Summary
The traditional songs, dances, and legends of ordinary people in the United States have long served as a means of communication and a source of entertainment. Each group brought its unique song and dance music to America: The Irish brought jigs and reels, the African-American slaves work and dance songs, Hispanics their corridos and polkas, Cajuns their waltzes and two-steps. The interaction between these groups created the many rich hybrids that are American folk music.
Featuring 36 photographs, a glossary, discography, and chronology, American Popular Music: Folk is an essential resource on this vital and influential American art form.
Entries include:
- The Archive of American Folk-Song
- Moses Asch
- Joan Baez
- Harry Chapin
- Bob Dylan
- Fairport Convention
- Woody Guthrie
- The Irish Rovers
- John and Alan Lomax
- Eck Robertson
- Pete Seeger
- Townes Van Zandt
- Lucinda Williams
- John W. Work
- and many others.
Specifications
Black-and-white photographs. Index. Bibliography. Glossary. Cross-references. Chronology. Discography.
About the Author(s)
Foreword author Ronald D. Cohen, Ph.D., professor emeritus of history at Indiana University Northwest, obtained his doctorate degree in history from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Cohen has written extensively on the folk music revival and is the co-producer of The Best of Broadside: 1962-1988: Anthems of the American Underground From the Pages of Broadside Magazine, which was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2001. He is also the author of Rainbow Quest: The Folk Music Revival and American Society, 1940-1970 and the coauthor of Golden Threads: An Illustrated History of Folk Music in the United States, 1900-1970.
General editor Richard Carlin is the author of several books on music, including Southern Exposure, The Big Book of Country Music, Classical Music: An Informal Guide, and the five-volume Worlds of Music. He has also written and compiled several books of music instruction and songbooks and served as advisory editor on country music for the American National Biography. Carlin has contributed articles on traditional music to various journals, including the Journal of Ethnomusicology, Sing Out!, Pickin', Frets, Mugwumps, and others. He has also produced 10 albums of traditional music for Folkways Records. A long-time editor of books on music, dance, and the arts, Carlin is currently Executive Editor of Music and Dance at Routledge Publishers. He previously spent six years as Executive Editor at Schirmer Books, and was the founding editor at A Cappella Books, an imprint of the Chicago Review Press.