Subject: 100 Essential Folk Songs From: Smedley Date: 24 Nov 09 - 06:46 AM As voted for by American-based website/radio show Folk Alley . The 100 Essential Folk Songs. Should cause a few arguments...... 1. This Land is Your Land - Woody Guthrie 2. Blowin' in the Wind - Bob Dylan 3. City of New Orleans - Steve Goodman 4. If I Had a Hammer - Pete Seeger 5. Where Have All The Flowers Gone - The Kingston Trio 6. Early Morning Rain - Gordon Lightfoot 7. Suzanne - Leonard Cohen 8. We Shall Overcome - Pete Seeger 9. Four Strong Winds - Ian and Sylvia 10. Last Thing On My Mind - Tom Paxton 11. The Circle Game - Joni Mitchell 12. Tom Dooley - The Kingston Trio (Trad) 13. Both Sides Now - Joni Mitchell 14. Who Knows Where The Time Goes - Sandy Denny 15. Goodnight Irene - The Weavers (Trad) 16. Universal Soldier - Buffy St Marie 17. Don't Think Twice - Bob Dylan 18. Diamonds and Rust - Joan Baez 19. Sounds of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel 20. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot 21. Alice's Restaurant - Arlo Guthrie 22. Turn, Turn, Turn - The Byrds (Pete Seeger) 23. Puff The Magic Dragon - Peter, Paul and Mary 24. Thirsty Boots - Eric Andersen 25. There But For Fortune - Phil Ochs 26. Across The Great Divide - Kate Wolf 27. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - The Band (Robbie Robertson) 28. The Dutchman - Steve Goodman 29. Matty Groves - Fairport Convention (Trad) 30. Pastures of Plenty - Woody Guthrie 31. Canadian Railroad Trilogy - Gordon Lightfoot 32. Ramblin' Boy - Tom Paxton 33. Hello In There - John Prine 34. The Mary Ellen Carter - Stan Rogers 35. Scarborough Fair - Martin Carthy (Trad) 36. Freight Train - Elizabeth Cotton 37. Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan 38. Paradise - John Prine 39. Northwest Passage - Stan Rogers 40. And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda - Eric Bogle 41. Changes - Phil Ochs 42. Streets of London - Ralph McTell 43. Gentle On My Mind - John Hartford 44. Barbara Allen - Shirley Collins (Trad) 45. Little Boxes - Malvina Reynolds 46. The Water is Wide - Traditional 47. Blue Moon of Kentucky - Bill Monroe 48. No Regrets - Tom Rush 49. Amazing Grace - Odetta (Trad) 50. Catch The Wind - Donovan 51. If I Were a Carpenter - Tim Hardin 52. Big Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchell 53. House of the Rising Sun - Doc & Richard Watson (Trad) 54. Kisses Sweeter Than Wine - The Weavers 55. Tangled Up In Blue - Bob Dylan 56. The Boxer - Simon and Garfunkel 57. Someday Soon - Ian and Sylvia 58. 500 Miles - Peter, Paul and Mary 59. Masters of War - Bob Dylan 60. Wildwood Flower - Carter Family 61. Can The Circle Be Unbroken - Carter Family 62. Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound - Tom Paxton 63. Teach Your Children - Crosby, Stills Nash & Young 64. Deportee - Woody Guthrie 65. Tecumseh Valley - Towns Van Zandt 66. Mr. Bojangles - Jerry Jeff Walker 67. Cold Missouri Waters - James Keeleghan 68. The Crucifixion - Phil Ochs 69. Angel from Montgomery - John Prine 70. Christmas in the Trenches - John McCutcheon 71. John Henry - Traditional 72. Pack Up Your Sorrows - Richard and Mimi Farina 73. Dirty Old Town - Ewan MacColl 74. Caledonia - Dougie MacLean 75. Gentle Arms of Eden - Dave Carter 76. My Back Pages - Bob Dylan 77. Arrow - Cheryl Wheeler 78. Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen 79. Eve of Destruction - Barry McGuire 80. Man of Constant Sorrow - Ralph Stanley (Trad) 81. Shady Grove - Traditional 82. Pancho and Lefty - Townes Van Zandt 83. Old Man - Neil Young 84. Mr. Tambourine Man - Bob Dylan 85. American Tune - Paul Simon 86. At Seventeen - Janis Ian 87. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel 88. Road - Nick Drake 89. Tam Lin - Fairport Convention (Trad) 90. Ashokan Farewell - Jay Ungar and Molly Mason 91. Desolation Row - Bob Dylan 92. Love Is Our Cross To Bear - John Gorka 93. Hobo's Lullaby - Woody Guthrie 94. Urge For Going - Tom Rush 95. Return of the Grievous Angel - Gram Parsons 96. Chilly Winds - The Kingston Trio 97. Fountain of Sorrow - Jackson Browne 98. The Times They Are A Changing - Bob Dylan 99. Our Town - Iris Dement 100. Leaving on a Jet Plane - John Denver |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: Jack Blandiver Date: 24 Nov 09 - 06:50 AM This is why the word Folk has no meaning or cultural currency. Quite the most depressing thing I've read in a long while! |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: Smedley Date: 24 Nov 09 - 06:50 AM Excuse the slight error in the thread title - it should be 'essential' not 'most important' - my mistake. ----------------- thread title changed (Nov. 24)---------- mudelf |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: Tim Leaning Date: 24 Nov 09 - 06:51 AM I like them ones they are good ... |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: matt milton Date: 24 Nov 09 - 06:52 AM I wouldn't set much store with that. Not really much to discuss - it's not the 100 most important folk songs, it's just the 'Folk Alley' top 100 playlist really. Anyway, what does 'important' actually mean in the context of a folk song? How could you possibly assess it? |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: