Leeengendry Folk Songs Peter Hollen

Jimmie Driftwood - Sings Newly Discovered American Folk Songs (1958) & The Wilderness Road (1959) {OMNI-174 rel 2013}
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© 1958-59, 2013 RCA Victor / The Omni Recording Corporation | OMNI - 174
Country / Folk / Traditional Country / Folksongs

Jimmie Driftwood (the recording and performing name of Arkansas school teacher, folklorist, and multi-instrumentalist James Corbitt Morris) began writing songs as a way to help his students learn about American history, and by the time all was said and done, he had written or adapted and recomposed over 6,000 folk songs, and his catalog is as rich as any in Americana, perhaps surpassed only by Woody Guthrie.

The first album by the trad folk duo of Tim Hart and Maddy Prior, Folk Songs of Olde England, Vol. 1, is as interesting for what came of it as for what it is. This album, recorded in 1968, led directly to the formation of Steeleye Span, whose early albums were an electrified variation on this album's traditional acoustic British folk-rock. It could also be argued that Hart and Prior's example was influential in Fairport Convention's decision to move from a California-style folk-rock sound into something more uniquely British. In light of what came after, Folk Songs of Olde England, Vol. 1 sounds a bit tentative and at times slightly twee (Prior's voice has not quite matured into the rich, expressive instrument it would soon become), but on their own merits, these sensitive renditions of traditional British folk favorites like "Maid That's Deep in Love" or "A Wager a Wager" are respectful of tradition but not bound to it, performed with an infectious enthusiasm quite similar to what the Young Tradition were doing around the same period.

Roy Acuff - Sings American Folk Songs / Hand-Clapping Gospel Songs (1963) {2004 Ace Records CDCHD 999}
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© 1963, 2004 Hickory Records / Ace Records | CDCHD 999
Country / Country Folk / Gospel / Traditional Country / Honky Tonk

UK twofer combines 'Sings American Folk Songs' & 'Hand-Clapping Songs' (both originally released in 1963), the country legends fifth & sixth albums for the Hickory label. Features 24 beautifully remastered tracks from original first-generation Hickory Records master tapes, making their CD debut. Includes 12-page booklet with extensive liner notes, photos & memorabilia. Two of Roy Acuff's 1963 albums, Sings American Folk Songs and Hand-Clapping Gospel Songs, are combined onto one disc on this CD reissue. Sings American Folk Songs was the third album that he recorded in the early '60s for his own Hickory label, and might be less essential than some of his other work from the era, simply because most of the songs are folk tunes rather than his own compositions. That doesn't automatically mean they're not of interest. But Acuff is simply a more distinctive talent when working with the country compositions of his own and others than he is as an interpreter of folk songs.

In 2001 the U.K.-based Westside reissue label began releasing CD two-fers featuring '50s and '60s folk crooner Jimmie F. Rodgers. His albums for Roulette Records had been out of print for well over three decades. Rather than reissuing the discs chronologically, however, Westside chose a thematic approach. For some artists, such could easily be considered historic hara-kiri. However, this is not the case with Rodgers – as this initial installment amply demonstrates.

One of the better ECM recordings, this collaboration by bassist Charlie Haden, Jan Garbarek on tenor and soprano, and Egberto Gismonti (switching between guitar and piano) is filled with moody originals, improvisations that blend together jazz and world music, and atmospheric ensembles.

Artists’ greatest inspiration often comes from sources that once surrounded them in their native communities. Pianist Lucian Ban, violist Mat Maneri and woodwind master John Surman come from different backgrounds but are connected by their focus on improvised music along with their appreciation of folkloric and classical styles.