The Evolution of Folk Music Vocals

Hank Snow was a popular and important musical artist, active before 1960, who is not included in the Dalhousie University 2017 - 2018 Popular Music until 1960 course. Hank Snow’s, “country standard I’m Movin’ On, a twelve-bar blues, came out before 1960. ” In this paper I will argue that Hank Snow and his song I’m Movin’ On must be a required listening in this course as he has had historical significance, has influenced musical artists (several that are covered in this course) and most importantly he is a Nova Scotia native with a successful musical country career on an international scale. I will provide relevant background information on Hank Snow as well as proof of his importance in the areas of historical significance, musical influence

Popular folk artist gave their own opinions on war, racism civil rights, justice, and the “establishment” through their music (Holland107). The suggestion of rebellion interested the baby boom generation. Two of the top folk artists from the 1960s were Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. Joan Baez was referred to as a political singer/activist and she was known as the “Queen of Folk music” (Joan Baez). Bob Dylan created plenty of politically based songs that directly warned specific areas of politics, like congressmen and senators, who wanted to stop the civil rights and peace movements (Holland 107-108).

Many music histories recount Peer’s disgust and disregard for the country and hillbilly musicians he produced, published, and managed in the 1920s and 1930s. Specifically, with regard to Peer’s description of the first country music recording by Fiddlin’ John Carson as nothing short of “pluperfect awful.” Again, in American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to MP3, authors Starr and Waterman claim, “Peer apparently had no inkling of the commercial potential of Carson’s fiddle playing and singing on songs such as ‘The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane’ and ‘The Old Hen Cackled and The Rooster’s Going to Crow,’ which Peer later described as ‘pluperfect awful.’” Again, the Starr and Waterman text lacks a citation as to the source of this quote or event. Perhaps, it is because they viewed this as an accepted and commonly held fact since it can be found in dozens of other works and in the interpretive signage at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol. Barry Mazor in his 2015 Peer biography sought for the lineage and veracity of this long held

Woody Guthrie was an American singer-songwriter and musician who is today known as a huge part of traditional Americana music. Huge musicians in their own right, such as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellenkamp, Pete Seeger, and many more have acknowledged Guthrie as a major influence in their creative song writing process. Many of his songs are based on his experience during the Great Depression as Guthrie travelled with displaced farmers from the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma searching for a better life in California.

Folk is a musical style that is very lyrical and meaningful to the listener. Folk music is meant to be shared with a community and bring people together which is exactly what this program aims to do with our American Music Series. Folk music is set apart from other genres because it is not written for a profit but instead it is written to make the audience think about the life experience. Folk music often has very lyrical phrases that can sometimes

Woody Guthrie was the most famous folk singer in the 1930’s. Guthrie was born in Oklahoma and moved to Texas when he was 18. Guthrie was in the hardest hit area when Black Sunday came around. His songs written near or during the Great Depression were supposed to put a hand on the country’s shoulder and say that we can get through this. The Story of Oklahoma states that “much of Woody Guthrie’s life was tragic, but he managed to make it into a joyful song” (Baird 340).

This started the country music recording industry. “Hillbilly” music was what this genre was known as. Again, the style of hillbilly used styles from the past to form its own sound. They brought together gospel, love songs, and working songs. This episode tells the stories of The Carter Family and the ways they brought the old songs everyone knew and made them available to the public along with their newer pieces. Jimmy Rodgers is another important act that country music had. Rodgers also brought together many different styles of music. What he is most recognized for was bringing the signature yodel of the blues to the new style called country. The burst of popularity of both this hillbilly music as well as race music brought record labels to Mississippi and other states, scouting for new artists. And in doing so, they brought more focus to the

Peter Seeger, also known as Pete Seeger, - an individual, who was a musician, an author, and an activist, has helped change history by writing and singing songs, participating in anti-war marches, and fighting for the nation in battle. Pete wrote and sang folk songs that related to everyday life stories. His childhood was very cold and kept him very lonely. He later dropped out of Harvard and wanted to be an observer for all public affairs. He supported himself by painting farmhouses, playing his banjo, becoming a porter and singing folk songs in a bar. The 1930s through the 1970s, was a period of economic struggle, government reform, warfare and environmental reform. Seeger’s folk songs encouraged and involved the people of the United