Smedley Date: 24 Nov 09 - 06:55 AM It interests me, I suppose, as a kind of 'baseline' list composed (I'd surmise) by people Of A Certain Age and in the USA. |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: GUEST,Silas Date: 24 Nov 09 - 07:09 AM Pile of crap. Replace 'Important' or 'essential' with 'most popular in the USA' then OK. Still crap though. |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: GUEST,Hootenanny Date: 24 Nov 09 - 07:36 AM Another pointless listing and mis-titled. From a fleeting look the material all seems to be by singer/songwriters. As good as some of the material listed may be, I didn't notice any folk material. Hoot |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: catspaw49 Date: 24 Nov 09 - 07:40 AM Here's a 10 year old thread that you might find more interesting: Essential Folk Recordings Spaw |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: Dave the Gnome Date: 24 Nov 09 - 07:41 AM I didn't notice any folk material Scarborough Fair? Tam Lin? Anyway - sho is going to start the smae old argument? Oh, go on the, seeing as I am here... What is folk music? :D (eG) |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: Marje Date: 24 Nov 09 - 07:45 AM This thread is going to turn into another example of cultural confusion if we don't untangle it right now. The original post makes it quite clear that it's an American list. No one said it applied anywhere else. There are certainly some cracking songs there, but most of them would not be regarded as "Folk" on this (eastern) side of the Atlantic. OK then, critics above, how about creating a comparable list of British/Irish songs? What's your list of "essential" or "important" or even "favourite" folk songs? No need to assign a name to it if the song is traditional, as I hope most of them would be - America has a great song-writing culture and tradition, as is shown by the list above, but we in these islands have a wealth of traditional songs that few countries could match. So, who's got a list of a few classics to start us off? Marje |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: beeliner Date: 24 Nov 09 - 07:47 AM They're all pretty good songs, the argument is probably how many qualify as folk songs. 'Blue Moon of Kentucky' is surely one of the 100 greatest WALTZES ever written, I'm not sure that mentioning a borderline Southern state in the title makes it a folk song. By the way, the tile of no. 4 is 'The Hammer Song'. |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: Dave Hanson Date: 24 Nov 09 - 07:49 AM Our friends in the good old US of A seem to have different definitions of the words ' essential ' and ' important ' than the people who gave them their language to begin with, just one at random, Mr Bojangles, what feck is important or even essential about it ? good song though it may be. Dave H |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: bobad Date: 24 Nov 09 - 07:50 AM A lot of good songs there, who cares what label is put on them. |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: MGM·Lion Date: 24 Nov 09 - 08:04 AM Most of us do who trouble to log on to these threads, Bobad — as you very well know. So what purpose do you imagine yourself to be serving by being so irritatingly provocative? |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: Young Buchan Date: 24 Nov 09 - 08:29 AM I'm not going to try 100, but I'm prepared to set myself up as Aunt Sally with 10. I take essential to mean: imagine each folk song in turn had never existed; the absence of which ten would most have changed the tradition as we have it. The Banks of Claudy The Butcher's Boy Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight The Mermaid Barbara Allen Jamie Douglas Captain Wedderburn's Courtship Johnny Faa Died for Love Sweet William Of course if you ask the same question, but extend it to OUTSIDE the folk world, you would get a rather different answer. Bonny Woods of Ivy (Old McDonald!) Wild Rover Strawberry Lane Drunken Sailor Barbara Allen Lilibulero The Sash Blaydon Races Where are you going to, my Pretty Maid Tavern in the Town |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: Dave the Gnome Date: 24 Nov 09 - 08:34 AM Well, I'll get my votes in early then. Aggadoo Shuttupa your face and The biggest aspidistra in teh world. DeG |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: Dave Hanson Date: 24 Nov 09 - 08:36 AM Ya forgot the Birdie Song Dave. Dave H |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: SINSULL Date: 24 Nov 09 - 08:50 AM This thread puts me in mind of Dave Mallett whose "Garden Song" was voted the Best Folk Song of the Millennium on some website. He was amused enough to say that he felt honored being up there with Barbara Allan and a few others. Did anyone here vote on this list? Who voted? How many voted? Were they limited to one vote? My point? It is a meaningless list with no real value. Geez - the Garden Song wasn't even nominated! |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies) Date: 24 Nov 09 - 09:58 AM I've no interest in those kinds of 60's American 'folk' songs myself, but I did get given this some months ago: Anthology of American Folk Music Which I personally find