soon after.

[ElectricGuitarManPL]

No Direction Home:Bob Dylan. Yes, that's why I'm here.

[BunnyMan456]

He wrote this song for a girl when he was sixteen. His old age gives new depth to the song. You can tell he still means every word.

[busessuck1]

...I can't decide if i think this is silly or profound

[zenarrrow]

@busessuck1 I hear you... That is why I searched it on youtube,

[MexicanLeatherDaddy]

pure cosmic energy

[speedformercy]

haunting



[traigogoodmusic]

does anybody else find this hilarious?

[jojojo943]

@traigogoodmusic

no.

[elchnase]

If you are interested in any and/or all video fottage of John Jacob Niles, go to Apalshop.com and go the Apalshop Store. Look up John Jacob Niles and there will be a 30 Minute Documentary (AF6027 is the number) which is on DVD. That would be the best bet, I think.

John Ed Niles

[elchnase]

The instruments my father was playing are of his own making. He designed them and made them himself.

There were frets. There were three that he used a lot on his concerts. They were in three keys, A, E an d B. The strings (8 of them) were tuned in fourths and fifths. The frets were his own setting for his own harmony.

JEN

[greybeard492301]

Being now 62 years old, I can still remember John Jacob Niles visiting our elementary school in Ashland KY to share his wonderful talents and songs. I will always be grateful that it opened so many other doors in my musical life. Thank you and bless your beautiful soul JJN.

[wakod2002]

I really do wish the producers of No Direction Home would have released the full performances of the clips somewhere, even if just in a corner of the internet.

It is truly sad that the full performance exists *nowhere* simply because the producers didn't bother to release such a version. (Like "Virgin Mary" television performance of Joan Baez in the documentary).

Will our culture ever see the full performances?

What other relics and artifacts are still missing due to negligent owners?

[timjmoran]

His voice is one of the 7 wonders of the world.Astonishing! No ONE has sung like this since.

[Darkyprinsessa]

Jesus this just really woke me up. 

[Darkyprinsessa]

Jesus this just really woke me up.

[MuckyGhost]

That is the most incredible voice I have ever heard!

[fanchbrezoneg]

incredible, amazing !!! ho that voice so particular, a technical perfection, great, great artist.

[amindbody]

i see where many of the snl cast get their inspiration.

[Spookaduke100]

Spine chilling :)

[CharlieMcCotton]

Whenever I hear a song like this, I feel sad

because I realize that 90% of todays music sucks..

[bobdylan4evr]

any music buffs tell me what key this is in i cant place it

[tunnelrat9]

Great Great Great !!!

[trevorloomis]

wish there was video of him performing ballad of barberry ellen

[osvelhos]

see: Os Velhos da Montanha

[Hailstone47]

I didn't really know folk music until I started to read Mr. Niles' compositions and arrangements..wonderful and I love it. I'm so tickled to find him singing here. Thanks so much for posting

[alexnickole2010]

GOOSEBUMPS! i'm so glad i watched "no direction home" otherwise i would never have heard of this amazing singer!! i usually don't get off on this type of music but goddamn! listen to how he hits those notes!!!!!

[franciscarnauba]

I would love to see that full show. The backing vocal coming in sounds great. Love this version, maybe the best performance of the song, well, in this single minute.

[guinnesstrail]

I've seen the complete video of this performance. Toward the end of the song he jumps up and pulls down his trousers. The final lyrics go as follows:

Where didst thou take mine balls?

Why dost thou call me a girl?

Oh see my pants doth fall

What have they done to mine balls

Oh, what have they done to mine balls

[tribeca202]

i now know what the word spellbound means.the way he looks at the folks standing before he begins,the way he raises his hands like a conductor before the next stanza-what is this ?a special on public tv and is it possible to get the original w/out dylan? simply breathtaking/thanx

[inhumanformtv]

I remember hearing JJN for the first time in this very scene! There has to be more footage somewhere!

[IrmaCerrutti]

You're darn tootin'.

[IrmaCerrutti]

Absolutely damn right, TheReckonman. Creepier than Peter Cushing's skeleton possessed by a castrati.

[antiquelens]

beautiful.

[Pickinbuddy]

I surely hope that more video clips of this wonderful American folk treasure will surface. What a remarkable performer!

[Bluedybluedyblue]

After Niles netted a little resurgence of popularity following the release of No Direction Home, I was really counting on a lot of new material, especially videos, being released. But, alas, hardly anything.

[ivycompton]

John Jacob Niles - what an extraordinary, unmatchable talent. I too wish there were more footage of him. I have a short documentary about him but have heard about his legendary stage performances, and the doc lacks those. Doesn't anybody have footage of him? I feel like I'm entering another world when I listen to his voice.

