"Troubadours" Folk and the Roots of American Music, Pt. 2 CD 4

On the second volume of Bear Family's extensive four-part, 12-disc series, Bob Dylan arrives at the midpoint, his introduction as seismic as an atomic bomb...
...Prior to his introduction on the second disc -- or CD 5, as the packaging denotes -- a disc has been spent on "The Popular Folk Music Era," i.e. the sweet, freshly-scrubbed crossover folk performed by the Kingston Trio, the Limeliters, the Chad Mitchell Trio, the Rooftop Singers, and the New Christy Minstrels. This was the sound of college campuses between 1958 and 1962, spirited three- or four-part harmonies on traditional tunes and songs from newly emerging writers, sometimes coming from within the group itself. The focus remained on songs designed to be interpreted then delivered to a wide audience but with Dylan, the perspective became distinct, precise, and personal. His six songs are split between protest anthems ("Blowing in the Wind," "The Times They Are A-Changin'") and personal songs ("Masters of War" and "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" blend the two approaches), and while the former had an immediate impact the latter had a greater legacy, something that's evident on the rest of this set's second disc, which runs through Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, and Eric Andersen, and its third. That third disc rounds up singers and songwriters from Greenwich Village -- Dave Van Ronk, Judy Collins, Tim Hardin, Fred Neil, David Blue -- peers of Dylan's who drew from similar influences, but each developed their own distinct style of writing or performing, something this disc makes plain. Further fallout from Dylan is documented on the subsequent sets but this volume of Troubadours of Folk shows how vibrant and exciting his Greenwich scene was and illustrates just how different the Bard and his peers were from the prevailing folk of the '50s.(Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic)

trax:
1 Tom Dooley - The Kingston Trio Scotch And Soda - The Kingston Trio 3 The M.T.A. - The Kingston Trio 4 A Worried Man - The Kingston Trio 5 The New Frontier - The Kingston Trio 6 Run The Ridges - The Kingston Trio 7 If You Don't Look Around - The Kingston Trio 8 Soft Blow The Summer Winds - The Journeymen 9 Hush Now Sally - The Journeymen 10 Ride, Ride, Ride - The Journeymen 11 Someone To Talk My Troubles To - The Journeymen 12 A Dollar Down - The Limeliters 13 Those Were The Days - The Limeliters 14 Adios Mi Corazon (Spanish Is The Loving Tongue) - The Limeliters 15 Dubarry Done Gone Again - Chad Mitchell Trio 16 The Marvelous Toy - Chad Mitchell Trio 7 One Man's Hands - The Mitchell Trio 18 That's The Way It's Gonna Be - The Mitchell Trio 19 Leaving On A Jet Plane - The Mitchell Trio 20 South Wind - Bud & Travis 21 Cloudy Summer Afternoon - Bud & Travis 22 Michael - The Highwaymen 23 Cotton Fields - The Highwaymen 24 Walk Right In - Rooftop Singers 25 Tom Cat - Rooftop Singers 26 Green Green - The New Christy Minstrels 27 Today - The New Christy Minstrels
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