100 Books Every Folk Music Fan Should Own

Dick Weissman

doi:10.5771/9780810886667

Summary

In recent years an almost overwhelming number of books have appeared covering various aspects of American folk music and its history. Before 1970, most comprised collections of songs with a sprinkling of biographical information on noted performers. Over the past decade, however, scholars, journalists, and folk artists themselves have contributed biographies and autobiographies, instructional books and historical surveys, sociological studies and ethnographic analyses of this musical genre.

In 100 Books Every Folk Music Fan Should Own, performer and historian Dick Weissman offers a reliable route through the growing sea of book-length studies, establishing for future scholars a foundation for their research. Beginning with early twentieth-century collections of folk songs, the author brings readers to the present by exploring modern studies of important events, critical collections of primary sources, the most significant musical instruction guides, and in-depth portraits of traditional and contemporary American folk musicians. For each title selected, Weissman provides his own brief summary of its contents and assessment of its significance for the reader—whether fan or scholar.

Folk music fans, scholars, and students of the American folk music tradition—indeed, any reader seeking guidance on the best books in the field—will want a copy of this vital work.

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Bibliographic data

Edition: 1/2014
Copyright Year: 2014
ISBN-Print: 978-0-8108-8234-8
ISBN-Online: 978-0-8108-8666-7
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 186
Product Type: Monograph

1. CONTENTS No access
2. THE 100 BOOKS (AND THEN SOME) No access
3. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS No access
INTRODUCTION No access Pages 1 - 6
Body of Book No access Pages 7 - 154
APPENDIX. A Baker’s Dozen of the Next to the Best No access Pages 155 - 174
INDEX No access Pages 175 - 184
ABOUT THE AUTHOR No access Pages 185 - 186