[pipentabor]

Wonderful! I wish there were more video clips of JJN performing. My mom saw him perform when she was a teen; years later when I was learning guitar & folk songs, she told me about JJN's delivery and style. His approach to singing was indescribable, and films and recordings don't do him justice... one of those things you had to experience firsthand. Even his songbooks are pretty tame compared to what he did on stage!

[fanchbrezoneg]

Quel talent à multiples facettes ! les français ne doivent pas oublier qu'il a appartenu à la Schola Cantorum de la rue Saint-Jacques. Quel artiste merveilleux, quelle simplicité pour un immense historiographe de la musique populaire américaine, ses interprétations inouïes des Cecil Child"s ballads.

Merci à Martin Scorcese de l'avoir inclus dans son film "No Direction Home" dédié à Bob Dylan, et merci à Bobby d'en parler si bien.

[BenTech687]

creepy

[k4jdp]

Terrific information, many thanks! Did you also know that your father was referred to as "more like Woody's (Guthrie) uncle" by Bob Sherman on his program "Woody's Children" on WQXR-AM in NYC? Bob played your dad's recording of "I Wonder As I Wander" around Christmas time in 1971. A wonderful program which I believe is still being aired on another station now. I couldn't help but notice your dad at the end of class in '68 at ISUE. He was wearing red woolens & tuning one of his large lutes.

[elchnase]

Yes, my father did know Bascom Lunsford and admired his work. I remembered Lunsford coming to the house in Kentucky many years ago and having lunch with my dad. John Ed Niles

[MagicDexter68]

Dude......I Actually Believe Him Thats Awesome!

[elchnase]

to all of you who have or who will watch the clips of my father John Jacob Niles please be assured that he was my BIOLOGICAL father. His high voice does not in any way indicate that he was "missing anything." Trust me, everthing was there.

John Edward Niles

Silver Spring, Md.

[NebulaRasa]

Rest assured, it never crossed my mind - he had a wonderful gift of a voice.

[MagicDexter68]

What!!!! That Isnt John Jacob Niles son

[elchnase]

To: Magic Dexter68

from: JohnEdward Niles

Yes it IS John Jacob Niles' son. I am the younger of two boys. I was born on the 21st of May, 1945 and yes here I am. Hope you enjoyed the clip of my father. It is as I said before, somewhat bizarre with him and the 4 "backup" singers. Knowing him and his unwillingness to share the stage with anyone, it is quite a rare event.

John Ed Niles

Silver Spring, Md.

[k4jdp]

Did your father ever meet Bascom Lamar Lunsford the other pioneer song collector. Your father played at Indiana State University-Evansville, IN ca. 1968-69 when I attended there.

[stinkbegaaier]

@elchnase The utmost respect to your father and his work.

Artists like him are the reason I often find it a pity I was not born in those years.

Greetings,

Jan

Etten-Leur

The Netherlands

[patsykahoe]

@elchnase John Edward, I met John Jacob late in his life and there was no doubt of his masculinity. I haven't seen the newly released biography but I hope they include a photo of the incredible doors he carved for St. Hubert's church. He was a man of many talents.

Patsy Kahoe

[timjmoran]

@elchnase I can't believe anyone would say something like that- but then, you run across ALL sorts of

Miscreants on YT !! I think your Dad was one of the greatest folksingers that ever lived- and possibly the

most unique voice in that genre EVER !!! Wondered if you had any info on his very intriguing-looking

Dulcimers-they appear to be fretless..true? And -tuned Much lower than the conventional 4- string dulcimers

most polite folk-types are familiar with. Also- I heard he MADE them- True?

[ivycompton]

@elchnase

John Edward Niles, please please PLEASE post some video of your father. He has many fans who are too young to have seen him in performance. His voice and theatrical presentation is transporting. We want more! (Thank you. :))

[voxsingularis]

he's a creature

[Andresstrive]

i absolutely love this

the passion. ah!

ah i'm so glad i saw this on no direction home

if i didn't .. ah i cant explain!

it was life changing.

[fanchbrezoneg]

This song is in the Martin Scorcese' movie"No Direction Home" and John Jacob Niles a faboulous artist 1892-1980 he is a amarica's most influential folk pioneer,whose influence on the modern generationof folk performers is immeasurable

[artlongjr]

I discovered Niles in the early 90's when I picked up an LP of his in a thrift store...it was on Tradition records. I was stunned by his unearthly falsetto style and became a huge fan. I am now the proud owner of three of his CDs!

