The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #2224 Message #8352
Posted By: hartley
09-Jul-97 - 10:48 PM
Thread Name: What is a Folk Song?
Subject: RE: What is a Folk Song?
As someone who requested Beyond The Blue Horizon, let me apologize if I wasted someone's time glancing at the list and finding my requests. Personnally I ignore about half the requests and only look at the songs I find of interest. I find it of some interest to se what people are requesting, but not particularly in the many comments. Let me make a few observations about folk music, not that I have any great insights or experiences. I tend to agree with LaMarca, however. I am a child of the sixties and found the 'folk" music of that period much to my liking, at least the tunes being performed that had origins much earlier than that time. I did not consider many tunes done by "folk" singers as "folk" which dealt with the contemporary problems of that day. I still do not consider may of the tunes heard on the PBS "Folk Sampler" as folk although many are enjoyable. Few are memorable or able to be universalized. But this is only my own perferences. Generally, I don't play music written in the last 60 years and try to find the earliest possible version of what I do do. I belong to an organization in Kansas which is dedicated to the preservation of "old-time" fiddle and country music, yet when I play music from the 1800's or Carter family music, few know the music at all. Most only remember country music from the late forties to early seventies. The old-time fiddle tunes are pretty limited in number. Yet most performers (most well over 65) don't care; they just enjoy playing. I consider myself as playing "folk" music, but don't get too upset by their claims to old-time music. I will and do make an effort to find tunes and lyrics in other databases, if I know they exist. And I am very grateful to be put on to another database; if it is elsewhere, tell me and I'll get it. On the other hand, I enjoy the sharing to songs and am interested in what others are interested in within a very broad and liberal category of folk/traditional. When I look at the development of folk music in the sixties and seventies and the development of organizations and club supposedly for "folk/old-time" music at I find the definition is almost always broadened at some point to include what is of interest to the members; otherwise the movement, club, group fades away. I for one would rather glances over a number of non-folk requests and glean out what I want than to see a forum such as this fade because it was too narrow. Let's be tolerant within limits, let the powers that be tell those who make requests beyond the pale of other sites and let it go at that. Let's not get so bogged down with definition that we scare people off.