The British Folk Revival

Author : Michael Brocken
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 434 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2017-07-12
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781351775205

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The British Folk Revival 1944-2002 by Michael Brocken Pdf

This title was first published in 2003. This work considers the post-war folk revival in Britain from a popular music studies perspective. Michael Brocken provides a historical narrative of the folk revival from the 1940s up until the 1990s, beginning with the emergence of the revival from within and around the left-wing movements of the 1940s and 1950s. Key figures and organizations such as the Workers' Music Association, the BBC, the English Folk Dance and Song Society, A.L. Lloyd and Ewan MacColl are examined closely. By looking at the work of British Communist Party splinter groups it is possible to see the refraction of folk music as a political tool. Brocken openly challenges folk historicity and internal narrative by discussing the convergence of folk and pop during the 1950s and 1960s. The significant development of the folk/rock hybrid is considered alongside "class", "Americana", radio and the strength of pop culture. Brocken shows how the dichotomy of artistic (natural) versus industry (mass-produced) music since the 1970s has led to a fragmentation and constriction of the folk revival. The study concludes with a look at the upsurge of the folk music industry, the growth of festivals and the implications of the Internet for the British folk revival. Brocken suggests the way forward should involve an acknowledgement that folk music is not superior to but is, in fact, a form of popular music.

Author : Ronald D Cohen,Rachel Clare Donaldson
Publisher : University of Illinois Press
Page : 216 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2014-09-15
Category : Music
ISBN : 9780252096426

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Roots of the Revival by Ronald D Cohen,Rachel Clare Donaldson Pdf

In Roots of the Revival: American and British Folk Music in the 1950s, Ronald D. Cohen and Rachel Clare Donaldson present a transatlantic history of folk's midcentury resurgence that juxtaposes the related but distinct revivals that took place in the United States and Great Britain. After setting the stage with the work of music collectors in the nineteenth century, the authors explore the so-called recovery of folk music practices and performers by Alan Lomax and others, including journeys to and within the British Isles that allowed artists and folk music advocates to absorb native forms and facilitate the music's transatlantic exchange. Cohen and Donaldson place the musical and cultural connections of the twin revivals within the decade's social and musical milieu and grapple with the performers' leftist political agendas and artistic challenges, including the fierce debates over "authenticity" in practice and repertoire that erupted when artists like Harry Belafonte and the Kingston Trio carried folk into the popular music mainstream. From work songs to skiffle, from the Weavers in Greenwich Village to Burl Ives on the BBC, Roots of the Revival offers a frank and wide-ranging consideration of a time, a movement, and a transformative period in American and British pop culture.

Author : Michael Brocken
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 385 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2017-09-29
Category : Music
ISBN : 9781351893565

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The British Folk Revival by Michael Brocken Pdf

The British Folk Revival is the very first historical and theoretical work to consider the post-war folk revival in Britain from a popular music studies perspective. Michael Brocken provides a historical narrative of the folk revival from the 1940s up until the 1990s, beginning with the emergence of the revival from within and around the left-wing movements of the 1940s and 1950s. Key figures and organizations such as the Workers' Music Association, the BBC, the English Folk Dance and Song Society, A.L. Lloyd and Ewan MacColl are examined closely. By looking at the work of British Communist Party splinter groups it is possible to see the refraction of folk music as a political tool. Brocken openly challenges folk historicity and internal narrative by discussing the convergence of folk and pop during the 1950s and 1960s. The significant development of the folk/rock hybrid is considered alongside 'class', 'Americana', radio and the strength of pop culture. Brocken shows how the dichotomy of artistic (natural) versus industry (mass-produced) music since the 1970s has led to a fragmentation and constriction of the folk revival. The study concludes with a look at the upsurge of the folk music industry, the growth of festivals and the implications of the Internet for the British folk revival. Brocken suggests the way forward should involve an acknowledgement that folk music is not superior to but is, in fact, a form of popular music. The book will create lively debate among the folk music fraternity and popular music scholars, as well as folklorists and ethnomusicologists. A unique discography and history of the Topic Record label is also included.