much more interesting, and powerfully evocative too. Here's a couple from YouTube: Fatal Flower garden, quite the spookiest song I ever heard! Old Lady and the Devil Track listing isn't quite a hundred, but near enough (in case anyone's interested): 1. Henry Lee - Justice, Dick 2. Fatal Flower Garden - Nelstone's Hawaiians 3. House Carpenter - Ashley, Clarence 4. Drunkard's Special - Jones, Coley 5. Old Lady And The Devil - Reed, Belle 6. Butcher's Boy (The Railroad Boy) - Kazee, Buell 7. Wagoner's Lad (Loving Nancy) - Kazee, Buell 8. King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O - Parker, Chubby 9. Old Shoes And Leggins - Dunford, Uncle Eck 10. Willie Moore - Burnett & Rutherford 11. Lazy Farmer Boy - Carter, Buster 12. Peg And Awl - Carolina Tar Heels 13. Ommie Wise - Grayson, G.B. 14. My Name Is John Johanna - Harrell, Kelly 15. Bandit Cole Younger - Crain, Edward.L. 16. Charles Giteau - Harrell, Kelly 17. John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man - Carter Family 18. Gonna Die With My Hammer In My Hand - Williamson Brothers 19. Stackalee - Hutchison, Frank 20. White House Blues - Poole, Charlie 21. Frankie - Hurt, 'Mississippi' John 22. When That Great Ship Went Down - Smith, William & Versey 23. Engine 143 - Carter Family 24. Kassie Jones - Lewis, Walter 'Furry' 25. Down On Penny's Farm - Bentley Boys 26. Mississippi Boweavil Blues - Masked Marvel 27. Got The Farm Land Blues - Carolina Tar Heels 28. Sail Away Lady - Stevens, Uncle Bunt 29. Wild Wagoner - Jilson Setters 30. Wake Up Jacob - Hunt, Prince Albert Texas Ramblers 31. La Danseuse - Gaspard, Blind Uncle 32. Georgia Stomp - Baxter, Andrew 33. Brilliancy Medley - Robertson, Eric & Family 34. Indian War Whoop - Ming, Floyd & His Pep-Steppers 35. Old Country Stomp - Thomas, Henry 36. Old Dog Blue - Jackson, Jim 37. Saut Crapaud - Fruge, Columbus 38. Acadian One-Step - Various Artists 39. Home Sweet Home - Breaux Freres 40. Newport Blues - Cincinnati Jug Band 41. Moonshiner's Dance Part One - Cloutier, Frank 42. You Must Be Born Again - Gates, Rev. J.M. 43. Oh Death Where Is Thy Sting - Gates, Rev. J.M. 44. Rocky Road - Alabama Sacred Harp Singers 45. Present Joys - Alabama Sacred Harp Singers 46. This Song Of Love - Middle Georgia Singing Convention 47. Judgement - Nelson, Sister Mary 48. He Got Better Things For You - Memphis Sancified Singers 49. Since I Laid My Burden Down - McIntosh, Elder & Edwards' Sanctified Singers 50. John The Baptist - Mason, Rev. Moses 51. Dry Bones - Lunsford, Bascom Lamar 52. John The Revelator - Johnson, 'Blind' Willie (1) 53. Little Moses - Carter Family 54. Shine On Me - Phipps, Ernest & His Holiness Singers 55. Fifty Miles Of Elbow Room - McGee, Rev. F.W. 56. In The Battlefield For My Lord - Rice, Rev. D.C. & His Sanctified Congregation 57. Coo Coo Bird - Ashley, Clarence 58. East Virginia - Kazee, Buell 59. Minglewood Blues - Cannon's Jug Stompers 60. I Woke Up One Morning In May - Hebert, Didier 61. James Alley Blues - Brown, Richard 'Rabbit' (1) 62. Sugar Baby - Boggs, Dock 63. I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground - Lunsford, Bascom Lamar 64. Mountaineer's Courtship - Stoneman, Ernest V. 65. Spanish Merchant's Daughter - Stoneman Family 66. Bob Lee Junior Blues - Memphis Jug Band 67. Single Girl Married Girl - Carter Family 68. Le Vieux Soulard Et Sa Femme - Breaux, Clemo 69. Rabbit Foot Blues - Jefferson, Blind Lemon 70. Expressman Blues - Estes, 'Sleepy' John 71. Poor Boy Blues - Thomas, Ramblin' 72. Feather Bed - Cannon's Jug Stompers 73. Country Blues - Boggs, Dock 74. 99 Year Blues - Daniels, Julius 75. Prison Cell Blues - Jefferson, Blind Lemon 76. See That My Grave Is Kept Clean - Jefferson, Blind Lemon 77. C'Est Si Triste Sans Lui - Breaux, Clemo 78. Way Down The Old Plank Road - Macon, 'Uncle' Dave 79. Buddy Won't You Roll Down The Line - Macon, 'Uncle' Dave 80. Spike Driver Blues - Hurt, 'Mississippi' John 81. K.C. Moan - Memphis Jug Band 82. Train On The Island - Nestor, J.P. 83. Lone Star Trail - Maynard, Ken 84. Fishing Blues - Thomas, Henry |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: Marje Date: 24 Nov 09 - 09:59 AM Thanks for your positive response, Young Buchan. I wish some of those who whinge would offer some constructive alternatives to the US list, if they don't like it. Here are a few more I'll add as contenders for the UK/Ireland list: Clyde Water Mary Hamilton (The Four Marys) The Water is Wide (inc. Waly Waly and its variants) Pleasant and Delightful The Bunch of Thyme Raggle Taggle Gypsies The Trees They Do Grow High The Blacksmith Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy (and its Irish relative, The Holy Ground) Banks of the Sweet Primroses And for your excellent add-on list of Most Popular Folk Songs with Non-Folkies: Will Ye Go, Lassie? Leaving of Liverpool Irish Rover (not the same as the Wild Rover, although people who ask for them frequently confuse them) Whisky in the Jar Landlord Fill the Flowing Bowl Auld Lang Syne This is just some suggestions for starters. I haven't even got round to considering shanties, or lullabies, or the many excellent trad-style songs of recent composition. Any more? Marje |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: