Synopses & Reviews
Bluegrass and Ballads. Chicken Scratch and Gospel. Polka and Powwows. Perhaps Mike Seeger summed it up best: when asked what genres come under the rubric of American Folk he said, "All the music that fits between the cracks." And all that music is in this unique volume.
THE PERFORMERS, including: Woody and Arlo Guthrie, Burl Ives, Mike Seeger, Alan Lomax, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, The Mamas and the Papas, The Kingston Trio, Robert Johnson, Leadbelly, Muddy Waters, and Peter, Paul, and Mary
THE SONGS, including: Barbara Allen, Frankie and Johnny, Hallelujah I'm a Bum, John Henry, This Land is Your Land, We Shall Overcome, All My Trials, River of Jordan, Peace in the Valley, and Corrina, Corrina
Synopsis
The definitive guide to American Folk--from powwows to bluegrass, the performers to terminology.
About the Author
Kip Lornell has been researching and writing about American roots music since the late 1960s. Since 1973 he has lived and worked in the South, primarily on music-related films, record projects, and books. Currently teaching in the Music Department at George Washington University, he is the author of eight books including The Life and Legend of Leadbelly (with Charles Wolfe), Introducing American Folk Music: Grassroots and Ethnic Traditions in the United States, and Happy in the Service of the Lord: African American Gospel Quartets in Memphis. He was awarded the 1992 ASCAP-DEEMS TAYLOR Award for the best book about American music and a 1997 Grammy Award for his writing that appeared in the booklet accompanying the "Anthology of American Folk Music" issued by Smithsonian Folkways.