This mammoth undertaking by Cherry Red, 100 tracks, draws mostly from folk music and covers that period of the sixties when folk shook off its rootsy Appalachian hillbilly backdrop and was propelled into the mainstream.
Whilst many might see Bob Dylan as being in the vanguard of this change, in fact, until they became rather sappy in the sixties, one of the catalysts for this new popularity of folk music were the Kingston Trio, whose version of ‘Tom Dooley’, a traditional murder ballad about a confederate soldier accused of killing his lady, helped introduce folk music to a much wider audience and it became a nationwide hit. Similarly, the role of Pete Seeger should also be acknowledged, as he’s the cultural link between Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan – it was Pete who introduced Bob to a dying Woody. Seeger also had anti-establishment ‘cred’ because he’d refused to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1954 and had been blacklisted as a result.
No longer just talking about being blue on the bayou, life on the farm or heartbreak being assuaged by the bottle, folk artists now began addressing many profound social and political issues – the struggle for civil rights, the draft against the Vietnam war and the environment – which led to many other artists swapping acoustic for electric guitars, bringing about what eventually was called ‘folk-rock.’ Traditional styles of folk absorbed different instruments, new meanings and a different social perspective. In other words, folk music went from being something wholly unthreatening towards embracing a more radical and rebellious attitude and outlook, which led to the FBI keeping files of many of the leading musicians.
The period covered by this set was an era which produced many great songs, addressing issues traditional folkies found hard to take on board – ‘Where Have All The Flowers Gone’, ‘Come Away Melinda’ and ‘Morning Dew’. Some songs became anthemic – ‘Blowing In The Wind’ and ‘We Shall Overcome’ were adopted by the civil rights movement. The impact many of these songs have had down the years cannot be understated, with many still resonating today.
Many of the usual suspects are to be found on this collection – Phil Ochs, Townes van Zandt, Dave van Ronk, Tom Paxton, His Bobness and Pete Seeger, though some of the more surprising additions here are lesser known songs from well-known artists, especially pieces like Pete Seeger’s ‘Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream’, performed by Simon & Garfunkel, ‘The Water is Wide’ by Fred Neil and The Byrds’ cover of Pete Seeger’s ‘I Come And Stand At Every Door’, the story of a seven-year-old Hiroshima survivor whose spirit roams the earth looking for peace. Several of the better songs are contributed by artists largely unknown in the mainstream, notably ‘Morning Dew’ by Martin & Neil, ‘Motherless Child’ by the Simon Sisters and ‘Pride of Man’ by Hamilton Camp.
Taken as a collective, this immense body of work succinctly captures the vibe of an era when profound social change was in the air, when artists realised their work could be acceptable, even if it rubbed up against the grain of traditional societal norms. And while there are a few songs on here I’d suggest don’t merit a place in this collection, there’s so much more than enough to satisfy even the most pernickety folkie.
