Dime Novels And The Roots of American Detective Fiction

While some observers often see Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, Carole King, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor as the founders of America's contemporary singer-songwriter movement, the tradition actually dates back to the mid-19th century. The Hutchison Family of Milford, New Hampshire toured the United States singing religious and secular songs supporting numerous populist causes. In the years before World War I, Joe Hill and Ralph Chaplin refashioned traditional songs and hymns into biting anthems for the Industrial Workers of the World.

On the second volume of Bear Family's extensive four-part, 12-disc series, Bob Dylan arrives at the midpoint, his introduction as seismic as an atomic bomb. Prior to his introduction on the second disc – or CD 5, as the packaging denotes – a disc has been spent on "The Popular Folk Music Era," i.e. the sweet, freshly-scrubbed crossover folk performed by the Kingston Trio, the Limeliters, the Chad Mitchell Trio, the Rooftop Singers, and the New Christy Minstrels.