SPORADIC TIMES
February 1998

Malvina put out a newsletter to her mailing list of friends and fans during the last few years of her life. It came out sporadically for two reasons: she waited till she had something to say, and in the days before personal computers a mailing was even more of a chore. It had to wait till a lull in her active schedule. We will be quoting from the old Sporadic Times in this successor and add news of concerts of her songs and of the biography that is now being written. And, as was her practice, we will put in interesting tidbits that cross our paths, and an order form for the songbooks and two lps of hers that are still available. From time to time we will add a song of hers that is no longer available in print. Here is also the place for her friends to send in memories of her that you would like to share and to tell us how you are using her songs.

From Malvina's Sporadic Times, Vol I No. 3: June, 1976

It's a bit early for my epitaph, but I've made a resolution to get things done on time and not wait till the last minute.

WAKE FOR A SINGER

Celebrate my death for the good times I've had,
For the work that I've done and the friends that I've made,
Celebrate my death, of whom it could be said,
“She was a workingclass woman, and a red.”

My man was the best, a comrade and a friend,
Fighting on the good side to the very end,
My child was a darling, merry, strong and fine,
And all the world's children were mine.

Malvina died on March 17, 1978. To mark the 20th anniversary of her passing, her daughter Nancy Schimmel and Judy Fjell will do a set of her songs for half of Judy's concert at the Forks Theater, 40 Pallini Ln. in Ukiah on Saturday, March 21 at 7:30pm. For information call (707) 485-5215. Tickets at the door.

A concert on Sunday, March 15 in Ashland, Oregon will feature Nancy Spencer, Lisa Spencer, Crystal Reeves and Pam Bellutini performing Malvina songs to benefit Peace House and the Malvina biography project. 7:00pm at the Congregational Church, 717 Siskiyou. (541 )488-1561 for information.

I'm going to have a file labeled “Things I don't know what to do with.” It will take up one whole wall.
--Malvina, Sporadic 6/76

Here are the contents of the two of Malvina's lps we still have on hand. We also have her three children's tapes.

    Mama Lion (CR 050) lp

  • If You Were Little
  • The Devil's Baptizin'
  • The Little Mouse
  • Power Plant Reggae
  • Mario's Duck
  • Back Alley Surgery
  • Dialectic
  • The Judge Said
  • The Last Time
  • Carolina Cotton Mill Song
  • Skagit Valley Forever
  • Bury Me in My Overalls

    Malvina (CFS 2807) lp

  • Little Boxes
  • You'll Be a Man
  • The Albatross
  • No Room
  • Turn Around
  • The Little Red Hen
  • This World
  • There's a Bottom Below
  • Green Shadows
  • The Money Crop
  • Somewhere Between
  • The Day the Freeway Froze

    The Malvina Reynolds Songbook.
    contains 67 songs, including

  • Sing Along
  • Little Boxes
  • The Whale
  • No Hole in My Head
  • It Isn't Nice
  • We Don't Need the Men
  • This World
Malvina's first album, Another County Heard From, is the only complete album available on CD. It, and a compilation CD called Malvina Reynolds: Ear to the Ground are on Smithsonian Folkways.

Songs written and sung by Malvina Reynolds, guitar accompaniment by Malvina Reynolds and Erik Darling.

    Another Country Heard From

  • The Pied Piper
  • We Hate to See Them Go
  • Let it Be
  • Faucets are Dripping
  • Don't Talk to Me of Love
  • Money Blues
  • The Day the Freeway Froze
  • The Delinquent
  • Mommy's Girl
  • Somewhere Between
  • I Live in a City
  • The Little Land
  • Oh Doctor!
  • Sing Along
  • The Miracle

Ordering information

Home