Farewell to Steunenberg

Here is the instrumental tune composed by John Larsen and played by Bona Fide and friends at the IPTV premiere of Assassination: Idaho's Trial of the Century. They dedicated it to my great grandfather Governor Steunenberg and hence the title. I have been anxiously waiting for John, Gary and Marv to lay down these tracks as a lot of us were so busy hob-knobbing and gabbing in the lobby at the Egyptian Theater that we missed most of their playing. I regretted that later when I found out more about the band, the songs and all their efforts to record and preserve historical Idaho music. Thanks to Gary Eller, that gap has been getting filled and my guilt has diminished. Most of the music either has or will be recorded (such as this instrumental piece) from that special evening at the Egyptian Theater in Boise.

You will want to check out the Bona Fide website if you haven't been there recently. www.bonafidaho.com

The information below came from the website. You will need iTunes , Windows Media Player or something similar on your computer for playing music downloads. Just click on the title of this entry or the link below to go right to the music. Enjoy, John

INSTRUMENTAL SONG - Farewell to Steunenberg ( click to hear)

This instrumental song was written in 2007 by the long time Idaho folksinger John Larsen of Givens Hot Springs, on the centennial of the assassination of Governor Frank Steunenberg by Harry Orchard in Caldwell. The ensuing trial of the radical union leader Big Bill Haywood involved legendary American attorneys such as Clarence Darrow and William Borah and captured the attention of America. The trial had a strong impact on the development of the modern American labor union movement. Almost forgotten during the hooplah of the trial was the man who was assassinated. This song, while not written prior to 1910, attempts to capture the overall sound that a tribute song to Governor Steunenberg might have had at the time of the trial. On this recording, John Larsen played mandolin, guitar and harmonica. Gary Eller played plectrum banjo and Marv Quinton added bass. (courtesy of Gary Eller)

Playoff Update: The Lakers swept the Denver Nuggets four straight and are resting up, licking their wounds and preparing for the first game with the winner of the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets series.