Author : Michael Brocken
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 251 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2022-08-26
Category : Music
ISBN : 9781000628630

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The British Folk Revival by Michael Brocken Pdf

Almost 20 years ago Michael Brocken created from his doctoral research, what became both a seminal and contested volume concerning the social mores surrounding the British Folk Revival up to that point in time: The British Folk Revival 1944–2002. In this long-overdue second edition he revisits not only his own research, but also that of others from the 1990s and early 21st century. He then considers how a discourse of folkloric authenticity emerged in the closing years of the 19th century and how a worrying nationalistic immanence came to surround folk music and dance during the inter-war years. Brocken also proposes that the media: records, radio and TV in post-WWII folk revivalism can offer us important insights into how self-directed learning of the folk guitar emerged. Brocken moves on to consider the business structures of the contemporary folk scene and how relationships are formed between contemporary folk business and the digital and social media spheres. In his penultimate chapter he discusses the masculinisation of folk traditions and asks important questions about how our folk traditions are carried and are authorised. In the final chapter he also considers the rise of an exciting new folk live music built environment.

Author : Bruce Lindsay
Publisher : Equinox Publishing (UK)
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2020
Category : Music
ISBN : 1781799180

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Two Bold Singermen and the English Folk Revival by Bruce Lindsay Pdf

Two Bold Singermen and the English Folk Revival is the first book to explore in depth the lives and song traditions of two of the most influential English traditional singers: Sam Larner and Harry Cox.Larner and Cox were born in late nineteenth-century Norfolk, within six years and fifteen miles of each other. Both men grew up in large working-class families, started work before their teens, spent their working lives in hard manual labour - Larner as a trawlerman, Cox as a farm labourer - and lived into their eighties. Both men were singers from an early age, amassed large repertoires of songs that are now established in the traditional canon, and became key figures in the "folk revival" of the 1950s and 1960s. They directly influenced performers such as Martin Carthy, Shirley Collins, Peggy Seeger, Young Tradition, and Steeleye Span, while indirectly influencing Paul Simon and Bob Dylan. Their impact extends to the current generation of performers and composers in the folk, Americana, and singer/songwriter fields, as well as to Hollywood.Using extensive primary evidence - including recorded interviews with both men - this book provides the first detailed biographies of these great singers, placing their singing and repertoires within the social and cultural contexts in which they lived. It will appeal equally to lovers of traditional song, to social history enthusiasts, and to any reader keen to know more of the fascinating lives of two outstanding singers whose influence continues to this day.

Author : Michael Brocken
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 248 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2017-06-28
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1138710741

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The British Folk Revival, 1944-2002 by Michael Brocken Pdf

This title was first published in 2003. This work considers the post-war folk revival in Britain from a popular music studies perspective. Michael Brocken provides a historical narrative of the folk revival from the 1940s up until the 1990s, beginning with the emergence of the revival from within and around the left-wing movements of the 1940s and 1950s. Key figures and organizations such as the Workers' Music Association, the BBC, the English Folk Dance and Song Society, A.L. Lloyd and Ewan MacColl are examined closely. By looking at the work of British Communist Party splinter groups it is possible to see the refraction of folk music as a political tool. Brocken openly challenges folk historicity and internal narrative by discussing the convergence of folk and pop during the 1950s and 1960s. The significant development of the folk/rock hybrid is considered alongside "class", "Americana", radio and the strength of pop culture. Brocken shows how the dichotomy of artistic (natural) versus industry (mass-produced) music since the 1970s has led to a fragmentation and constriction of the folk revival. The study concludes with a look at the upsurge of the folk music industry, the growth of festivals and the implications of the Internet for the British folk revival. Brocken suggests the way forward should involve an acknowledgement that folk music is not superior to but is, in fact, a form of popular music.

