ALAN LOMAX ALAN LOMAX SELECTED WRITINGS 1934–1997 Edited by Ronald D.Cohen With Introductory Essays by Gage Averill, Matthew Barton, Ronald D.Cohen, Ed Kahn, and Andrew L.Kaye ROUTLEDGE NEW YORK • LONDON Published in 2003 by Routledge 29 West 35th Street New York, NY 10001 www.routledge-ny.com Published in Great Britain by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane London EC4P 4EE www.routledge.co.uk Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group. This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” All writings and photographs by Alan Lomax are copyright © 2003 by Alan Lomax estate. The material on “Sources and Permissions” on pp. 350–51 constitutes a continuation of this copyright page. All of the writings by Alan Lomax in this book are reprinted as they originally appeared, without emendation, except for small changes to regularize spelling. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lomax, Alan, 1915–2002 [Selections] Alan Lomax : selected writings, 1934–1997 /edited by Ronald D.Cohen; with introductory essays by Gage Averill, Matthew Barton, Ronald D.Cohen, Ed Kahn, and Andrew Kaye. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index. ISBN 0-203-49255-2 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-57570-9 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0-415-93854-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Folk music—United States—History and criticism. 2. Lomax, Alan, 1915–2002 I. Cohen, Ronald D., 1940–II. Title. ML3551 .L65 2003 781.62’00973–dc21 2002152034 Contents General Introduction by Ronald D.Cohen vii I. 1934–1950: The Early Collecting Years Introduction by Ed Kahn 1 1. “Sinful” Songs of the Southern Negro 9 2. Haitian Journey 33 3. Music in Your Own Back Yard 48 4. Songs of the American Folk 56 5. Preface: Our Singing Country 59 6. 14 Traditional Spanish Songs from Texas 67 7. Reels and Work Songs 69 8. Mister Ledford and the TVA 78 9. America Sings the Saga of America 88 10. Folk Music in the Roosevelt Era 94 II. The 1950s: World Music Introduction by Andrew L.Kaye and Matthew Barton 99 11. Tribal Voices in Many Tongues 109 12. Making Folklore Available 115 13. Galician Music 122 v 14. Italian Folk Music 128 15. The Folk Song of Italy 131 16. Folk Song Style: Notes on a Systematic Approach to the 133 Study of Folk Song 17. Skiffle: Why Is It So Popular? and Where Is It Going? 136 18. Folk Song Style 140 19. Saga of a Folksong Hunter 173 III. The Folk Revival (1960s) Introduction by Ronald D.Cohen 186 20. The “Folkniks”—and the Songs They Sing 194 21. Leadbelly’s Songs 197 22. Bluegrass Background: Folk Music with Overdrive 199 23. Getting to Know Folk Music 202 24. Folk Song Traditions Are All Around Us 209 25. The Good and the Beautiful in Folksong 212 IV. Cantometrics and Cultural Equity: The Academic Years Introduction by Gage Averill 230 26. Song Structure and Social Structure 245 27. Choreometrics: A Method for the Study of Cross-cultural 271 Pattern in Film 28. Appeal for Cultural Equity 281 29. Cinema, Science, and Cultural Renewal 295 V. Final Writings Introduction by Matthew Barton 313 vi 30. The Global Jukebox 317 31. Preface to the 1993 Edition of Mr. Jelly Roll 320 32. Sounds of the South 327 33. Brown Girl in the Ring 330 34. Introduction to Katharine D.Newman, Never Without a 335 Song: The Years and Songs of Jennie Devlin, 1865–1952 Alan Lomax Bibliography 339 About the Contributors 342 Sources and Permissions 344 Index 347 General Introduction by Ronald D.Cohen Alan Lomax lived a long and exceptionally fruitful and influential life. Born on January 31, 1915, he survived until July 19, 2002, and for seven decades he substantially contributed to the collection, study, understanding, and promotion of “folk music,” first in the United States, then throughout the world. As a teenager he accompanied his father on southern collecting trips, and even managed to publish his first article before turning twenty, the start of a most prolific career. Through his numerous articles and books, we are able to gain some understanding of his musical values, interests, and ideas as they continued to develop into his eighth decade. Alan Lomax: Selected Writings 1934–1997 is an attempt to make available a judicious selection of his work covering his entire career, including the highly theoretical studies by the 1970s. We have not included book passages, since these should be read as part of the larger works, and are also more readily accessible. But many of these shorter writings—while most, but not all, were