The Seekers - Kumbaya (1993)

Topic: Seminal Versions
If time had stopped in 1970, there would be no question Joan Baez was responsible for introducing the slight melodic modification into the second line of "Kumbaya" heard in recent recordings on YouTube. In late December 2017, the eleven videos of her version on YouTube had been heard 739,056 times. In contrast, the eleven videos of the two recordings by The Seekers had been viewed 155,286 times.

But time did not stand still. The prodigal Seekers returned to Australia, and the three men began performing with different soloists. The two videos of a 1990 concert with Karen Knowles were seen 22,877 times. [1]

More important, in 1993 Judith Durhan returned to the group. By then, she had recovered from a serious automobile accident and her husband was seriously ill. [2] The six YouTube videos taken from the silver anniversary concert DVD were viewed 4,138,504 times. There were only about 6,663,000 people in Australia over the age of 55, and probably 15% of them were natives or immigrants from India, China, or elsewhere. [3]

Billboard reported by 1996 that 70,000 copies of the original concert CD had been purchased. Another 10,000 copies of the DVD were sold. In addition, a compilation of all their recordings issued when they performed again in England sold 35,000 copies. [4] Their 1990s popularity was not a regional phenomenon.

I think ultimately Baez and The Seekers attracted two different groups of singers. She invited individuals, who normally did not sing, to join her on the melody, so she could improvise a little against their chorale. [5] The relaxation of norms for proper public behavior lasted as long as people were in a situation where they felt safe singing along, but once they left festival time and returned to ordinary life they stopped.

The Seekers appealed to people who already had been exposed to music as children and were singing in groups like Athol Guy had done as a child. He told Tracey Korsten:

"I was chained to the piano when I was about six years old, by my dear grand-mother, and she and the family would sing along, doing amazing harmonizing. Then I became a choir boy, and when my two uncles came home from the war, they had a little jazz band, and they used to practice out on our back-verandah." [6]

The Seekers were a group and, after the first verse, the men joined the female solist. They were the ones who demonstrated how groups could sing harmony. Not everyone was a soprano like Baez or Judith Durham, but nearly everyone could find a voice in the group they could match. Guy, recently told another interviewer:

"Bruce sums it up beautifully this way, in a sense, he said we get our sound because of a real anomaly. He said the fact is he said Judith and Athol sing perfectly in tune, ah, he said, I sing a little flat and Keith sings a little sharp." [7]

It wasn’t simply the broad band of sound created by the timbres of their voices. As mentioned in the post for 21 December 2017, it mattered how individuals were trained to listen while they sang. Guy added, "when your ears hear harmony – any group can sing a harmony, anyone who knows music, you know, can sing a harmony." [8]

Graham Simpson noted the album abetted this musical enculturation in another way. He wrote:

"The surprising legacy of a video of the original group at last being made available for family use was that a whole legion of very young fans would emerge—toddlers as young as two and three years old would pester their parents by asking for the video to be played for hours each day!" [9]

Baez’s version, in the meantime, had been reduced to allusion by adolescents in this country who were playing video games like Grand Theft Auto. Diamon posted a session transcription to YouTube that played an excerpt from her recording of "Kumbaya" every time a player was hit by an automobile. He described it as a "Short Video and overused song, I still found it a little funny, what about you?" [10]

Performers
Vocal Soloist: Judith Durham
Vocal Group: Athol Guy, Keith Potger, Bruce Woodley

Instrumental Accompaniment: G. Thomas noted that in the concert in general

"the four accompanying musicians, mostly in the shadows add considerably to the presence of the music, In fact, Michael Christiano, the musical director plays a wide variety of instruments, often taking the familiar 12-string solos and riffs originally pioneered by Keith Potger, who takes it easy in this concert and just generally strums along on the front row, wearing his signature Maton FG150/12" guitar.

"Also Athol Guy is mostly just caressing his double-bass; the real bass-line is performed by the bass guitar in the background.

"Bruce Woodley seems to perform instrumentally throughout, though, on a number of instruments". [11]

Rhythm Accompaniment: Thomas added, during the entire concert, "the drum kit and subtle keyboard in the back row also add a superb depth and breadth which of course is on none of their sixties records." [12]

Credits
Durham introduced the song, saying: "This one’s a traditional one though from the early 60s. We believe it came from Africa."

Notes on Lyrics
Changes from 1963 version: they sang the same verses in a different order.

Notes on Music
Changes from 1964 version were detailed above. Guy described their vocal sound to an interviewer in 2016:

"Keith and I are really well, you know, really very, very good harmony singers. Ah, Bruce has a beaut lead baritone voice. Keith has that lovely top range, nearly tenor voice. He can sing up near the roof when he has to. Except his harmony sits basically under Judith’s in a way." [13]

Notes on Performance
Occasion: concert celebrating the 25^th anniversary of the group’s last performance in 1968. [14]

Location: Melbourne Concert Hall, Australia, 1 January 1993.

