Bear Family Records Vol.4, Folk And The Roots Of American Music (3-CD)

3-CD Digipak with 140-page booklet, 80 tracks. Total playing time approx. 257 mns. In the one hundred years that folk music has been recorded in the United States, the tradition has embraced ballads - mostly new, but some transplanted from Europe, political statements, personal introspection, and much more. Now the story is here from the 1920s to the 1970s and beyond in four exclusive 3-CD sets. Through this music, we feel it all from the isolation of early twentieth century Appalachia through the economic and political upheavals of the Depression, War, and Civil Rights eras to contemporary west coast singer-songwriters looking within for inspiration. The story is here: original artists and original versions in stunning sound with detailed notes from folk scholar Dave Samuelson. The fourth and final volume is even more eclectic, featuring America's best-selling poet, Rod McKuen, as well as old school folkies like Malvina Reynolds (Little Boxes), country rock pioneers like the Byrds (Hickory Wind), John Stewart, Nilsson, John Denver (Take Me Home Country Roads, Back Home Again), as well as John Hartford's original Gentle On My Mind - the song that changed country music, Townes Van Zandt's original Pancho And Lefty, and Kris Kristofferson's game-changing compositions, Me And Bobby McGee and Help Me Make It Through The Night. This set also includes John Prine, Steve Goodman, Gordon Lightfoot, and Joni Mitchell, artists who have helped to bring the folk tradition into the twenty-first century.