pdq Date: 24 Nov 09 - 10:02 AM I really like the list in the original post. Nice to see a thread that everyone can think about. Also one that is not political. Most of the songs mentioned will appeal to folks raised in the 1960s. BTW, Young Buchan, you mention "Barbara Allen" twice, and the initial poster also mentions the song. |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: Young Buchan Date: 24 Nov 09 - 10:08 AM pdq I do indeed mention Barbara Allen twice, deliberately. The point is that this song is, by my definition, essential uniquely to both the folk and the non-folk community, which were the subjects of the two lists. |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: Jack Blandiver Date: 24 Nov 09 - 10:11 AM I wish some of those who whinge would offer some constructive alternatives to the US list, if they don't like it. Most important American Folk Songs? Well there's 1600 of them freely available to the general punter at The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection. That has to be a start. Shame the UK collections are still languishing rather - ho-hum... |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: pdq Date: 24 Nov 09 - 10:12 AM Just for the record, I think Jean Ritchie's version of "Barbara Allen" is great. Uniquely American. She posts as Kytrad and is Mudcat's most beloved member. |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: Young Buchan Date: 24 Nov 09 - 10:16 AM Marje With the exception of Clyde's Water, which I really don't think is very inflential, I would not disagree with any of your choices. May I just point out that Johnny Faa on my list = Raggle Taggle Gypsies and Jamie Douglas = Waly Waly :-) I can't believe I missed Braes of Balquiddar/Will ye Go Lassie Go from my non-folk list! I'm going out to beat myself up! |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: Young Buchan Date: 24 Nov 09 - 10:23 AM pdq "She posts as Kytrad and is Mudcat's most beloved member." Oh please don't tell Suibhne that. He thinks HE is! |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: TheSnail Date: 24 Nov 09 - 10:26 AM Suibhne O'Piobaireachd Shame the UK collections are still languishing rather - ho-hum... Well, there;s quite a few in the Take Six collection and quite a lot more at the Wiltshire Community History Folk Music Search. |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: catspaw49 Date: 24 Nov 09 - 10:29 AM The track list from Electra's FOLK BOX from the thread linked above: Track Listing: Cynthia Gooding: Greensleeves Ian Campbell Folk Group: Down In The Coal Mine Ewan MacColl: Geordie Irish Ramblers: Whiskey In The Jar Susan Reed: Irish Famine Song Ed McCurdy: Gypsy Laddie Jean Redpath: Tae The Weavers African Traveling Song Navajo Night Chant Gene Bluestein: Skada At America New Lost City Ramblers: When First Unto This Country Susan Reed: Springfield Mountain Ed McCurdy: Good Old Colony Times Oscar Brand: Jefferson And Liberty Pete Seeger: Darling Cory Jack Elliott: Jesse James Leadbelly: Rock Island Line Woody Guthrie: Oregon Trail Erik Darling: Swannanda Tunnel Ed McCurdy: Kentucky Moonshine Alabama School Children: Green Green Rocky Road Leadbelly: Pick A Bale Of Cotton Seafarers Chorus: Haul On The Bowline Pete Seeger: Paddy Works On The Railway Harry Jackson: I Ride An Old Paint Cisco Houston: Zebra Dun Horace Sprott: Field Holler Koerner, Ray & Glover: Linin' Track Willer Turner: Now Your Man Done Gone Josh White: Timber Negro Prisoners: Grizzly Bear Marilyn Child & Glenn Yarbrough: Mary Had A Baby Josh White: Jesus Gonna Make Up My Dyin Bed Blind Willie Johnson: Dark Was The Night Judy Collins: Twelve Gates To The City Theodore Bikel: A Zemer Glenn Yarbrough: Wayfaring Stranger Ed McCurdy: Simple Gifts Leadbelly: Meetin' At The Building Bob Gibson: You Can Tell the World Christian Tabernacle Church: Down By The Riverside Willy Clancy: Sligo Reel/Mountain Road Eric Weissberg: Old Joe Clark Clarence Ashley: Coo Coo Bird Tom Paley: Shady Grove Eric Weissberg & Marshall Brickman: Flop-Eared Mule Jean Ritchie: Nottamun Town Doc Watson and others: Amazing Grace Doc Watson: Cripple Creek The Dillards: Pretty Polly George Pegram & Walter Parham: Yellow Rose Of Texas Dián And The Greenbriar Boys: Green Corn The Dillards: Old Man At The Mill Sonny Terry: Lost John Big Bill Broonzy: I Wonder When I'll Get To Be Called a Man Leadbelly: Black Snake Moan Blind Lemon Jefferson: See That My Grave Is Kept Clean Hally Wood: House Of The Rising Sun Mark Spoelstra: France Blues New Lost City Ramblers: Carter Blues Dave Ray: Slappin' On My Black Cat Bone Dave Van Ronk: Don't Leave Me Here Josh White: Southern Exposure Ed McCurdy: John Brown's Body Frank Warner: Virginia's Bloody Soil Theodore Bikel: Two Brothers Judy Collins: Masters of War Theodore Bikel: Blow The Candles Out Jean Redpath: Love Is Teasin' Clarence Ashley and Doc Watson: Sally Ann Jean Ritchie: Little Devils Limeliters: The Hammer Song Woody Guthrie: This Land Is Your Land Pete Seeger, Almanac Singer With Audience: Which Side Are You On? New Lost City Ramblers: No Depression In Heaven Woody Guthrie: Talking Dust Bowl Big Bill Broonzy: Black Brown And White Oscar Brand: Talking Atomic Blues Hamilton Camp: Girl From The North Country Judy Collins: The Dove Tom Paxton: High Sheriff Of Hazard Phil Ochs: The Thresher Pete Seeger: We Shall Overcome Spaw |