published—are difficult, if not impossible to obtain, and are presented here as originally printed or written. There has been virtually no attempt to edit, delete, update, or further elaborate, except in the introductory essays to each section or when absolutely/necessary. Since there is currently no full biography of Alan Lomax, but only scattered brief studies and interpretations, we have tried to pull together enough information in the section introductions, by Ed Kahn, Andrew Kaye, Matthew Barton, Ronald Cohen, and Gage Averill, to give a general overview of his varied activities and contributions, as well as a nuanced explication of his actions and ideas. These essays are only the beginning, however, as considerably more work will have to be done before a “complete” picture will emerge of his rich and complex, as well as controversial, life. Thankfully, Nolan Porterfield has explored the careers of his father in Last Cavalier: The Life and Times of John A.Lomax (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1996), which includes substantial information on Alan’s life through the mid-1940s. Otherwise, the story is far from complete, viii but we hope this volume will provide enough information to serve as a stimulus for future studies. In addition, there are the most helpful notes to the ongoing Rounder Records Lomax Collection reissue series, eventually scheduled to number 150 or so CDs, which extend our knowledge of his varied musical life. Alan Lomax was not only a collector, writer, and ethnomusicologist, but also a producer, performer, radio personality, promoter, filmmaker, and political activist, particularly in the United States and the British Isles. Indeed, his political life often consisted of behind-the- scenes activities, but he consistently held to a left-of-center agenda. Not all aspects of his life are touched on in his writings, but a lot can be discerned from other source materials, such as the Lomax Archives, the Lomax family collection in the Center for American History at the University of Texas, and the collections of the Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress. I wish to thank Richard Carlin, our most supportive and helpful editor at Routledge, for perceiving the wisdom of this book from its inception, and seeing it through to publication. Anna Lomax Chairetakis first recommended that Routledge might be interested, and she has been consistently helpful in providing her usual guidance, wisdom, and support as the project proceeded. Matt Barton has not only participated in writing two of the introductory essays, but he also selected the illustrations, with the assistance of Nathan Salsburg and the Lomax Archives staff, and the contents of the Rounder sampler CD, and in numerous other ways assisted in providing the requisite publications and bibliographic information, without which this volume could not have been published. Bill Nowlin at Rounder Records understood the value of a sampler CD and guaranteed its production and inclusion. Andrew Kaye and Gage Averill have been delightful to work with. Unfortunately, my good friend Ed Kahn died before he was able to relish his essay as a vital part of this book. His death is a great loss to folklore studies. I also want to personally thank the library staff at Indiana University Northwest, particularly Anne Koehler, for her assistance in locating rare publications. Part I 1934–1950: The Early Collecting Years Introduction by Ed Kahn When Alan Lomax burst out of Texas onto the folklore scene, he came out with the force of a powerful Texas Norther. By the age of eighteen, he was a force to be reckoned with. In the years between 1933 and 1950, he established himself as a collector, popularizer, performer, writer, and folklore theoretician, as well as a behind-the-scenes political activist. Any of these avenues would have been sufficient for a fruitful career, but Lomax chose to pursue them all. In the years that followed, we can see the fruits of the seeds he sowed during these early years of his career. In his early work, we see his initial interest in folksong, folk music theory, dance, folk narrative and the relationship between these expressive materials and the broader cultural context. Alan’s story is amazing not only in that his interests and talents were so wide ranging, but for the fact that at the age of eighteen he virtually became an equal with his sixty-five-year-old father. John Lomax had made initial contributions to the study of American folksong, but that was far in his past.