A consistent definition of traditional Folk music is hard to come by. One widely used definition is simply "Folk music is what the people sing" as well as being an authentic expression of a way of life now disappearing in many countries. Folk is also often called traditional music, and as such is widely different in many countries. |
Traditional Irish Music
|
Simon & Garfunkel- Scarborough Fair
|
Peter, Paul & Mary - Early Morning Rain
|
Joan Baez - Diamonds And Rust
|
The 1950s-60s Folk revival in America and in Britain started a new genre, known as ‘contemporary folk music’. Its enormous popularity saw 'Folk' become a category in the Grammy Awards of 1959. By the beginning of the 21st century the term 'folk' covered singer song-writers, such as Donovan from Scotland and American Bob Dylan, who had emerged in the 1960s and along with others saw 'Folk Music ' no longer being seen as 'traditional Folk music'. It had truly become an ingredient of Western Pop Music. |
From Folk To Pop In The U.S. |
Billy Bragg - Between The Wars
|
Hillbilly Music This authentic American folk music form, hillbilly music, flowed from the lives of the Appalachian and Southern Whites. Early hillbilly music had a strong colonial heritage in English ballads and ditties, but over time hillbilly music evolved into a genre in its own right. (Hillbilly music= Folk genre from rural Appalachian, southern white experience.) |
The Hillbillies - Cluck Old Hen
|
Folk As Underground Throughout the 1950s, Folk developed as an underground movement in the US, consisting of obscure artists recording for small independent labels. Folk was the people's music, especially those politically disaffected. Folk kept the tradition of telling a political story alive, a tradition that formed earlier during the depression years - with such songs as Woody Guthrie's, `Buddy Can you Spare a Dime’. |
Woodie Guthrie - Vigilante Man
|
But as the Folk movement slowly was
absorbed into mainstream Popular Music by those artists who had something political to say, this argument subtly changed. If anyone could play Folk Rock - the guitar and harmonica techniques, the lyrics and harsh vocals, could easily be learned. However not anyone could play such music with originality, say for example. Bob Dylan who symbolised this new argument. As it was, Dylan was praised for his individual genius, insights, |
Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A-Changin
|