Death Weavers

Ace Records’4-CD box set Make It Your Sound, Make It Your Scene: Vanguard Records and the 1960s Musical Revolution is a comprehensive chronicle of the Vanguard sound and style, taking in not only folk, but blues, gospel, country and even rock. (The label’s jazz and classical forays, alas, shall have to wait until another day.) As such, it’s a hugely impressive monument to a decade-plus of recordings that influenced a generation of blues-rock and psychedelic performers as the 1960s made way for the 1970s. But it’s even more of a revelation, for good or ill, that the universal themes reflected in these artists’ works still resonate today. This set isn’t for casual, background listening, but instead offers a serious (and seriously entertaining) glimpse back at a heady time for American culture…

Rhino's Troubadours of British Folk series, encompassing three volumes, four decades, 49 songs, and almost as many performers, is a model genre retrospective. For those who want a representative collection of the style's highlights, it covers virtually all of the major performers and innovators of British folk, represented by their best-known (and usually best) songs. For those who want an introduction/guide to the form, it's equally useful, serving as an excellent foundation to build upon if you're motivated to seek out more albums by these performers after an initial taste. Volume One covers the mid-'50s to the early '70s, encompassing skiffle (Lonnie Donegan), elder statespersons (Ewan MacColl), virtuoso guitarists (Davy Graham, Bert Jansch, Martin Carthy), traditional singers (Jean Redpath, Shirley & Dolly Collins), singer-songwriters (Donovan), and early efforts by the major players of British folk-rock (Fairport Convention, Pentangle, The Incredible String Band, Steeleye Span).

Peter, Paul and Mary was an American folk group formed in New York City in 1961, during the American folk music revival phenomenon.

A significant strand of American music, especially in the folk and blues arenas, relates to what came to be known as protest songs when opinions on a number of key social and political issues during the post-war era - civil rights, nuclear disarmament, industrial justice and more – found a unified voice in the musical protest movement.