Are there any good books that describe the history of folk in the 1900's? I'd like to learn more about Woody, Cisco, Alan Lomax, Leadbelly and all those guys. I'm only 17 so I'm stuck having to read about it instead of having the oppertunity to live it and see it.

I'm a big folk fan, and I want to learn a lot more.

....no doubt there's at least a few good books out there.....but i got a great one for Christmas.....

...it's called American Roots Music...by Robert Santelli, Holly George-Warren, and Jim Brown.....

... a large book with lots of photos it traces the history of folk, delta blues, gospel, cajun and zydeco, native....how they interrelate...and even to rock....
...great photos and information....
....alot on Woody..and Arlo, too, is included in several places.....

it's based on the PBS series of a year or two ago...

Don' t forget" Bound for Glory" if you want to hear from Woody himself.

Thank you very much! I'll be going to my nearest borders sometime really soon.

From the library of the man himself.
http://www.alan-lomax.com/media_books.html

Happy reading/learning!

Hey KJ I got that book too, It's fantastic.

Isn't there a new Woody biography due out next month?

There's also "Woody Guthrie--A Life" by Joe Klein.

A good book on the 1960's folk scene is Baby Let Me Follow You Down by Eric Von Schmidt and Jim Rooney. I don't know if it's in print any longer - my copy is so old the price is $5.95 ( for a two or three hundred page book!) It's called a history of the Boston folk years , but since so many of the folksingers came from, or at least played Club 47, and other such spots it's not as geographically specific as it might sound. You might find a copy through Alibris (website that specializes in out of print books)
good luck and happy reading!

"where have all then flowers gone" the book by Pete seeger is good.... theres my recommendation!!!!!!!!!

Oh yeah, how could I forget The Incomplete Folksinger by Pete! it's a great book that features many of the writing he's done for SING OUT over the years. My copy has been taped and re-taped a few times with lots of highlighting - I know it's been re-published lately because I've seen it in the bookstores.
-all the best --kevin

I'm familier with Sing Out! the magazine. I've got a story, it's kind of good.

So one day I was in a trift shop with my mom and I see this box with tape of over the top in criss-crosses so you couldn't really see inside. But I saw "Hank" and it looked like a songbook so I asked if I could open it.

I opened it and found a "few" good finds. There were about 25 songbooks in there. Two Hank Williams, a Roy Acuff, 2 Sing Out! issues from 1964. I really like them. I learn songs out of them all the time. One of them has 'Blowin' in the Wind' in it with a really neat explanation about it. ( I'll put it on the bottom of this post.) There was also one by Alan Lomax. A really neat one by Ewan MacColl with songs by Woody, Cisco, Pete Seeger, Leadbelly, The New Lost City Ramblers...

My two favorite books out of the box are "The Bells of Rhymney" by Pete Seeger and "American Folksong" by Woody, which Arlo generously signed for me when I saw him at the Birchmere.

"June 1962- There ain't too much I can say about this song except that the answer is blowing in the wind. It ain't in no book or movie of T.V. show or discussion group. Man, it's in the wind-and it's blowing in the wind. Too many of these hip people are telling me where the anser is but, oh, I won't believe that. I still say it's in the wind and just like the restless piece of paper it's got to come down sometime... But the only trouble is that no one picks up the answer when it comes down, so not too many people get to see and know it... And then it flies away again... I still say that some of the biggest criminals are those that turn their heads away when they see wrong and know it's wrong. I'm only 21 years old and I know that there's been too many wars... You people over 21 should know better... 'Cause afterall, you're older and smarter."
-Bob Dylan

what a magnificent find!