Freddie the Fireman and the L&M Cigarette Man, folk singer and disc jockey, Ed McCurdy has a dream.
This is the sixth episode of Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song. Each week, we advance a year as we hear significant artists who played the Caffe that year, followed by a recent discovery. Thank you to Sarah Craig at the Caffe for her help compiling of the lists of artists and songs.
Ed McCurdy set out on his path to be a singer at age 18. He got his start singing and as a DJ at a gospel station in Oklahoma in 1938. He went on to a career in vaudeville theater before returning to work as a DJ in Canada. Having developed friends in the folk community, he recorded many successful folk albums in the 50’s and 60’s. His widely covered anti-war song, "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream", has been recorded in seventy-six languages.
And our new Caffe Lena discovery? Sam Steffen is a Philadelphia-based singer-songwriter whose songs are the torch-wood for a new generation. A versatile musician and skilled finger-picker, Sam is at heart a story-teller, and a prolific one. His bio states that he currently lives in Philadelphia with his fiancé and dog.