Hay Una Mujer Desaparecida, H. Near, Ronnie Gilbert, Weavers

"When Holly Near and Ronnie Gilbert united for a series of concerts at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall in 1983, it was an historic intersection of two generations of fearless topical folksingers and songwriters.

The collaboration between Gilbert (a former member of The Weavers, the group that jumpstarted the folk movement of the Fifties and Sixties) and Near (a global peace activist and feminist music pioneer who was one of the first independent artists to start her own record label) sent a wave of excitement through the peace/feminist movement in the United States.

These women voiced the work, faith, humor and complexities of the social change movement in the United States."

To me, the most powerful performance in that 1983 concert was Near and Gilbert's performance of 'Hay Una Mujer Desaparecida' (There Is A Woman Missing), sung primarily in Spanish.

Out of that historical concert the following LP was released: Lifeline, Holly Near and Ronnie Gilbert, Redwood Records, 1983, (rrcd404).

'Hay Una Mujer Desaparecida', (as used in this video), is one of fifteen cuts issued on this original, 1983, Redwood recording.

There was also a contemporary PBS special that was broadcast of this concert in San Francisco in 1983. It was when I watched that PBS special, that I first heard Near and Gilbert sing, (a'cappella, in many parts), Hay Una Mujer Desaparecida.

I was thoroughly mesmerized by the show on PBS and went to my local record store the very next day, scouring the shelves for the recording. It took me a while to locate the LP, Lifeline, but I finally found it and have kept it all of these years.

In 2002, a recording, Lifeline Extended, was released. This reissue expands on the original and out-of-print Lifeline, to now include more songs as well as introductions, stage banter, and audience participation. (Appleseed Recordings 2002 - APR-CD-1066).

I've taken this wonderful song, from Near and Gilbert's original San Francisco performance (recorded live), shortened it a bit and posted it in recognition of missing persons all over the world, in hopes that the missing and their families & loved ones will be reunited soon.