How to Find Out Which Singers Performed Songs

Subject: How to Find Out Which Singers Performed Songs
From:
Date: 29 Jan 98 - 08:11 PM

Hello, all

I've recently become enamored with traditional songs, especially the Child ballads. I have about 1/3 of the 305 listed groups in my record collection, and would love to find as many as possible. My question is: where do I look for information on which singers performed the songs?

I've tried our wonderful DT, with great success for the lyrics, but not so much luck with performers. There's a link at http://milton.mse.jhu.edu:8001/research/folkindex/ which has also been quite helpful. However, I have more artists in my collection singing (for example) Willy o' Winsbury than they do.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I'll also share the information I have.

Thanks!

Claire K.

Subject: RE: How to Find Out Which Singers Performed Songs
From: Bill D
Date: 30 Jan 98 - 12:31 PM

Claire...if you have 1/3 of the Child ballads, you are doing very well! Many of them have no recorded versions.I have maybe that many...some only in American mountain versions....various stuff by Ewan McColl and A.L. LLloyd can still be found...and I have a long list of recordings..(as do others here...perhaps a 'wish' list)

Subject: RE: How to Find Out Which Singers Performed Songs
From:
Date: 27 Jan 02 - 12:24 PM

Hi there!

Can you please help me to find the lyrics of Willy O` Winsbury? Thank you,

Gunnar

Subject: RE: How to Find Out Which Singers Performed Songs
From: Sorcha
Date: 27 Jan 02 - 12:31 PM

gclaussen, here is Willie. You'll get more attention if you post a new thread with the title in it. (e mail sent)

Subject: RE: How to Find Out Which Singers Performed Songs
From: Sorcha
Date: 27 Jan 02 - 12:44 PM

Claire, try following some of the links on this Google search page.

Subject: RE: How to Find Out Which Singers Performed Songs
From: Sorcha
Date: 27 Jan 02 - 07:29 PM

e mail thank you recieved from gclaussen.

Subject: RE: How to Find Out Which Singers Performed Songs
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 28 Jan 02 - 01:19 PM

My favorite site for information about music, musicians, what-song-appears-on-what-album, is this:

AMG – The All Music Guide.

By searching for "Willy o' Winsbury" I found that it is performed by Sweeney's Men on the compilation album Irish Folk Favourites, Vol. 2 [St. Clair]. Unfortunately, that's the only listing it has for this song (or tune?).

By following up links, you can then see lots of information about Sweeney's Men -- for example, band members' names, albums, and similar artists.

If you click on an album title, you SOMETIMES get a list of tracks, along with composers' names. This is more likely to happen if the album is currently in print.

Subject: RE: How to Find Out Which Singers Performed Songs
From: catspaw49
Date: 28 Jan 02 - 01:25 PM

Sorry Bill, I'm no help as I have often used the same Folk Index that you do. For anyone who hasn't checked there before, it's a pretty good site until you get to researching deeper as Bill is now. Here's a link:

The Folk Music Index

Spaw

Subject: RE: How to Find Out Which Singers Performed Songs
From: masato sakurai
Date: 28 Jan 02 - 01:50 PM

In addition to The Folk Music Index, I sometimes consult Norm Cohen's Traditional Anglo-American Folk Music: An Annotated Discography of Published Recordings (Garland, 1994).
~Masato

Subject: Recordings of Child Ballads
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Jan 02 - 03:10 PM

For recordings that are on CD, go to the online CD companies, like www.cdnow.com or www.amazon.com - search under song title and you'll do darn well. These companies don't market ALL the folk recordings that are available, but they do pretty well.
And if it's a particular song that interests you, you can always ask here - just don't ask for all 305 ballads at once.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: How to Find Out Which Singers Performed Songs
From: GUEST,ghost
Date: 28 Jan 02 - 04:30 PM

Thanks Spaw! What a treat and a fine resource. I even found an artist, Bob Bovee, who performed a tune I do on a 1979 release from Train on the Island, a label from the Minneapolis area.

Subject: RE: How to Find Out Which Singers Performed Songs
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 28 Jan 02 - 06:57 PM

As many of the ballads appeared on Topic albums, the Topic discography compiled by Mike Bracken for the Musical Traditions site may be helpful.

Subject: RE: How to Find Out Which Singers Performed Songs
From: GUEST,Arkie
Date: 28 Jan 02 - 11:42 PM

The Library of Congress once had quite a few recordings of ballads available, one whole album dedicated to versions of Barbara Allen.

Subject: RE: How to Find Out Which Singers Performed Songs
From: Jon Bartlett
Date: 29 Jan 02 - 03:40 AM

We have here in the Vancouver Ballad Group (New Westminster, actually) a fairly good collection of transcriptions of Child ballads. There's 305 in the collection, tho' Bronson only found about 200 to write about, and since some of those had ascribed tunes (rather than tunes known to have been collected "from the singing of...") I'd say that there are about 180 or so with tunes traditionally passed on. I know that some folk have made tunes or borrowed tunes to fill a lacuna in the tradition (Lloyd's "Price Heathen" is one and "Alison Gross" another - I'm sure there's more). Of the 180 or so, we've got 139, some in one version, some with as many as 22 versions. We hope to be setting up a site soon, with much of our research, papers, bibliographies, lists of tunes we have, etc. posted there and freely available. Sorry if this is thread creep but the (implicit) idea expressed by Claire K. at the top of this thread (that there might usefully be an index of songs sung by who on what LP's and CD's) is a brilliant one - what I'd call "practical socialism". Jon Bartlett

Subject: RE: How to Find Out Which Singers Performed Songs
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 29 Jan 02 - 07:05 PM

Maybe an edited thread is called for, collecting info about all recordings of Child ballads the world o'er! There are quite a few hidden away in my collection too, not least the Greentrax reissue on CD of 'The Muckle Sangs', which features source singers.

Subject: RE: How to Find Out Which Singers Performed Songs
From: Mickey191
Date: 29 Jan 02 - 07:38 PM

Susanne, Thanks for mentioing Music Traditions Site. Very interesting, and the pictures of old time musicians is great.