This book focuses on the history of folk music in general, and biographies of 50 of its foremost musicians and scholars specifically. In the introduction, the author provides a succinct history of folk music, from ancient times to the present, with an emphasis on American folk music. The majority of the book comprises biographies of various important singers, scholars, musicians, and ethnomusicologists who are considered “founders” of the folk music tradition.
The book is divided into five parts: Historical Figures, American Pioneers, Political Connections, Folk Around the World, and The Pre‐Folk Boom Era. Each biography is a short presentation on the person, followed by a discography if one is available. The Historical Figures section has nine biographies of folk music personages from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries. A few of the people highlighted are Thomas D'Urfey (1653‐1723), English folk harpist; Niel Gow (1727‐1807), Scottish fiddle dance master; and Francis J. Child (1825‐1896), the folk music collector. The American Pioneers section has 12 biographies, describing Stephen Foster (1826‐1864), the father of American folk music; Charles Seeger (1886‐1979), American musicologist; John Jacob Niles (1892‐1980), Dean of American balladeers; and Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901‐1953), folk music matriarch, to name a few. The Political Connections section has ten biographies on politically‐motivated folk musicians, like Burl Ives (1909‐1995), Woody Guthrie (1912‐1967), and Pete Seeger (1919‐). The Folk Around the World section has ten biographies that focus on international folk musicians and ethnomusicologists, such as Udi Hrant Kenkulian (1901‐1978), Oud Master; Vassilis Tsitsanis (1915‐1984), urban Greek folkie; and Hamza El Din (1929‐2006), Nubian folk master, as examples. Finally, The Pre‐Folk Boom Era has nine biographies on musicians whose folk music pre‐dated the 1960s, like Moses Asch (1905‐1986), Folkways founder; Alan Lomax (1915‐2002), folksong revivalist; and Jean Ritchie (1922‐), to name a few. A short bibliography and a substantial index are at the end of the book.
While not scholarly in its approach, this book is more of a reminiscence‐like tome by someone who directly or indirectly knew or was influenced by this genre and its progenitors. It is not a reference work, but it would be an ideal book for undergraduates researching folk music giants and musicians for quick information for reports. Overall, the writing style is personal and direct, and the book would be a welcome addition to any K‐12 or higher education library.
