, to see if you have full access to this publication.
Edited Book No access
The Ballad Collectors of North America
How Gathering Folksongs Transformed Academic Thought and American Identity
Editors:
Publisher:
2011
Summary
Much has been written about the songs gathered in North America in the first half of the 20th century. However, there is scant information on those individuals responsible for gathering these songs. The Ballad Collectors of North America: How Gathering Folksongs Transformed Academic Thought and American Identity fills this gap, documenting the efforts of those who transcribed and recorded North American folk songs.
Both biographical and topical, this book chronicles not only the most influential of these “song catchers” but also examines the main schools of thought on the collection process, the leading proponents of those schools, and the projects that they shaped. Contributors also consider the role of technology—especially the phonograph—in the collection efforts.
Chapters organized by region cover such areas as Appalachia, the West, and Canada, while others devoted to specialized topics from the cowboy tune and occupational song to the commercialization of folk music through song collections and anthologies. Ballad Collectors investigates the larger role of the ballad in the development of American identity, from the national appreciation of cowboy songs in popular culture to the use of Appalachian song forms in radio broadcasts to the role of dustbowl ballads in the urban folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s. Finally, this collection assesses the changing role of songs and song texts in the academic fields of folklore, anthropology, musicology, and ethnomusicology.
Scholars and students of American cultural and social history, as well as fans of North American folk and popular music, will find The Ballad Collectors of North America a fascinating story of how the American folk tradition gained greater visibility, fueling the revolutions that would follow in the writing and performance of American music.
Search publication
Bibliographic data
Copyright year
2011
ISBN-Print
978-0-8108-8155-6
ISBN-Online
978-0-8108-8156-3
Publisher
Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language
English
Pages
237
Product type
Edited Book
Table of contents
ChapterPages
Contents No access
Series Foreword No access
Chapter One: Ballad Collecting: Impetus and Impact No access Pages 1 - 16
Chapter Two: Franz Boas, the Phonograph, and the Columbia School No access Pages 17 - 36
Chapter Three: Ballad Collectors in the Ozarks No access Pages 37 - 50
Chapter Four: Songcatchers in the West: Cowboy Songs No access Pages 51 - 66
Chapter Five: Songcatchers in the West: Other Traditions No access Pages 67 - 82
Chapter Six: Folk Song Collectors in the Midwest No access Pages 83 - 102
Chapter Seven: Ballad Collectors in the Northeast No access Pages 103 - 120
Chapter Eight: Four Songcatchers in Eastern Canada No access Pages 121 - 150
Chapter Nine: The Lomaxes No access Pages 151 - 170
Chapter Ten: Robert Winslow Gordon No access Pages 171 - 190