Author : Rob Young
Publisher : Faber & Faber
Page : 674 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2010-08-19
Category : Music
ISBN : 9780571258420

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Electric Eden by Rob Young Pdf

Rob Young's Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain's Visionary Music is a seminal book on British music and cultural heritage, that spans the visionary classical and folk tradition from the nineteenth-century to the present day. 'A thoroughly enjoyable read and likely to remain the best-written overview for a long time.' GUARDIAN 'A perfectly timed, perfectly pitched alternative history of English folk music . . . wide-ranging, insightful, authoritative, thoroughly entertaining.' NEW STATESMAN 'A stunning achievement.' SIMON REYNOLDS 'A masterpiece.' CAUGHT BY THE RIVER 'Excellent . . . blissfully quotable.' NEW YORK TIMES 'An authoritative account.' THE TIMES 'Consistently absorbing.' INDEPENDENT 'An impassioned and infectious rallying cry of a book.' SUNDAY TIMES In this groundbreaking survey of more than a century of music making in the British Isles, Rob Young investigates how the idea of folk has been handed down and transformed by successive generations - song collectors, composers, Marxist revivalists, folk-rockers, psychedelic voyagers, free festival-goers, experimental pop stars and electronic innovators. In a sweeping panorama of Albion's soundscape that takes in the pioneer spirit of Cecil Sharp; the pastoral classicism of Ralph Vaughan Williams and Peter Warlock; the industrial folk revival of Ewan MacColl and A. L. Lloyd; the folk-rock of Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Nick Drake, Shirley Collins, John Martyn and Pentangle; the bucolic psychedelia of The Incredible String Band, The Beatles and Pink Floyd; the acid folk of Comus, Forest, Mr Fox and Trees; The Wicker Man and occult folklore; the early Glastonbury and Stonehenge festivals; and the visionary pop of Kate Bush, Julian Cope and Talk Talk, Electric Eden maps out a native British musical voice that reflects the complex relationships between town and country, progress and nostalgia, radicalism and conservatism. An attempt to isolate the 'Britishness' of British music - a wild combination of pagan echoes, spiritual quest, imaginative time-travel, pastoral innocence and electrified creativity - Electric Eden will be treasured by anyone interested in the tangled story of Britain's folk music and Arcadian dreams. 'A treat.' TIME OUT 'Young is a fine writer.' MOJO 'Young's immense narrative is both educative and gripping.' UNCUT 'A multitudinous, fascinating and beautifully written account.' TLS

Author : Niall MacKinnon
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 168 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 1993
Category : Music
ISBN : IND:30000035590904

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The British Folk Scene by Niall MacKinnon Pdf

A detailed study of the social factors that have given coherence and an enduring identity to the British "folk revival" since the 1960s. The author is a social scientist who lives in the Scottish Highlands. Distributed by Taylor and Francis. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Author : Julia Bishop,Steve Roud
Publisher : Penguin UK
Page : 608 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 2012-06-07
Category : Music
ISBN : 9780141964324

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The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs by Julia Bishop,Steve Roud Pdf

One of the Spectator's Books of the Year 2012 'Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain For we've received orders for to sail for old England But we hope in a short while to see you again' One of the great English popular art forms, the folk song can be painful, satirical, erotic, dramatic, rueful or funny. They have thrived when sung on a whim to a handful of friends in a pub; they have bewitched generations of English composers who have set them for everything from solo violin to full orchestra; they are sung in concerts, festivals, weddings, funerals and with nobody to hear but the singer. This magical new collection brings together all the classic folk songs as well as many lesser-known discoveries, complete with music and annotations on their original sources and meaning. Published in cooperation with the English Folk Dance and Song Society, it is a worthy successor to Ralph Vaughan Williams and A.L.Lloyd's original Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. 'Her keen eye did glitter like the bright stars by night The robe she was wearing was costly and white Her bare neck was shaded with her long raven hair And they called her pretty Susan, the pride of Kildare' In association with EFDSS, the English Folk Dance and Song Society

Author : Colin Harper
Publisher : A&C Black
Page : 418 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2006-08-21
Category : Music
ISBN : 9780747587255

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Dazzling Stranger by Colin Harper Pdf

'An excellent biography of one of folk's cult figures.' - Independent on Sunday

Author : Britta Sweers
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2005-01-13
Category : Music
ISBN : 9780198038986

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Electric Folk by Britta Sweers Pdf

