good books on FOLK

Woebot

Woebot

Well-known member
it's not exactly all about folk, but joe boyd's "white bicycles" (which i've just finished) is excellent.
 
J

jwd

Well-known member
Depends what you're after Derek - there are plenty (well, at least a few) good books out there on folk, but what particular approach do you want? Musicological? 60s/70s folk rock? Traditional? etc..
 
D

Diggedy Derek

Stray Dog
Well, primarily not folk rock, however neither do I want a social/political history of the music. I want a book about the acoustic movement and how songs developed etc.- so a kind of textual commentary type of thing.

I guess I could have gone for a really specific thread title, but that wouldn't have been as fun I guess. HOw was the Joe Boyd book, Woebot?
 
O

OldRottenhat

Active member
I liked Colin Harper's book about Bert Jansch, Dazzling Stranger, although it's not really what you're looking for - it's more for the history of the early '60s folk boom in the UK and so forth. And the last third follows the predictable arc of collapse of talent under tidal waves of booze, recovery etc.
 
J

jwd

Well-known member
Hi Derek
I guess most of my research has been into the traditional side... - I've thumbed through those Childs ballads etc. - one book I do return to quite often is A L Lloyd's 'Folk Song In England', though it may be a bit too dry/musicological for what you're after. Have a look at it anyway, 'tis a good read.
I'll try to think of some other stuff.
(PS Sorry to be out of touch via email for so long - crazy times...)
Jon
 
john eden

john eden

male pale and stale
The chapter on Cecil Sharp in Stefan Szczelkun's The Conspiracy of Good Taste (Working Press) is recommended. About middle class involvement in cataloguing and historifying english folk music. V relevant to some debates with more contemporary music.

The book is out of print but is now online. The chapter in question is here.
 
M

Mr H

Active member
m99188868 said:
Doesn't Simon Frith's 'Performing rites' have some parts on (traditional) folk?
Click to expand...
Its a while since I've read it but I don't think so. There are a couple of pages about folk ideology and the relationship between performer and audience etc where he quotes from a book called 'The British Folk Scene' by Niall MacKinnon. Has anyone read that?
 
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