Subject: RE: 100 most Important Folk Songs From: catspaw49 Date: 24 Nov 09 - 10:49 AM ANd at this site you can check out a collection of 30 from the Library of Congress field recordings selected by Stephen Wade. You can even have a listen if you like..........Library of Congress-30 field recordings Spaw |
Subject: RE: 100 Essential Folk Songs (Folk Alley poll) From: theleveller Date: 24 Nov 09 - 10:59 AM Making lists of 'the best' of anything is almost always a pointless exercise - no-one is ever going to agree. |
Subject: RE: 100 Essential Folk Songs (Folk Alley poll) From: GUEST,Guest John Hartford Date: 24 Nov 09 - 11:23 AM This list is like any list of it's kind contentious- Remember though folks it's a list of the MOST POPULAR AMERICAN folk songs - voted for no doubt by AMERICANS !!! I have no arguements with any of the chosen songs. There are some really good songs here mainly written by songwriters who have defined and set some standards in the world of "folk" music ( whatever that might be). And besides I have had a great time in learning and performing them over the years.....Oh and I have made a few bob out of it too. Gawd that will wake up the anti-commercial crowd....lol As for British Folk songs....well there's going to be many suggestions so I will abstain from clouding the water. I would love to see an Austaralian list though - could be very interesting.......and humourous. So tie me kangaroo down sport......and by the way I love Aussie and all who sail in her. John |
Subject: RE: 100 Essential Folk Songs (Folk Alley poll) From: SINSULL Date: 24 Nov 09 - 11:57 AM My Boomerang Won't Come Back? |
Subject: RE: 100 Essential Folk Songs (Folk Alley poll) From: MGM·Lion Date: 24 Nov 09 - 12:01 PM Silly to fall over backwards avoiding the obvious — so WALTZING MATILDA? |
Subject: RE: 100 Essential Folk Songs (Folk Alley poll) From: pdq Date: 24 Nov 09 - 12:06 PM The Harry Smith Anthology of Folk Music is now on a 6 CD set... Release Date: Jan 04, 2005 Format: CD Record Label: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings Number of Discs: 6 UPC: 093074009024 Track listing DISC 1: VOLUME ONE-BALLADS: 1. Henry Lee - Dick Justice 2. Fatal Flower Garden - Nelstone's Hawaiians 3. House Carpenter, The - Clarence Ashley 4. Drunkard's Special - Coley Jones 5. Old Lady and the Devil - Bill Reed/Ola Belle Reed 6. Butcher's Boy, The (The Railroad Boy) - Buell Kazee 7. Wagoner's Lad, The (Loving Nancy) - Buell Kazee 8. King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O - Chubby Parker 9. Old Shoes and Leggins - Uncle Eck Dunford 10. Willie Moore - Burnett & Rutherford 11. Lazy Farmer Boy, A - Buster Carter/Preston Young 12. Peg and Awl - The Carolina Tar Heels 13. Ommie Wise - G.B. Grayson 14. My Name Is John Johanna - Kelly Harrell DISC 2: VOLUME ONE-BALLADS, CONT.: 1. Bandit Cole Younger - Edward L. Crain 2. Charles Giteau - Kelly Harrell 3. John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man - The Carter Family 4. Gonna Die With My Hammer in My Hand - The Willliamson Brothers/Curry 5. Stackalee - Frank Hutchison 6. White House Blues - Charlie Poole/The North Carolina Ramblers 7. Frankie - Mississippi John Hurt 8. When That Great Ship Went Down - William Smith/Versey Smith 9. Engine 143 - The Carter Family 10. Kassie Jones - Furry Lewis 11. Down on Penny's Farm - The Bently Boys 12. Mississippi Boweavil Blues - The Masked Marvel 13. Got the Farm Land Blues - The Carolina Tar Heels DISC 3: VOLUME TWO-SOCIAL MUSIC: 1. Sail Away Lady - Uncle Bunt Stephens 2. Wild Wagoner, The - Jilson Setters 3. Wake up Jacob - Prince Albert Hunt's Texas Ramblers 4. La Danseuse - Delma Lachney/Blind Uncle Gaspard 5. Georgia Stomp - Andrew Baxter/Jim Baxter 6. Brilliancy Medley - Eck Robertson 7. Indian War Whoop - Hoyt Ming & His Pep Steppers 8. Old Country Stomp - Henry Thomas 9. Old Dog Blue - Jim Jackson 10. Saut Crapaud - Columbus Fruge 11. Acadian One-Step - Joseph Falcon 12. Home Sweet Home - Breaux Freres 13. Newport Blues - Cincinnati Jug Band 14. Moonshiner's Dance Part One - Frank Cloutier & The Victoria Cafe Orchestra DISC 4: VOLUME TWO-SOCIAL MUSIC, CONT.: 1. You Must Be Born Again - Rev. J.M. Gates 2. Oh Death Where Is Thy Sting - Rev. J.M. Gates 3. Rocky Road - The Alabama Sacred Harp Singers 4. Present Joys - The Alabama Sacred Harp Singers 5. This Song of Love - The Middle Georgia Singing Convention No. 1 6. Judgement - Sister Mary Nelson 7. He Got Better Things For You - The Memphis Sanctified Singers 8. Since I Laid My Burden Down - The Elders McIntorsh/Edwards' Sanctified Singers 9. John the Baptist - Rev. Moses Mason 10. Dry Bones - Bascom Lamar Lunsford 11. John the Revelator - Blind Willie Johnson 12. Little Moses - The Carter Family 13. Shine on Me - Ernest Phipps & Holiness Singers 14. Fifty Miles of Elbow Room - Rev. F.W. McGee 15. In the Battlefield For My Lord - Rev. D C Rice & Congregation DISC 5: VOLUME THREE-SONGS: 1. Coo Coo Bird, The - Clarence Ashley 2. East Virginia - Buell Kazee 3. Minglewood Blues - Cannon's Jug Stompers 4. I Woke up One Morning in May - Didier Hebert 5. James Alley Blues - Richard "Rabbit" Brown 6. Sugar Baby - Dock Boggs 7. I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground - Bascom Lamar Lunsford 8. Mountaineer's Courtship, The - Ernest & Hattie Stoneman 9. Spanish Merchant's Daughter, The - The Stoneman Family 10. Bob Lee Junior Blues - Memphis Jug Band 11. Single Girl, Married Girl - The Carter Family 12. Le Vieux Soulard et Sa Femme - Cleoma Breaux & Joseph Falcon 13. Rabbit Foot Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson 14. Expressman Blues - Sleepy John Estes/Yank Rachell DISC 6: VOLUME THREE-SONGS, CONT.: 1. Poor Boy Blues - Ramblin' Thomas 2. Feather Bed - Cannon's Jug Stompers 3. Country Blues - Dock Boggs 4. 