Folk music in the United States has its roots in inspiring songs sung by workers, blacks and poor people in the 1930's. These songs were not created or sung for commercial gains. They were more like stories of hardships being faced by poor people and about their dream and aspirations. Many folk songs were derived from gospel music. One of the first popular folk songs was derived from Reverend Charlie Tindley's I'll Overcome Some Day. "The world is one great battlefield/With forces all arrayed/If in my heart I do not yield/I'll overcome some day." By the 1950's this song had metamorphosed into "We Shall Overcome" and become the marching song of the American civil rights movement.
During the years 1930-1960 Lead Belly, Josh White, Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, The Weavers and The Kingston Trio introduced folk music to a wider audience. In the late 40's Moses Asch formed Folkways Records for recording folk music and this label has played an important part in preserving folk music. Folkways Records was acquired by the Smithsonian Institute in the 80's. Folk music CD's from these years may not be visible in neighbourhood music stores but can be downloaded from popular sites like iTunes.
iTunes - Music - The Asch Recordings, Vol. 1-4 by Woody Guthrie
iTunes - Music - Leadbelly
iTunes - Music - Josh White Vol. 1 1929-1933 by Josh White
In the early 60's a new generation of folks singers emerged from Greenwich village to protest against war, the nuclear arms race, poverty, equality and other social and political issues. Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, Joni Mitchell, Peter, Paul And Mary gained popularity and were sought after by record companies. The early 60's trend was towards singer/songwriters. Solo men and women wielding an acoustic guitar and a writing their own songs. Change came in the form of a British invasion by The Beatles, Rolling Stones and later bands like The Who, Led Zep, Pink Floyd and Queen. Even Bob Dylan, the poster boy of folk music, famously plugged in an electric guitar at The Newport Festival in 1965 to loud cries of Judas! from outraged folk music fans. But Dylan's answer was more on the lines of "Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine".
And there was no looking back. The Rock 'n' Roll juggernaut flattened out everything that came in its way. Folk, Jazz, Blues, Soul, Reggae and R&B were unable to compete with the mainstream visibility of rock music. Popular rock bands borrowed from all these genres and
whether they improved or ultimately demolished a lot of great traditions is debatable. I grew up listening to rock music and thought it was the greatest story story ever told. But you live and you change and in my 20's I started viewing a lot of rock music in a different light. In the light of the morning after, the idealism and rebellion of rock seemed to be tinged with plastic rather than steel. The spoken words seemed to be synthetic and self serving rather than inspiring or healing. And the music seemed to be repetitive and predictable rather than bold or original.
I believe that the singer/songwriter tradition was a great tradition. The best rock music came out of this tradition. Songs like This Land Is Your Land, I Ain't Marching Anymore, Blowing In The Wind, Imagine and A Change Is Gonna Come cannot be written by a team of hacks desperately trying to create a catchy lovesick lullaby.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHrK6L91BgA
