Vote for your favourite folk songs

Subject: RE: Vote for your favourite folk songs
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 12 May 13 - 10:36 PM

Helluva job there, Wallster. I particularly liked a lot of those songs included in your postscript. I am curious though, you put up complete performances of a number of songs that are not PD, were there any copyright issues?

Subject: RE: Vote for your favourite folk songs
From: GUEST
Date: 12 May 13 - 07:27 PM

Puff the magic dragon.

Subject: RE: Vote for your favourite folk songs
From: GUEST,Lavengro
Date: 12 May 13 - 07:10 PM

Thanks Wallster,

A lot of work in the compiling I'm sure! An interesting listen/read.

http://musictodiefor.wordpress.com/all-of-your-best-loved-folk-songs/

Subject: RE: Vote for your favourite folk songs
From: wallster
Date: 12 May 13 - 04:43 PM

For those who are curious to see the published article :

http://musictodiefor.wordpress.com/all-of-your-best-loved-folk-songs/

Subject: RE: Vote for your favourite folk songs
From: Bert
Date: 06 Apr 13 - 07:21 PM

Don, I guess that one could make an argument for "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley being a folk song.

It was a rip off of "Move it on over" by Hank Williams. Move it on over was written in 1947 when country music was solidifying from folk music. Thus it is part of a continuing tradition.

I won't comment on what has happened to Rock since then:-)

Subject: RE: Vote for your favourite folk songs
From: Don Firth
Date: 06 Apr 13 - 06:07 PM

Sorry, Wallster, I didn't intend to be "prickly and negative."

But perhaps I'm behind the times in thinking that when someone specifies "folk songs," they mean traditional songs, not necessarily songs written to sound like traditional folk songs, as often sung by "revival" groups like the Kingston Trio and the New Christy Minstrels, and a whole bunch of individuals who billed themselves as "folk singers," but wrote most of their own stuff.

I'm not making a judgment on the quality of the songs. Tom Paxton, Joni Mitchell, et al, wrote some really nice songs. But when I've been led to believe that I'm buying a CD of traditional folk songs, often I'm interested in aspects beyond the quality of the songs themselves, such as historical, and even though the CD may turn out to be a mixture of songs by, say Bill Stains and Townes Van Zandt (very nice stuff, by the way!), it's not necessary what I'm paying for, if you follow me.

Interesting to note that in the send-up movie, "A Mighty Wind," about a reunion of 1960s folk groups, complete with three ex-college boys dressed in identical shirts with button-down collars and a nonet complete with perky, bouncy girl in pig-tails (New Christy Minstrels, perhaps?), there was a lot of singing, but one of the biggest jokes in the whole send-up was that there was not one single, genuine, traditional folk song in the entire movie!!

Yes, that was intentional. And was PART of the joke!

It's amazing how many people who should have known better didn't get it! They assume that it was a documentary rather that a mockumentary!

Sorry. Didn't mean to rain on your parade.

Don Firth

P. S. Or, God knows, to restart the whole argument over what do the words "folk song" mean?!!

Subject: RE: Vote for your favourite folk songs
From: Crowhugger
Date: 06 Apr 13 - 02:38 PM

I hope you'll ignore the hecklers & have fun with your list making, wallster. As has already been pointed out, your list your rules. I wish people who need or prefer their own particular approach wouldn't always feel the need to dampen the fun of those who enjoy this one. Aren't there already a bunch of threads for those who want argue definitions?

Subject: RE: Vote for your favourite folk songs
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 06 Apr 13 - 12:45 PM

There are as many definitions of folk song as there are folk.

Most of us don't care- if we like a song, we sing/play it.

Lists are a waste of paper.

Subject: RE: Vote for your favourite folk songs
From: wallster
Date: 05 Apr 13 - 05:17 PM

The songs you see on the link are songs that others have nominated. It's what they regard as folk, and what they like to listen to. I've purposely not tried to impose any restrictive definition of folk music. I feel this was the right thing to do. It makes for an interesting tension, and a list that tells us quite a lot about peoples attitudes toward folk music.

