Reviews (1)

This is the foundation
British music mixed with African drum beats in Virginia. This is the British side saved. Only fifty years ago in Saltville, Virginia the British Ballad was being sung like it had been for several hundred years. Texas Gladden was the keeper of the flame. She is gone and so is the music. There is probably no body left that can sing these songs with this much honesty and authenticity. Allen Lomax should get the Nobel Peace Prize for saving all this music ... Read more

Amazon.com

There Is No Eye: Music for Photographs--Recordings of MusiciansPhotographed by John Cohen is a great mix CD of raw, ragged, and rightAmerican folk music. Though that's little surprise as, since the late 1950s,John Cohen has patched together an alchemical body of work as a filmmaker,photographer, self-taught ethnographer, music writer, art professor, andmusician. The CD accompanies abook of Cohen's beautiful, black-and-white documentary photos. Cohen reallyknows his folk music; his 1968 interview with Harry Smith for the SingOut! fanzine remains the Rosetta stone for the all-important Anthology of American FolkMusic, and as one-third of the New Lost City Ramblers he helped bring the visceralpleasures of true traditional Americana to a larger audience during the folkrevival. This collection is wide-ranging and largely unerring. From Beat jazz togospel, Appalachian a cappella singing to a Peruvian string band--it's all here,with no slick O Brother arrangements or anything else to get in the wayof the music as it would have been heard on front porches, small clubs, andbackyards. About a third of the tracks are previously unreleased; Dylanologistswill need this CD for a swell unreleased track by the young Bobby, a version of"Roll on John" from a 1961 WBAI radio broadcast. --Mike McGonigal ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Folkways Sampler in Fancy Packaging
This CD is very seductive--the cover looks like a 50s folkways release, the design is sharp; the title is hip and intriguing (music for photographs?), and it's all lower case a la e.e. cummings; Woodie Guthrie looks like a bad mutha in the cover photograph.

Getting past the design, and the john cohen photographs (which are wonderful), however, we realize that this is just another folkways sampler-- sort of a follow-up to the American Roots sampler. There are some great tracks here from the old stand-bys: an early Dylan, Guthrie, Gary Davis, Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, Muddy Waters, as well as a few surprises, such as a beutiful bluegrass piece from Alice Gerrard and Hazel dickenzs, and a really interesting afro-rootsy piece by rufus cohen and wade patterson. There are a few throw aways as well (leftovers from a less successful musicological expedition, I guess.)

Folkways has no trouble riding the latest roots music wave because it's had cred as an "authentic" roots music label all along. A little slicking up of the packaging serves this comp. well, and it doesn't even take an "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" sticker to give it appeal.

folk music... from the core of the american experience
..........twenty three songs that go straight to the core of the american music experience.... everything that we have heard on the radio since the beginning of recorded music... from fats domino to britney spears... can be traced straight to these wonderful songs..... many of them totally reminiscent of harry smith's anthology.. but somehow more accescible..19 year old.. dylan.... sounding so fresh.... but so in touch with the music he was trying to restructure for a brand new audience..
I'll be listening to these songs for a long time..especially when I want to remind myself of how magical music can be.. ... Read more

Album Description

Volume II is the second in the BEFORE THEIR TIME collection of songs and music that were written in memory of people who died young. Featuring 74 minutes of music by an international list of singer-songwriters who write about aspects of grief and loss from their own experience, BEFORE THEIR TIME Vol. II includes the title songs of Beth Nielsen Chapman's and Cindy Bullens' best-selling albums. Other well-known American artists include Jim Wilson, Jacqueline Schwab, Ellis Paul, Connie Dover and the late Eva Cassidy. International artists include Canadians Don Bray and Connie Kaldor, and British folk stars Jez Lowe and Kate Rusby. BEFORE THEIR TIME was produced with grants and gifts from foundations and individuals, and all sales of the album benefit bereavement support organizations, including the National Hospice Foundation and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. As in Volume I, extensive liner notes include song lyrics and notes on each selection - many by the artists themselves - plus essays about music's powerful role in the healing process, surviving sudden loss, SOS and Hospice bereavement support groups, and Web links to related sites. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Never A Big Folk Fan
I have to admit at the outset that, with the exception of The Kingston Trio and The Brothers Four, I was never a huge fan of the folk sound, and that my only purpose in purchasing this volume in the first place, in pursuit of my hobby of collecting hit singles, was to get a CD version of The Banana Boat Song by The Tarriers.

Like another reviewer I was not happy to hear the horrible sound quality on that offering, and have since myself picked up the Eric compilation which provides a much better-sounding track. I would also point out that track 1 is not rhe original Weavers hit version of Goodnight Irene done in 1950 with Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra but, rather, from a live performance at Carnegie Hall on Christmas Eve 1954.

Original renditions are, however, provided on tracks 2, 9, 11, 12, 13 [but poor sound], and 14. The rest are also original releases, although none of them ever made any national charts. A complete discography of the contents is provided, along with photographs of some of the artists ["Spyder" John Koerner, The Tarriers, Springfields, Au Go Go Singers, and Limeliters are NOT shown], and seven pages of admittedly very interesting liner notes written by noted author Bruce Pollock.