99 Year Blues 5. Prison Cell Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson 6. See That My Grave Is Kept Clean - Blind Lemon Jefferson 7. C'Est Si Triste Sans Lui - Cleoma & Ophy Breaux/Joseph Falcon 8. Way Down the Old Plank Road - Uncle Dave Macon 9. Buddy Won't You Roll Down the Line - Uncle Dave Macon 10. Spike Driver Blues - Mississippi John Hurt 11. K.C. Moan - Memphis Jug Band 12. Train on the Island - J.P. Nestor 13. Lone Star Trail, The - Ken Maynard 14. Fishing Blues - Henry Thomas |
Subject: RE: 100 Essential Folk Songs (Folk Alley poll) From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies) Date: 24 Nov 09 - 12:11 PM Do you have it PDQ? I flagged it up above as well - some really atmospheric material! A few tracks from the anthology can be found on YouTube. |
Subject: RE: 100 Essential Folk Songs (Folk Alley poll) From: pdq Date: 24 Nov 09 - 12:35 PM I have the old version in a box set of vinyl records. Have no functional turntable and haven't played an LP in a decade. You Brits will have to pay around 50 Pound Sterling for the (reatively) new 6-CD set. That makes it an "investment" as much as "entertainment". |
Subject: RE: 100 Essential Folk Songs (Folk Alley poll) From: Marje Date: 24 Nov 09 - 01:08 PM Just to clear up any misunderstanding: when I said "alternatives to the US list" I meant UK/Ireland alternatives, to create a UK/Ireland list as an alternative. Whether the US list is in fact representative of the US folk world is something I'll leave to Americans to decide. Young Buchan: I didn't know Johnny Faa by that name, so thanks for pointing it out. Jamie Douglas is, yes, one of the Waly Waly family but has (in the version I know) quite a different tune from other versions of The Water is Wide. In fact, there are so many variants of melody, words and titles of traditional songs that our main difficulty could be creating a list of songs that are recognisable to all by those names. Leveller: Just because people done't agree about something doesn't mean it's not worth discussing - quite the opposite, I'd have thought! I'm interested to hear what others think and what songs they value most, even if they have different tastes from mine. Marje |
Subject: RE: 100 Essential Folk Songs (Folk Alley poll) From: pdq Date: 24 Nov 09 - 01:50 PM Young Buchan... Perhaps Suibhne O'Piobaireachd could change his name to something we can all spell, such as "Insane Beard". Just a thought. |
Subject: RE: 100 Essential Folk Songs (Folk Alley poll) From: EnglishFolkfan Date: 24 Nov 09 - 02:00 PM Essential: for what purpose? Being the exemplar of a song performance Learning by rote Performing Joining in Listening to Educating oneself or others Ticking off the 'I own that version' Being a temporary playlist I felt there was a need to better define the question before providing an answer and so didn't take part in the vote. There are too many of these 'end of decade' 'end of whatever' polls floating around across the musical genres lacking a clear point of reference: imho. |
Subject: RE: 100 Essential Folk Songs (Folk Alley poll) From: Art Thieme Date: 24 Nov 09 - 02:24 PM I'm not sure how many songs are in my list. Off the top of my head, here are some actual folk songs I do. I don't have any idea who wrote ninety percent of them. But I do know who I learned them from---and I thank them heartily for passing them on to me via the tradition---person to person and/or the electronic and printed page tradition. You know who you are!!-- Unlike the list in post #1, these are folk songs in the main.------ Art Thieme Buffalo Skinners The Hobo's Last Ride Pokegama Bear Portland County Jail Babara Allen Cowboy's Barbara Allen Froggy Went A-courting The Days Of '49 The Pig and the Drunk The Old Sow Took The Measles Drill Ye Tarriers What Was Your Name In The States Shenandoah Spanish Is A Loving Tongue Red River Valley Streets of Laredo Diamond Joe (cowboy song) Diamond Jo (riverboat song) Gonna Leave Old Texas Now Old Paint Trail To Mexico Utah Carroll Blue Mountain Dobe Bill Sam Bass Sam Bass Billy The Kid The Red River Shore Santa Fe Trail The Kansas Cyclone Wabash Cannonball Ox Drivers Song The Old Woman Who Loved A Swine Dreary Black Hills My Name Is Yon Yonson The Big Combine The Sioux Indians Robin Hood's Death Zack The Mormon Engineer Billy Venero Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie The Pinery Boy The California Boy The Sailor Boy The Shanty Boy On The Big Eau Claire The Gal I Left Behind James Whalen The State Of Illinois The Hanging Of Charlie Birger