Ron
"mythical CD under "folk"
Not so mythical - 'Put a Bit of Powder on it Father' contains much material which neither I nor Walter would consider folk.
I have no doubt that if it ended up in the shops it would land on the shelf marked folk because of the singer's reputation.
On the other hand, recently I posted a review of an Eliza Carthy CD recently which I took from The Irish Times; it was listed under 'Rock music'.
Are we really satisfied to allow those not directly involved in the music to define it on our behalf; the Rupert Murdochs and Richard Bransons of this world, whose only musical interest and objective is that of the cash-till?
When Pat and I used to scour the second-hand bookshops of England to build up our library; we invariably ended up searching the 'Childrens' section' for 'folktales'; and I can't count the times we found books on 'folklore' on the shelves marked 'religions' (though I am always amused that our atheist local bookseller places all religious books on the 'folklore shelf').
People have fought hard over the years to gain recognition for our music; the battle has been partly won here in Ireland; I don't believe we have made any headway at all in the UK. (should explain - born and bred in Britain - moved to Ireland 10 years ago).
Here I can turn television or radio on 7 days a week and almost be guaranteed to find well played traditional music, programmes discussing the subject or highlighting singers like Joe Heaney, Margaret Barry, Luke Kelly, Seamus Ennis. Pat and I have just finished giving interviews and supplying recordings for 3 programmes due to go out on national radio on the Travellers we recorded in London; and we are in the process of applying for an Arts Council grant for an autobiography of one of those Travellers, which we will probably get.
All this is a recent phenomenon brought about by a handful of people who know what the music is and who fought for its recognition.
Thirty or forty years ago, along with a flourishing club scene in the places I have lived; (Liverpool, Manchester and London), I was able to listen to A L Lloyd's 'Folk Music Virtuoso' and 'The Lament' and 'his 13 part 'Songs of the People'. MacColl's 'Song Carriers' is still the finest analysis of traditional song forty years on.
It seems to me we have rolled backwards rather than moved forwards. The UK hasn't even got a comprehensive folk music sound archive.
I am convinced that much of this is down to the confusion which surrounds the word 'folk'.
If somebody asked you "what is 'folk'", where would you direct them?
To record shelves which would range from Seth Lakeman to Cecilia Costello? To a club which could include anything from the occasional folk song mixed in with music hall, Victorian Parlour ballads, early 20th century pop songs... et al., to the evening of Beatles songs put on by a Yorkshire folk club not so long ago?
There are, of course, clubs which specialise in folk songs, but I believe they are few and getting fewer.
My dream, along with others I worked with, was not only to popularise the music I love and feel is a vital part of our culture, but to use the musical and poetic forms to create new songs, which may or may not become folk songs, but which reflected the life and experiences of the people I lived and worked with.
I am now further away from that dream than I have ever been - nobody's fault - we all managed to drop the ball somewhere along the way.
Jim Carroll