Romancing the Folk: Public Memory and American Roots Music (Cultural Studies of the United States)

Filene, Benjamin

ISBN 10: 0807825506 / ISBN 13: 9780807825501

Published by The University of North Carolina, 2000

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Romancing the Folk: Public Memory and American Roots Music (Cultural Studies of the United States)
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807825506
• ISBN 13: 9780807825501
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Acceptable

About this title

Synopsis

In American music, the notion of “roots” has been a powerful refrain, but just what constitutes our true musical traditions has often been a matter of debate. As Benjamin Filene reveals, a number of competing visions of America’s musical past have vied for influence over the public imagination in this century.

Filene builds his story around a fascinating group of characters — folklorists, record company executives, producers, radio programmers, and publicists — who acted as middlemen between folk and popular culture. These cultural brokers “discovered” folk musicians, recorded them, and promoted them. In the process, Filene argues, they shaped mainstream audiences' understanding of what was “authentic” roots music.

Filene moves beyond the usual boundaries of folk music to consider a wide range of performers who drew on or were drawn into the canon of American roots music — from Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie, to Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon, to Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan. Challenging traditional accounts that would confine folk music revivalism to the 1930s and 1960s, he argues instead that the desire to preserve and popularize America’s musical heritage is a powerful current that has run throughout this century’s culture and continues to flow today.

About the Author

Benjamin Filene is chief curator at the North Carolina Museum of History. Previously he served as Director of Public History at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro and Senior Exhibit Developer at the Minnesota Historical Society.