American Folk Music

TheGhost

Anyone here obsessed with pre-war blues and hillbilly music...... AND pearl Jam?

HeavyHands

obsessed? no. think it's way better than the stuff that came after? yes.

i've never been a fan of chicago style blues for one. i'd take blind lemon jefferson or robert johnson over bb king any day of the week. not that king is no good, mind you. i just don't like the style.

and country? yeah. i fall into the stereotype of thinking hank sr., willie nelson, johnny cash, and waylon jennings (to name a few) pretty much rule the roost. there's some good stuff out there now like steve earle or hank iii, but it's much harder to come across than sugarland, rascal flats, or, lord help me, the second coming of garth brooks.

only my opinion.

dpmay

i think everyone should listen to a ton of woody guthrie.

TheGhost

dpmay wrote:

i think everyone should listen to a ton of woody guthrie.

You speak the truth!

Byrnzie

Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music


Good For What Ails You: Music of the Medicine Shows 1926-1937

"But what I'm listening to most of the time at present is an album called Good For What Ails You, which is an album of songs that people used to listen to at medicine shows all over the States. It's quite an interesting album and I think that people would be well advised to pick it up."
- Jack White - Sunday Mail (Australia), 2005



People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs 1913-1938

"In the late 1920's and early 1930's, the Depression gripped the Nation. It was a time when songs were tools for living. A whole community would turn out to mourn the loss of a member and to sow their songs like seeds. This collection is a wild garden grown from those seeds."
- Tom Waits, from the Introduction





Down In The Basement: Joe Bussard's Treasure Trove of Vintage 78s 1926-1937

TheGhost

See, the weird thing for me is that while my musical tastes are broad, I'm mostly focused on "roots" music. Pearl Jam stand way out in my music collection. Almost all my big time favorite artists are very steeped in traditional music... and then there's PJ. Covering Masters of War might be the closest they ever got to "folk" music. (But damn, Ed can sing the hell out of those old Appalachian modal scales!)