The authors of Roots of the Revival have done extensive research in academic and popular books, journals, newspapers, and magazines from the folk music revival of the late 1940s to 1960, as well as in archives, collections, discographies, liner notes, letters, and memoirs from the revival to the present. They have also drawn upon interviews with some of the principal singers and songwriters of that period. Their research has produced a detailed account of the revival’s factual history and many revealing anecdotes about its participants.
I read the book from my academic perspective as a folklorist, but also as a personally engaged fan who grew up during those years. I also knew some of the key figures in the revival who later became academic folklorists, especially Archie Green, Kenny Goldstein, and D. K. Wilgus, and I was acquainted with singers Pete Seeger, Mike Seeger, and Hazel Dickens. Cohen’s and Donaldson’s portraits of the revival performers capture the romance of their lives and the nitty-gritty of their careers, as well as the fascination of their fans, including mine.
My interest in the revival started early, at the age of eight, when I first heard the Weavers’ “Goodnight Irene” on a jukebox in Etie’s Café in Bay City, Texas, in 1949. I loved it as did thousands of fans who made it a number one hit in the USA that year. I knew all the words and could sing along. I had no idea who Lead Belly was or that he had written the song. This was true of many of the songs that were hits during the folk revival: most fans were not aware that another Weavers’ hit, “So Long (It’s Been Good to Know You),” was composed by Woody Guthrie, nor did they know who he was until years later.
Cohen and Donaldson effectively describe the recording history of these and other folk songs, and they are excellent at providing the cultural, social, and especially political contexts in which the songs were written, recorded, and became popular with fans. This was especially important during the late 1940s and 1950s when the “Red Scare” was so widespread in the United States. Congress was conducting hearings on people in show business who were suspected of being communists. Some were members of the party, but many were not, and none of them were conspiring to overthrow the government of the United States, although some ended up in prison. The first chapter is a general introduction to the era, and chapter 2 concentrates on the Weavers but also covers other leftist singers and supporters who were persecuted, including Paul Robeson, Alan Lomax, Earl Robinson, and Pete Seeger.
Chapter 3, “Blacklisting and Folk Developments, 1953-1954,” concentrates on how this political theme continued. Different individuals were facing negative reactions to their liberal politics, including singers Odetta, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Tom Paley, and actor Will Geer; and in England, Theodore Bikel, Ewan MacColl, and writer Bert Lloyd. Many of these same people are also covered in chapter 4, “Popular Folk Music Comes of Age, 1955-1956,” which deals with the way folk, country, and rock ‘n’ roll interacted during this period. Certain major figures keep weaving in and out of the narrative, especially Alan Lomax, Woody Guthrie, and Pete Seeger. Harry Belafonte’s major role in the revival is also developed in some detail.
The last two chapters focus on “further developments” from 1957 to 1960, concentrating on the growing popularity of folk music and the controversy about “authentic” and “commercial” dimensions of the folk revival. Definitions of these concepts varied depending on one’s point of view, with purists embracing the “real thing” and rejecting any music that didn’t have roots among rural, isolated, relatively uneducated people. The Kingston Trio became a focus of this debate because they were the opposite, West Coast preppies from affluent families: one went to Stanford, and two were students at an elite prep school. They were the most popular folk music group during the entire revival, selling more records than anyone had before.
Critics, scholars, and newspaper and magazine writers were all engaged in arguments about the authenticity of such groups, but as a young fan, I wasn’t really that interested in the controversy. Maybe it was because I grew up on hillbilly music from the 1940s and 1950s, and the authenticity argument just didn’t mean as much to me as it did to writers and critics. I loved the Kingston Trio from the moment I heard “Tom Dooley.” I could sing along with every word of “Hang down your head, Tom Dooley, hang down your head and cry/Hang down your head, Tom Dooley, poor boy you’re bound to die.” However, I was still a hard-core, teenage rock ‘n’ roll fan and didn’t become that involved in the whole folk music craze.
One reason I like this book is that I lived it as a young American fan. I do have some criticisms though. The book is tightly packed with facts, detailed information about record sales and critics’ opinions. There are also many lists of major singers and songwriters, and much repetition of names—who was playing at what club on what night, who recorded what song in which studio, etc. These details and lists get repetitious and at times boring. I understand the reason for all the facts, but they tend to bog down the narrative pace.
Also, I would like more explanation and analysis of key terms. For instance, references to “authenticity” occur numerous times, but there isn’t enough consideration of the inherent concept which has prompted a great deal of folklore and folk music scholarship. Regina Bendix’s In Search of Authenticity: The Formation of Folklore Studies is a good starting place. I see the need for such analytic concepts, but they can have more relevance when they are more thoroughly explained.
Finally though, I think Roots of the Revival is a significant addition to the scholarship on the 1950s folk music revival.
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[Review length: 993 words • Review posted on September 8, 2015]