[BenTech687]

wow this guy is scary

[hahahahahahahNO]

ha! i found this just by typing in "go 'way from my window" hoping to find the joan baez version.. but this is just as good as hers.. maybe better - the originator of the song. i'm going to download some john jacob niles right now.

[zipppit89]

Good luck with that, he's hard to find

[hahahahahahahNO]

actually i got some pretty easily.. i use soulseek :)

[bphutchins]

wow, that's still around?

[hahahahahahahNO]

yess it is. works great :)

[jmiller05]

How can a man his age hit falsetto notes like that? Absolutely fascinating to watch...

[guinnesstrail]

They cut his nuts off. But, hey, he sings just like a bird.

[fastrnb]

Your joke is only funny because his voice IS a little bit like Moreschi's.

[guinnesstrail]

It wasn't a joke.

[fastrnb]

Cite your source, I've never read this anywhere.

[phudleyallenrippy]

I recall the castration thing too. He even wrote a popular folk song about it, "They Cut Off My Nuts". A sad song about a squirrel that was an allegory to his life.

[okjr12]

this was great and strang at the same time!

[Gwellane]

So what ? You don't know what falsetto is, that's all.

[germantown555]

i heard my brother playing this, and I thought it was a woman singing!

[Gwellane]

Thanks a lot for posting it ! I have seen this documentary on Dylan last summer, (after that Odetta comes !) : I have been completely astonished by this man and his voice ! I wish I had the complete performance, because I didn't find it on any record...

[Arsher]

Folk is wonderful, that shows the true soul . Much better than those tasteless RnB craps from nowadays .

[johnfinbarburke]

i love the feeling in this ,,

[Clancy1326]

this terrifies me for some reason

[jacket23]

hahaha me too!!

[TheSlowMutants]

I wish I had the full video of this performance, or at least an audio recording of some sort.

[Haarhark]

I don't have the rest of this particular performance, but I do have an audio recording of John Jacob Niles singing this song in 1957. I can post it for you if you'd like :)

[Kiki6259]

Hello!

Excuse my ecriture, I am French!

Yes, you can put the link if possible!

I like this singer!

Thank you for prevenir under which tag I can find!

[Famannefr]

Kiki, your English is a disgrace, you are an embarrassment to us all! Did you learn your English watching Louis de Funès?

[Kiki6259]

OK Famannefr but I do not love Louis De Funes!

Je repete en français !

J'aime la Folk Music et la Old Country et si quelqu'un peut rajouter des vidéos de Niles Jacob ça serait parfait !

Merci !

[fanchbrezoneg]

J J Niles est aujourd'hui très publié ey c est justice. Cibtrairement à ce qui est toujours répété il n'emploie pas la technique du "falsetto" pas plus de celles des contre-ténors ou des haute-contres ry bien évidemment il n'a pas la pureté d'un castrat. Tout simplement il a conservé sa voix de soprano, seul l'âge lui a un peu brisé la voix. Pour les français il est bon de rappeler qu'il est diplômé de la Schola Cantorum de Paris où il a longuemrnt séjourné.

[JellyrollHorton]

Famannefr

Kiki's English is way better than my French. Don't be such an ass.

[Ettoredipugnar]

@TheSlowMutants I have 4 albums of his. Welcome to the internet lol. You don't anything physical.

[deetak]

I played one of his songs for the first time recently and I'm glad I was able to see him perform like this

[floreitileda]

capo capo capo!!!

y gracias por ser influencia de Dylan

say no more

[unicornburger]

Wow, I just realized that on my university's campus, the piano room I lounge near just outside of the doors to the fine arts library is the John Jacob Niles Center for American Music.

And all those instruments in the window are his. Never really paid attention to the words above the doors.

I feel so privileged and yet so idiotic...

[RosalynMarieAmo]

Thank you so much for posting this. JJN was a great great writer

[crisbonnell]

check out devendra banhart this beard is for siobhan. this sound is far from dead

[Glorbon]

John Jacob Niles is sexy

[countiblis]

One of the fathers of American Folk Music is finally on Youtube!

[locustthelurker]

Pretty darn cool. I love this video

[mrchomet]

gets you emotional

[mrchomet]

gets you emotional

[ivycompton]

Finally, some John Jacob Niles on youtube! An absolutely unique talent, with one of the most beautiful, otherworldly voices ever. Thank you!!

[deadflagbluesxxx]

I love this so much.

[cleverhonor]

lol

[lilaino]

atlast!

[shelter661]

I wish CBS would put out this footage from all these great performances.

[schiff23]

finally this was added, i have been waiting

[orkavorn]

...this is from No Direction Home...

[jonconan]

yep =)

[2dust2]

insanity!!!..:-)