Back in the 80s and 90s (1880s!) the early folklorists wrestled with the question of whether ballads were created by single composers or by the whole group. One prominent theory was that ballads came from communal dances, and the group would sing words merely for the repetition, till someone changed the words, added a line or couplet, and the whole group then sang those words, till someone else fixed the scan or rhyme, then they'd sing those, with various group members adding lines till the story got told.

Really, that's what several of those blokes thought. Were they serious? Now, it's much more likely that a local wordsmith put together a story, a poem, chant, or song, and introduced it to the others in his community. Then the group began to process it, learning it, maybe making conscious or unconscious changes, till a local "version" emerged. A few miles or streets away, another group (family, town, parish, team, company, whatever made it a separate "group") learned some version of the first group's song, and began to process it the same way. Voila! Two groups, two versions.

Maybe one in one of the groups was a "performer," and placed his stamp on it. If that guy traveled at all, then "his" version got learned by listeners in other communities. Perhaps his style of singing was so distinctive that others aped him when singing first that song, then other songs. Over time, his range of influence might lead to a "regional" singing style, NOT limited to that one song.

Now we live in a time when groups are not small and physically contiguous, with communications allowing, for example, Mudcatters from the US and Blighty and Woonglongagongland (down under) all to have similar interests and shared experiences. Of course, many of the experiences are not shared, so the cohesiveness of this group is less than of a Cornish village or an outback shed's denizens, but you see what I mean.

Ewan MacColl (who lead a hand-to-ear existence) is an example of a song-stylist who strongly influenced others. So is Gordon Bok, as is Tony Rose, Gordon Hall, and Jerry Rasmussen. But we won't be hearing a regional style based on Ewan's singing, nor on Gordon's (either one). Because the group they appeal to is not a regional group. The folk "world" these days is not traditional, despite having folk-like aspects (shared interests, shared material, etc.) and even group traditions. (For example, who outside the Mudcat universe understands "blue clicky?").

Don't mistake the influence of pop culture, mass communications, or the professional world of the performer for tradition. But don't expect all traditions to be "folk" in the way you want them to be. Rugby and football parodies are traditions, and, to my thinking, folksong, but there won't be a Francis J. Child collection of football songs on many university library shelves anytime soon. Thank God.


Bob