1. Week 23/2 American Folk
Traditions
n Final essay end of term.
n Test.
n Final Workshop – Folk.
2. North American Folk Music
n Long tradition of folk music of the European
populations of North America. Field Holler.
n Seen as often purer in form due to isolation
than European traditions. Thus Cecil Sharpe
went to the Appalachians (1916-18) to hear
traditional English ballads as they might have
been performed in pre-industrial Britain.
n Published his English Folk Songs from the
Southern Appalachians (1919). E.g Streets
of Laredo and The unfortunate Rake
3. Early 20th century American
Revival
n In response to what was happening in
Britain under Cecil Sharp.
n National organisations for preserving
song and dance traditions –
overwhelming white to begin with and
about saving songs.
n By 1920s lots of competing
organisations.
n Library of Congress archive.
4. Music of Appalachian Mountains
n Dance tunes of early settlers.
n Family harmony singing
n A musical fossil.
n Dialect, speech and song all relate to
pre-19th century Britain.
n Instruments - fiddle, dulcimer, guitar and
mandolin. E.g Jenny Lind Polka - from
Virginia 1851/Jonny Get Your Hair Cut
n Artists - Doc Watson, Jean Ritchie
6. Vaudeville and Music Hall
Entertainmentn Minstrel Shows the most common factor.
n Spirituals.
n Development of banjo and later guitar styles.
n All developed in imitation of black genres.
n Eg 1843 De Boatmen’s
n Dance
7. Cowboy Songs
n Both aurally transmitted and manufactured by
songwriters.
n Songs of the trials and troubles of the
frontiers folk of the 19th century.
n Developed into parlour music traditions
n Archive collection of Folk Song at the Library
of Congress - gave rise to famous anthology
Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads by
John Lomax 1910.
8. Marching Bands
n A great 19th century tradition across
white America.
n Belonging to societies and clubs that
would field a marching band.
n On gala days the bands would march
though town in costume.
n Philip Souza’s Marches a world wide
phenomena.
9. Black Traditions
n Culminated in the Blues. Across black
America in many forms.
n Best known through early recordings of
Delta Blues artists.
n Robert Johnson and Mississippi John
Hurt.
n Alternative tradition of Leadbelly.
10. White Folk Traditions
n With the development of radio and recording the
regional styles cohered around the Country Style and
country music centred on Nashville, Tennesse.
n Huge national following after its live broadcasts from
the Grand ole’ Opre every Saturday night.
n Arguable the distinctive style of American popular
music – and the correlate of Blues and Jazz.
n Characterised by ballads of great sadness and
personal misery and dance music.
n While the blues style is at the root of Global popular
music today – country music does not export so
easily.
11. 1930s and 40s
n Experience of the depression produced
a generation of folk singers with a
political edge and strong social
message.
n Pete Seger, Woody Guthrie,
19. Revivalist Traditions
n Urban songs with politically and socially
relevant messages in the 1930s and 40s.
n Pete Seeger in 1940 formed the Almanac
Singers -
n Woodie Guthrie - commited communist and
activitist.
n The Weavers a 1950s phenomena - hit by
McCarthyism and investigated.
n Lead to 60s singer songwriters - Joan Baez,
Bob Dylan and Arlo Guthrie.
20. Bluegrass
n A style of banjo playing developed in the 30s
and 40s involving very fast finger picking and
exploting the re-entrant tuning of the 5-string
banjo.
n Associated with Earl Scruggs. Become
associated with a style of playing that
involved influence of blues in bent notes but
also fast fingerplucking on guitar and banjo.
22. Honky Tonk
n A more aggressive style of urban
‘country’music.
n With amlification and use of electric
guitars and hawayan guitars.
n Up tempo and influenced by early
rhythm and blues.
23. summary
n Many regional styles – e.g. Cajun in
Louisianna;Tex Mex along Southern border;
Eastern European dance forms in prairie
states; etc
n National popular styles dominated by
influence of Blues (including Gospel) and
Country – which came together to cross
ethnic/cultural divides in the 50s and 60s and
provide bases for Global pop style that
developed out Rhythm and Blues and then
Rock.
24. Impact on British Folk Music
n Huge – the influx of American traditions
in the years up to and after 1960 is
great.
n Guitar song writing tradition –
epitomised by Dylan still going to today.
n 1960s folk club movement across
Britain.
n Big cross over with rock - genre of folk
rock.
25. Sources
n New Grove under Americas and
Amerindian
n Charles Hamm, Music in the New World
(Norton, 1983)
n Sarah Lifton, The Listener’s Guide to
Folk Music (1983)
