The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #127587 Message #2859873
Posted By: GUEST,Tom Bliss
09-Mar-10 - 05:33 AM
Thread Name: Is traditional song finished?
Subject: RE: Is traditional song finished?
"Recording doesn't change the process of of musical evolution by as much as it's reputed to."
No, it doesn't - there it does still change the process.
Each 'local' variation is liable to start afresh from one nationally or internationally famous version, so evolution over time is not cumulative, or is less so, anyway.
Also, when new variations (i.e. 'cover versions') become hits, these set off a new chain of 'local' variations. This is similar to when people moved to a new area to find work and took their songs with them, but we can't infer the same historical data from the recordings as we can from comparing regional variations of songs from 150 years ago.
And that's an important difference.