Arguably the most inspirational musician of the twentieth century, Woody Guthrie earned nation-wide success and popularity. His music proved honest and full of hope, which greatly encouraged America as she struggled through war, the Great Depression, and devastating dust bowls. Music transports us to happier places, and Guthrie’s music did just that for everyone across the nation. Writing about anything and everything, Guthrie translated his experiences and encounters into poetry. Reflections of the time period, in the language of his day, give Guthrie’s music an unblemished charm. He wrote music in a time popularity was based off of how many people were whistling your music as they worked, not the number of ITunes downloads you acquired. Woody Guthrie truly embodied the essence of the American poet and used his experiences and personality to deepen the content of his art.

American’s looked to Music and entertainment during the great depression as one of the few outlets that would give people hope of a better future. Woody Guthrie’s music was a means for the Americans to escape what was the harsh realities of life. Woody Guthrie would write about his experience and what he saw in his travels across the country. It was by the

I hear Arlington singing, the various types of melodies playing, Those of garbage men, singing as they help keep the community clean, The mailman, singing as they deliver mail to houses every day, The police officers, singing as they enforce the laws and protect people, The firefighters, singing as they help extinguish fires and help rescue people from danger, The teachers, singing as they teach the class and gives us new information, The doctors, singing as they save lives, The auto mechanics, singing as they fix up cars that need repairs, The construction workers, singing as they help build new buildings for our community,

Folk musicians Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash always held a high respect for each other, even before they officially met in 1964. At this point in their careers, both had a sensible understanding of what it was like to be under the stress of the spotlight and the pressure of the public’s expectations. They defended each other from critics and had a positive influence on one another that inspired them to do what they wished with their music. Dylan praised Cash for both his musical genius and the way his music had the ability to touch one’s soul, while Cash was one of Dylan’s heaviest supporters at Columbia Records. It is the effects that both Dylan and Cash left on each other and also folk, country, and popular music that made them work so well together.

During this period, Pete Seeger began writing books. His greatest publications include The Bells of Rhymney and Other Songs and Stories and American Favorite Ballads, Tunes and Folksongs as Sung by Pete Seeger. In the book “Carry it on! A History in Song and Picture of America’s Working Men and Women, Seeger and Reiser tell a story with songs describing every little aspect to the struggle of workers, specifically what they did in order to make things right. “Farm workers have been treated like livestock, herded into overcrowded dormitories or housed in shacks. In the prosperous 1960’s, the average farm worker made less than $2000 a year” . This example is followed by a song called “Deportee” which is written from the perspective of a farmer. Another book “The Incompleat Folksinger”, explores the many aspects of folklore music and what impacts it has had on Pete. He describes his songs to “tell of

Folk musicians always have been social activists and many of the songs they write are about equal rights and the plight of the common man.

During the 1950’s, disenchantment with commercial music led many to look for alternatives. This led to a revival of folk music in Britain that gained momentum during the 50’s and surged ahead rapidly in the 60’s. (11) Left-wing political activist and folk musician Ewan McColl is considered by most to be the godfather of this folk music revival. (5) Born Jimmie Miller (14), McColl was a successful playwright, folk musician (1) and highly acclaimed radio broadcaster. (2) He was active in left-wing politics from his teenage years and conscripted into the British Army in 1940. (19) After five months he deserted the army, going on the run for the remainder of the war and eventually changing his name to Ewan McColl. (19) McColl produced a number of collections of folk music during his career, including collections of sea shanties he worked on with A.L. Lloyd (17) and collections of industrial songs he produced both alone and with his third wife Peggy Seeger. (17) McColl’s left-wing political beliefs and practices were heavily tied up with his collection of folk music. He saw folk music as a way to engage the working class and working class issues (18) and used his folk music collections to do this.