Art's posting in the "Why I hate folk Music" thread (click here to read it.) got me to thinking. There seems to have been three strands to the folk revival in the 50s. First there were the songs "the folk" were singing. These were presented by such diverse personalities as Burl Ives and Leadbelly. Then there were the topical songs presented by Woody Guthrie and Molly Jackson. Finally there were the "non mainstream" records made for non-rural audiences. This is presented by a host of people, but it seems Harry Smith brought it to the attention of the folk revivalists.

Folk music seems to be a wonderful distillation of these three ingredients. Of course, I realize the strands were not completely independent. Woody Guthrie knew and used the tunes recorded by the Carter Family. Maybelle Carter was influenced by a local blues musician, etc.

Murray