The relationship between politics and folk music has always been fuel for lively debate. Some argue that the two should not mix, and that aligning traditional song with politics demeans it. Front-line singers such as Dick Gaughan and Roy Bailey, however, argue that folk songs are inextricably linked with politics, and perform plenty of strident material to ...
Jazz, blues, spirituals and gospel music, were rooted in the work songs of black labourers of the South. As Chet Williamson wrote ‘These were songs and chants that kept a people moving and advancing through dreadful oppression. These are the voices of those who harvested the fields, drove the mules, launched the boats, and hammered ...
To this day, many still contend that a written song is not a folk song. Purists claim that only a traditional song, shaped and honed by the environmental context that produced it and handed down by word of mouth through the generations, can justly claim to be true folk music. Indeed, the great Scots folklorist, writer ...
Straddling genres from pop to rock, country to dance, novelty songs tell humorous stories using satire, wackiness or a topical link with television, film or a popular craze. Though often musically dubious, they have enjoyed massive, but generally fleeting, success in the modern era. Music and comedy have been bed fellows since the days ...
Children’s songs have evolved from mothers’ lullabies to teachers’ nursery rhymes to the singalong numbers of TV and film. Through all of their incarnations, they have retained the same stylistic values: a melodic, upbeat mood; a catchy, easily repeatable chorus; and lyrics that tell a story. Many popular musicians have released child-friendly songs. The 1960s, in particular ...
Being perched at the top of the charts on 25 December has represented a prestigious achievement for musicians since the dawn of the pop era, while the shopping frenzy of the festive period makes it one of the most potentially profitable times to release a record. It wasn’t always that way: the original Yuletide songs were church carols that endure ...
It was Louis Armstrong (or Leadbelly, depending on whom you believe) who came up with the famous final word on the definition of folk music: ‘It’s ALL folk music … I ain’t never heard no horse sing.…’ The quote has been repeated ad nauseam throughout the years, but it has not prevented strenuous debate about the meaning of ...
Next to The Beatles, Bob Dylan was the most influential artist of his generation, writing and performing songs whose poetic, sometimes-abstract, often-philosophical lyrics of astute commentary and therapeutic introspection spoke to the masses during an era of social unrest, political upheaval and radical change. While cross-pollinating folk and country with electric rock, Dylan elevated the ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1980–present) Alongside The Levellers and Chumbawumba, this long-lived punk folk band from Bradford have kept alive the tradition of rock protest songs married to listenable music. Justin ‘Slade The Leveller’ Sullivan (vocals, guitar), Stuart Morrow (bass, guitar) and Robb Heaton (drums) first launched their sonic assault on Margaret Thatcher with 1984’s Vengeance. An expedient alliance ...
(Vocals, 1931–64) With his pure sweet voice, sound business awareness and keen social concerns, Sam Cooke was a key figure in the early development of soul and pop. He was already a star as a member of gospel group The Soul Stirrers when he was sacked in 1956 for releasing a secular solo single. He launched his solo ...
Only two record labels in pop history have lent their name to an entire musical genre. The first is Detroit’s Tamla Motown. The other is England’s 2-Tone, a late-1970s/early 1980s imprint that still stands as the UK’s most politically significant pop phenomenon. 2-Tone was set up in 1979 by The Special A.K.A., a multiracial ska- and reggae-inspired ...
African music dominates the world in the exported forms of blues, jazz, funk and their children, but the music within the continent is often overlooked. Africa still exports but it is also an importer, adapting salsa, rap and country to its own circumstances. Africa is a metaphorical and geographical crossroads, making the continent the home ...
The Bobo Ashanti is Rasta for the twenty-first century: more militant and less tolerant. With their ideological attacks on Rome, social demotion of women and condemnation of homosexuality, deejays like Capleton and Anthony B may seem world’s apart from the hippy-ish notions of dreadlocks that was Bob Marley’s legacy. There’s actually not much difference. Unlike roots reggae, which ...
British blues was born when British musicians attempted to emulate Mississippi and Chicago bluesmen during the 1960s. Led by Eric Clapton and The Rolling Stones, these musicians copied the styles of Big Bill Broonzy, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and B.B. King, and, aided by powerful amplifiers, developed a sound of their own. In the ...
It has been argued that all rap is political: a genuine black street statement, giving voice to those outside the musical or social establishments in a way that connects with a similarly dispossessed audience, and so its very existence is a political act. While many will be justified in thinking this is patently nonsense, it is, actually ...
AUTHORITATIVE
An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...
CURATED
Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.
David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
his life, music, art and movies, with a
sweep of incredible photographs.