In the 1960s and 1970s, a number of British musicians rediscovered traditional folk ballads, fusing the old melodies with rock, jazz, and blues styles to create a new genre dubbed "electric folk" or "British folk rock." This revival featured groups such as Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, and Pentangle and individual performers like Shirley & Dolly Collins, and Richard Thompson. While making music in multiple styles, they had one thing in common: they were all based on traditional English song and dance material. These new arrangements of an old repertoire created a unique musical voice within the popular mainstream. After reasonable commercial success, peaking with Steeleye Span's Top 10 album All Around My Hat, Electric Folk disappeared from mainstream notice in the late 1970s, yet performers continue to create today. In Electric Folk: The Changing Face of English Traditional Music, Britta Sweers provides an illuminating history and fascinating analysis of the unique features of the electric folk scene, exploring its musical styles and cultural implications. Drawing on rare historical sources, contemporary music journalism, and first-hand interviews with several of electric folk's most prominent artists, Sweers argues that electric folk is both a result of the American folk revival of the early 1960s and a reaction against the dominance of American pop music abroad. Young British "folk-rockers," such as Richard Thompson and Maddy Prior, turned to traditional musical material as a means of asserting their British cultural identity. Yet, unlike many American and British folk revivalists, they were not as interested in the "purity" of folk ballads as in the music's potential for lively interaction with modern styles, instruments, and media. The book also delves into the impact of the British folk rock movement on mainstream pop, American rock music, and neighboring European countries. Ultimately, Sweers creates a richly detailed portrait of the electric folk scene--as cultural phenomenon, commercial entity, and performance style.

Author : Georgina Boyes
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 1993
Category : England
ISBN : 0719045711

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The Imagined Village by Georgina Boyes Pdf

Author : JP Bean
Publisher : Faber & Faber
Page : 335 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2014-03-04
Category : Music
ISBN : 9780571305469

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Singing from the Floor by JP Bean Pdf

In smoky rooms above pubs, bare rooms with battered stools and beer-stained tables, where the stage was little more than a scrap of carpet and sound systems were unheard of, an acoustic revolution took place in Britain in the 1950s and '60s. This was the folk revival, where a generation of musicians, among much drink and raucous cheer, would rediscover the native songs of their own tradition, as well as the folk and blues coming from across the Atlantic by artists such as Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie and Big Bill Broonzy. Singing from the Floor is the story of this remarkable movement, faithfully captured in the voices of those who formed it by JP Bean. We hear from luminaries such as Shirley Collins, Martin Carthy, Peggy Seeger and Ralph McTell, alongside figures such as Billy Connolly, Jasper Carrott and Mike Harding, who all started their careers on the folk circuit. The book charts the revival's improvised beginnings and its ties to the CND movement, through the heyday of the '60s and '70s, when every university, town and many villages across the country boasted a folk club, to the fallow years of the '80s and '90s. The book finishes on a high note, with the recent resurgence of interest in folk, through such artists as the Lakemans, Sam Lee and Eliza Carthy. It is a joyous, boisterous and hugely entertaining book, and an essential document of our recent history stretching into the past.

Author : Rob Burns
Publisher : Manchester University Press
Page : 224 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2012-06-15
Category : Music
ISBN : 0719085330

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Transforming Folk by Rob Burns Pdf

English folk–rock, a former progressive rock music style, remains a stimulus for further change in folk music and has enabled English folk–rock to become regarded as popular music by a new audience with diverse musical tastes. From musicological and historical perspectives, this book maintains that folk music performance continues to be influenced by rock and other popular music styles. From a cultural studies perspective, this book also demonstrates how the popularity of folk music presented at world music festivals has stimulated significant growth in folk music audiences since the mid–1990s and consequently the UK is experiencing a new phase of revivalism – the third folk revival. The book contains contributions from Martin Carthy (The Imagined Village), Simon Nicol (Fairport Convention), Ashley Hutchings (The Albion Band), Gerry Conway (Fairport Convention), and Rick Kemp (Steeleye Span).

Author : Bob Coltman
Publisher : Scarecrow Press
Page : 340 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 0810861321

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Paul Clayton and the Folksong Revival by Bob Coltman Pdf

Paul Clayton and the Folksong Revival is the first biography of the folk singer and song collector Paul Clayton (1931-1967). Preeminently a scholar-balladeer, Clayton is credited with the Top-Ten hit "Gotta Travel On" and single-handedly brought hundreds of obscure folksongs to light for the mid-century radio and recording market. He influenced listeners and friends from Dave Van Ronk to Bob Dylan, who considered Clayton a mentor, "mindguard," and well of folksong.