The Death Of Carl Shelton Goin To Cairo Swapping Song Bayou Sara State of Arkansas Down In The Arkansas Railroad Bill The Lakes Of Pontchartrain Abilene Red Iron Ore John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt By The Hush Simple Gifts Mr. Garfield Erie Canal The Bulllhead Boat Pittsburgh Town In 1861 Banks Of The Ohio 9 Pound Hammer Take This Hammer What Does The Deep Sea Say Casey Jones Cotton Mill Girls Hard Times In The Mill Betty And Dupree Blues Stackerlee The Boll Weevil The Gray Goose The Fox The Titanic The Diamond Greenland Whalers Peter Emberly Master Of The Sheepfold Andrew Bordee Rackets 'Round Blue Mountain Lake Springfield Mountain Blow Ye Winds Of Morning Good Old Colony Days Sarah Brown and Lord Thomas In 1795 Butternut Hill Shool Aroon Bibble-ala-doo-shi-do-ree Hush A Bye The Cuckoo Shady Grove Old Joe Clark John Henry John Hardy Tell Old Bill Franklin D. Roosevelt Back Again The Death Of Ellenton From 40 to 65 The Wreck Of Number Nine Wreck Of Old Ninety-seven The House Carpenter Little Margaret The Wind And Rain The Two Sisters The Golden Vanity Run Come See The Sloop John B |
Subject: RE: 100 Essential Folk Songs (Folk Alley poll) From: GUEST,Gerry Date: 24 Nov 09 - 10:48 PM You know, we already had this thread, in June. Folk Alley 100 Most Essential Folk Songs |
Subject: RE: 100 Essential Folk Songs (Folk Alley poll) From: GUEST,The Folk E Date: 25 Nov 09 - 05:48 PM The original list is what common every day folks enjoy as folk music. People love these tunes, know them, sing along with them. Of course that greatly disturbs the folk snobs. |
Subject: RE: 100 Essential Folk Songs (Folk Alley poll) From: Spleen Cringe Date: 26 Nov 09 - 03:25 AM Folk E... so if someone doesn't share your musical taste they're a snob? Gerraway wi'ya, man! I agree that such lists are pretty pointless, but TV and radio stations and journalists love 'em! (which is why there are so many around - cheap filler). About 20 of the songs on the list of quite famous folk & pop songs that started the thread float my boat quite happily, but essential? Dunno what that's about... At least they had the good sense to put "This Land Is Your Land" (presumably the unexpurgated version) at number one. That song at least is pretty essential... I'm not going to give an alternative list (cos I'm not playing) but if I was it would have to include "The Cruel Mother", "Willie of Winesbury", "Sam Hall", "Lord Bateman", "Lord Gregory" and "Blackwaterside" for starters. Non-trad songs would include Bob Pegg's "the Gypsy" and The ISB's "A Very Circular Song", neither of which would make it onto many lists that weren't exclusively controlled by me... thus underlining the pointlessness of such lists. Nice thread though. PS: Crowsis - try to get hold of Volume 4 of the Anthology which came out a few years back on John Fahey's Revenant Label. I believe the songs were selected by Harry Smith but the album was never released as part of the original series. It's an absolute belter: 1. Memphis Shakedown - Memphis Jug Band 2. Dog And Gun - Kincaid, Bradley 3. Black Jack David - Carter Family 4. Down On The Banks Of The Ohio - Blue Sky Boys 5. Adieu False Heart - Arthur Trio Smith 6. John Henry Was A Little Boy - Mainer, J.E. Mountaineers 7. Nine Pound Hammer - Monroe Brothers 8. Southern Casey Jones - James, Jesse (1) 9. Cold Iron Bed - Kelly, Jack & His South Memphis Jug Band 10. Packin' Trunk Blues - Leadbelly 11. Baby Please Don't Go - Williams, Joe 12. Last Fair Deal Gone Down - Johnson, Robert (1) 13. Parchman Farm Blues - White, Bukka 14. Mean Old World - Heavenly Gospel Singers 1. Hello Stranger - Carter Family 2. Stand By Me - Hudmon, Sister Clara 3. West Virginia Gals - Hopkins, Al & His Bucklebusters 4. How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live - Reed, Al 5. Wreck Of The Tennessee Gravy Train - Macon, 'Uncle' Dave 6. Governor Al Smith - Macon, 'Uncle' Dave 7. Milk Cow Blues - Estes, 'Sleepy' John 8. No Depression In Heaven - Carter Family 9. I'll Be Rested (When The Roll Is Called) - Graves, Roosevelt 10. He's In The Ring (Doing The Same Thing) - Memphis Minnie 11. Cockeyed World - Wallace, Minnie 12. Barbecue Bust - Mississippi Jook Band 13. Dans Le Grand Bois - Hackberry Ramblers 14. Aces' Breakdown - Four Aces |
Subject: RE: 100 Essential Folk Songs (Folk Alley poll) From: Smedley Date: 26 Nov 09 - 03:41 AM One reason I started the thread is because I like these lists, even (or especially!?) the ones I disagree with. They take snapshots of taste, and can tell you a lot about prevailing preferences. And, or so I am told by those who work in journalism, they are not 'filler' but are guaranteed to increase sales of any magazine that features them. The same is probably true for listening figures at radio stations. |
Subject: RE: 100 Essential Folk Songs (Folk Alley poll) From: GUEST,Steamin' Willie Date: 26 Nov 09 - 06:21 AM Essential? Important? I love subjective lists. I reckon if we all sat down and wrote our own list, there would be some occurring more than others. Still wouldn't be essential or important. May not be folk, unless somebody actually defines folk. I have dismissed as many definitions as I have had thrust upon me. If they were essential or important to anybody other than baby boomers with beards, ethnic skirts and sandals, then Simon Cowell would be making money out of them. I love alternative realities. They give me a warm feeling when I visit them. |
