The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #87099   Message #1623849
Posted By: johnross
09-Dec-05 - 04:16 PM
Thread Name: Most Influential Album?
Subject: Most Influential Album?
BBC Radio 2 is conducting an audiene vote for the "Most Influential Folk Album of All Time." They're asking about the album that has has the greatest impact on the UK folk Revival.

This leads me to think about the same question in North America. What are your nominations?

Here are some of mine:

The Weavers at Carnegie Hall -- Arguably, this was the LP that started the sixties revival. It was the first popular mainstream album by folk group without the pop arrangements of the Weavers' earlier records on Decca.

The Art of the Five-String Banjo (Billy Faier) -- This was the first time anybody recorded a five-string banjo doing anything but either stringband music or Pete Seeger-style song accompaniment. It opened a lot of ears to the idea that there were other things one could do with traditional instruments.

In My Life (Judy Collins) -- Art songs as folk music. Opened up the folksingers' repertoire to a whole other world of songs.