Microphones: each had a floor mike

Clothing: the men wore lavender shirts and black slacks; Guy also wore a black vest. Durham wore a floor-length purple rose-purple dress with a darker purple overdress.

Notes on Movement
The men looked at one another and the audience. Durham, shifted her body between diagonals and let her arms swing to the music in the introduction. While she was singing, she raised her arms toward her shoulders on the statements, and lowered them wide on the refrains.

Audience Perceptions
Many of the comments made by YouTube listeners referred to the musical aspects of their performances. While many simply described their reactions to their singing, a few were more analytical.

One man said in September 2016: "What a glorious performance by the whole group!! Love those acoustic guitar introductions!! Judith’s vocals and the Guy’s harmonies sound like a 4- piece Heavenly choir!!" [15]

Another man added in November 2016: "The harmony, the change of key - unsurpassed and the precision and clarity of Judith’s voice make the Seekers eternally unique." [16]

A woman explained the importance of this particular concert performance in reviving the song. She wrote in 2011:

"as someone who has sung this at church youth retreats around a campfire, I was kind of tired of it, so I skipped it on their CD. Then one morning last week, I let it play and it was a revelation...the absolutely best arrangement of this song I have EVER heard. Pure spiritual beauty." [17]

Notes on Performers
The men were musicians who were aware of quality of their sound, and had discussed it at various times. Guy remembered:

"as Bruce points it, simplistically that it just locks it all in and ah you know through our ears it blends and it chimes and gives us that almost fifth voice that sits on top of it all, especially when you’re in a good concert hall with good acoustics. It’s a beautiful feeling and it brings the songs to life in a way that I don’t know that anybody else could." [18]

Availability
CD: The Silver Jubilee Album. EMI 7814084. 1993.

DVD: The Seekers ~ 25 Year Reunion Celebration. EMI Australia. 2003.

YouTube: several people uploaded versions taken from the DVD. The one with the spoken introduction was "The Seekers Kumbya (Live)." Uploaded by seekersarchive on 10 January 2010.

The video with the quoted comments was "The Seekers - Kumbaya." Uploaded by Judith Durham and The Seekers on 2 July 2009.

End Notes
1. "The Seekers at Christmas (with Karen Knowles)" uploaded to YouTube by rich963 on 12 December 2011 and "The Seekers (Karen knowles) Kumbaya (1991)" uploaded by Denny161853 on 15 July 2010.

2. Wikipedia. "Judith Durham."

3. According to Wikipedia, the estimated population of Australia for January 2018 was 24,770,600. The percent over age 55 in 2014 was 26.9. In 2016, 26% of the population was foreign-born. That reduced the number likely to have been in Australia when The Seekers were performing to the entire number of people who watched the video on YouTube. Since that was highly unlikely, the video statistics indicated people from other parts of the world were also watching it. ("Demography of Australia")

4. Glenn A. Baker. "Box Reignites Reunited Seekers." Billboard, 4 May 1996. 46, 47.

5. The audience can be heard best in a recently released recording of a concert broadcast by Hilversum Television in 1967. Joan Baez. Live in the Netherlands 1967. Elsendo Recordings. 31 August 2017.

6. Athol Guy. Quoted by Tracey Korsten. "Interview: Athol Guy." Glam Adelaide website. 6 May 2015.

7. Athol Guy. Quoted by Ian Horner. "Georgy Girl, The Musical: Celebrating The Seekers..." Hawksbury [Richmond, Australia] Gazette website. 28 April 2016.

8. Guy. Quoted by Horner.

9. Graham Simpson. Colours of My Life: The Judith Durham Story. Sydney: Random House Australia, 1994. 336.

10. "KUMBAYA MY LORD - Racoon & A Fox Part III." Uploaded to YouTube by Diamon Plays on 10 June 2017.

11. G. Thomas. Comments on Amazon UK website for the reunion concert DVD. Posted 25 September 2012. The concert videos concentrated on Durham. The two videos of the concert two years earlier with Knowles showed the musicians mentioned by Thomas.

12. Thomas.
13. Guy. Quoted by Horner.
14. Wikipedia. "25 Year Reunion Celebration."

15. Tim Lodle. September 2016. Comment posted on reunion concert video uploaded to YouTube on 2 July 2009.

16. Adrian Larkins. March 2016. Comment posted on reunion concert video uploaded to YouTube on 2 July 2009.

17. Jennifer McMullen. 2011. 7 Comment posted on reunion concert video uploaded to YouTube on 2 July 2009.

18. Guy. Quoted by Horner.