It's really disappointing that the responses to this thread have been so prickly and negative. It feels like I'm treading on peoples toes. Perhaps it isn't so surprising that there aren't more 'traditional' songs in the list, if this is representative of the attitude of certain sections of the folk community. It doesn't have to be that way. You can help to shape my list - and I would like you to. That's why I posted here.

Subject: RE: Vote for your favourite folk songs
From: Elmore
Date: 05 Apr 13 - 08:36 AM

My favorite folk songs change from day to day.

Subject: RE: Vote for your favourite folk songs
From: GUEST,Lavengro
Date: 05 Apr 13 - 08:23 AM

"Well, if it sounds like country, that's what it is, it's a country song." - Kris Kristofferson

I personally think the same thing about folk music.

My favourite folk song (this week!) Gulf of Mexico-Steve Earle

Subject: RE: Vote for your favourite folk songs
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 05 Apr 13 - 04:21 AM

Earwig oh again!

Subject: RE: Vote for your favourite folk songs
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 05 Apr 13 - 12:51 AM

When records/CDs/whatever come into the stores, the customers like to see them sorted by genre. It might be fruitful to discuss the question, why did the stores put Tom Paxton and Gordon Lightfoot and Joni Mitchell into the Folk bins, while they would never think to put Pavarotti or Bill Haley there. It would be less fruitful, I think, to discuss whether we should let store owners make our definitions for us, instead of making the sort of distinction Don Firth favors --- less fruitful, because it has been done to death with no resolution in sight.

Anyway, I reckon that on wallster's website, wallster can decide as wallster sees fit.

Subject: RE: Vote for your favourite folk songs
From: michaelr
Date: 04 Apr 13 - 09:32 PM

Why - are they running for office?

Subject: RE: Vote for your favourite folk songs
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Apr 13 - 08:01 PM

Silly

Subject: RE: Vote for your favourite folk songs
From: Don Firth
Date: 04 Apr 13 - 07:23 PM

I'm sorry, but I've been at this since 1952 and I've taken courses in my local state university English department in "The Popular Ballad," and other courses dealing with tradition British Isles and American music, and for years I made my living singing traditional songs in clubs, coffeehouses, and on educational television, so I think I have some knowledge of the subject.

Although there is a fair number of traditional songs on that list, a high percentage of them are recent "singer-songwriter" material--not "folk songs" in the sense of traditional songs at all.

Sorry to be a spoil sport, but judging from what appears to the the criteria for being on the list, then I feel free to nominate "Nessun Dorma" sung by Luciano Pavarotti or "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and his Comets.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Vote for your favourite folk songs
From: Midchuck
Date: 04 Apr 13 - 06:57 PM

No point in it until you define "Folk Song."

Can't be done in a way that will lead to a consensus.

I've seen lists of "favorite folk songs," the majority of which were written by known individuals and were under copyright.

P.

Subject: Vote for your favourite folk songs
From: wallster
Date: 04 Apr 13 - 05:28 PM

In the last few weeks I've been asking people to nominate their favourite folk songs. Dozens of songs have been nominated already and the quality of the songs chosen have been superb. In a month's time the results will be compiled into a list on my music to die for website http://musictodiefor.wordpress.com.

Voting is still open and you have until the end of April to send me your own lists of favourite songs.

Here's how to vote :

Email me at [e-mail] with a list of up to 25 of your favourite folk songs.

To aid you, I've published a list of 100 of the top contenders so far, with accompanying youtube videos - http://musictodiefor.wordpress.com/all-of-your-best-loved-folk-songs/ .

This is only a guide and you're free to nominate other songs not on the list if you wish (preferably along with the artists who you think perform them best). Also if you like someone else's version of any of these songs then it would be good if you could indicate whose version you prefer.