If Folk was your bag this is a 4-star collection with the only notable flaw being track 13.

good folk
This collection depends on ones perspective of folk. This cd mostly focuses on the large joyous sounds of groups such as New Christy Minstrels. A lot of people ridiculed this sound saying it wasn't true folk but I like it. This cd introduced me to groups I didn't even know existed like The Big Three, the group Mama Cass belonged to before the Mamas and the Papas. Also on this cd is the one hit wonder group Rooftop Singers' catchy "Walk Right In" and Even Dozen Jug Band's irritating but lovable "Take your Fingers Off It."
The only inclusion that is questionable is Gotta Travel On by Au Go Go Singers, as that group is only remembered now for Stephen Stills involvement. But still it fits well in the middle of the mix.

Contains seriously flawed version of Banana Boat Song
If you're interested in the Banana Boat Song by the Tarriers, pick up Eric's Hard To Find 45's On CD Volume 3. The version on the Rhino CD appears to have been digitally mastered from a damaged tape. It contains numerous crackles and pops. The version on the Eric CD is flawless.

The Rhino compilation otherwise is a pretty good. ... Read more

Album Description

This latest NPR Classics CD features studio performances recorded exclusively for NPR programming.All performances were recorded live in the studio, usually in one take, with no overdubs.Some re-mixing was done to get the balances right. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A glimpse at the American Folk Music
I discovered American country/folk music through Iris DeMent's songs and was looking for more music of the same kind. So I thought this CD could help me to discover new artists which are overlooked in the music mainstream. From this point of view, this CD doesn't disappoint: you'll find such unknown gems as "Bon Soir Moreau", which has a catchy beat, "Poor Man's house", "I push right over" and, naturally, "That's the way love goes", poignantly performed by Iris DeMent. The list could go on, since almost all songs are worth mentioning. So why just four stars? Because, being a collection of country/folk/blues and creole music, you'll inevitably find a few songs that dont' match your tastes; but, on the whole, the balance will hang on the plus side. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Spanning the worlds of country, blues, folk, gospel, Cajun, Tejano, andNative American music, this 19-song sampler offers listeners a little taste ofwhat they'll find in the four-discAmerican Roots Music boxset and the PBS documentary thatspawned it. For the most part, these selections are veritable cornerstones oftheir respective genres, and the artists are all worthy of deep exploration inand of themselves. But for those looking to dip a toe into the vast ocean ofroots-based American music, this is a fine place to start. --MarcGreilsamer ... Read more

Reviews (1)

fun singing before school
This CD has really nice songs.Bath Tub Blues makes me laugh, and I like to hear the kids sing in that song.I like the girls' voices in Yankee Doodle. The story of I Had an Old Coat is very fun because I like hearing people making things out of other things.You should buy this CD because of all the fun songs. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

great overview of folk in the 60's
Troubadours of the Folk Era is a great series. If I had to choose which volume was the best, it would between this one and 3. This one wins by a bit because it has more tracks of people you won't easily find on cd.
So they're the real surprises here like the Simon Sisters cute "Wlinken, Blinken, and Nod". The Simon Sisters was the group Carly and Lucy was in before Carly went on her own and it's pretty much unrecognizable from her later sound. Jim and Jean's take on Changes is fantastic. They're like an electric Ian and Sylvia. The picture of them in the linear notes is adorable. This cd introduced me to several artists. After hearing the introspective "Other Side of this Life", I was an instant Fred Neil fan. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Once the denizen of passionate preservationists, folk music after Dylan has become a singer-songwriter affair, a genre in which a song gains force as an expression of self rather than tradition. The Newport festivals heeded that change, and this solid anthology has striking, nervy performances of originals like Robert Earl Keen's "Mariano," Shawn Colvin's "Cry Like an Angel," and Cheryl Wheeler's "Arrow," all of which surpass their studio predecessors. The rare tracks from Greg Brown and Richard Thompson are also welcome. Indeed, only the opening and closing contributions from Pete Seeger seem out of place. No matter: Chris Smither's gorgeous solo acoustic version of "Killing the Blues" is ample compensation. --Roy Kasten ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great Variety of Folk Giants!
I got this CD 3 years ago, and I have loved it ever since. At the time I didn't know much about folk music except for people like Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthery, whom I had heard my parents play. I didn't realize at the time what a good album this was. It contains a variety of really good folk songs from groups like Indigo Girls and Sweet Honey in the Rock. All of the recordings are live, which just adds to the effect of these really good songs. I especially enjoyed Arrow (Cheryl Wheeler), American Tune (Indigo Girls), and Cry like an Angel (Shawn Colvin). Some of each artist's best efforts are on this disk. Pete Seeger is the exception, but he is getting a bit old to sing so his music can't be rated on the same scale. If you like the folk music traditions of Bob Dylan and pete seeger, or enjoy any of these groups, I strongly encourage you to get the CD. It is a great compliation of the new generation folk singers and it introduced me to several of my favorite groups. ... Read more