Subject: RE: 100 Essential Folk Songs (Folk Alley poll) From: Marje Date: 26 Nov 09 - 09:11 AM Songs can still be important to people like us (with or without our beards, sandals etc) without making much money for anyone. The reasons that Cowell and co are not interested in folk are: 1. Folkies are too clever to be taken in by all the hype and razamatazz 2. We can, and do, make and enjoy this music by ourselves without the services of the recording industry, and therefore- 3. Record promoters can't make much money out of folk Folk music is more comparable to a non-musical hobby like beekeeping, or ice-skating, or amateur dramatics. These things may all be hugely important to those who take part, and give lots of pleasure to many others who witness them or enjoy the by-products. But, as with folk music, the number who make big money from them is relatively tiny, so they're of no interest to commercial promoters who want to make money. Don't confuse commercial success with other values that really matter, that would be a big mistake. Marje |
Subject: RE: 100 Essential Folk Songs (Folk Alley poll) From: GUEST,Steamin' Willie Date: 26 Nov 09 - 12:48 PM Dunno about that. I don't mind being labelled as a folkie, (got a beard incidentally) yet I don't think I'm too clever to be taken in by hype. I'm thick as shit and taken in by shiny objects. I have every gadget that comes out, and if it says Apple on it I queue to get one. I do try in my own little way to prick the bubble of pomposity, and sadly I do find a lot of the ruddy stuff in the stereotypes I referred to above.... Record producers make lots out of folk, (assuming I admit that folk is a genre...) In fact, scroll up to the original list. A few zillion $$ there over the years. Trust me, if the word essential is used, there is an assumption that it is there for a purpose, and if it really were essential then Cowell would be there, just like it was fashionable in the '70s and early '80s for folk club based comedy to appear on Top of the Pops. (Mike Harding, Jasper Carrot, Billy Connolly, Tony Capstick, Fred Wedlock.) Every dog has his day. Enjoy what you enjoy, I do. I just don't reckon it is essential. I recall a few months ago getting all upbeat, saying folk tradition as a musical art is having a renaissance due to the young turks and those who followed. Wow, you should have seen the reaction here on the mudcat thingy. We wonder if dinosaurs had feathers or scales? They certainly had and still have a chip on their shoulder. Alive and kicking on this very forum. I reckon David Attenborough should pontificate on how life can carry on in the strangest of environments when the animals in question are doing their best to become extinct. ps. I enjoyed the (American) list. Lots of nostalgia for a bygone age there... |
Subject: RE: 100 Essential Folk Songs (Folk Alley poll) From: MGM·Lion Date: 26 Nov 09 - 01:52 PM Essential? Those which are so to me are those which I love to sing the most, & which people have said they liked my renderings of — especially my late wife, no musician or singer herself, but my severest critic who would not hesitate to say so if she thought me out of voice or useless at a particular song or on a particular occasion. Which meant that if ever she said she liked my performance of a particular song I knew it meant something. So here, for my list, a few of those to which she reacted most positively over the years. It seems to me a reasonable criterion: Queen Eleanor's Confession; Spanish Lady; Willie More; The Tailor in the Teachest; The Devil & the Feathery Wife; The Days of '49; Butter & Cheese & All; Boston Harbour; Fanny Blair; The Band Played Waltzing Matilda; In Praise of John Magee; On Board the Victory; Roll the Old Chariot Along; Going Down Town; Bowling Green; April Morning; Star of the County Down; The Bonnie Wee Lassie's Answer Was Don't Come Again; The Besom Maker; The Little Skillet Pot; Red Apple Juice; Lord Thomas & Fair Elinor; Squirrel Is A Pretty Thing; The Red & Green Signal Lights; Valentine O'Hara; Here's Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy; Ratcliffe Street [London version of Jack-All-Alone — I'm a Londoner]; Katy Cruel; Cotton Mill Girls; Santa Fe Trail; I'm Bound To Follow the Longhorn Cows; Cold & Raw; The Magdalene Green; Follow the Drinking Gourd; The Black Cat Piddled in the White Cat's Eye; On Monday I Never Go To Work; The Treadmill Song; The Prickle-Holly Bush; The Wild-Goose Shanty; Peggy Bann ... That'll do for now. |
Subject: RE: 100 Essential Folk Songs (Folk Alley poll) From: MGM·Lion Date: 27 Nov 09 - 04:00 AM Oh, - & should add Fair Tender Ladies: that was the one I happened to be singing when a camera flash went off & my wife, whenever she looked at that photograph, would always say that was the moment it flashed into her mind "That's the young man I am going to marry". & once she had made her mind up to anything... Does that make it an 'essential' song, I wonder? |
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