Customer Reviews

American Ballads and Folk Songs (Dover Books on Music)

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4 star:		(1)
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This is not an exhaustive catalogue of ballads nor does it always contain the same version of a ballad that are published elsewhere under the Lomax name. The ballads are arranged by subject matter: Working on the Railroad; The Levee Camp; Southerrn Chain Gangs; Negro Bad Men; White Desperadoes; Mountain Songs; Cocaine and Whiskey; Blues; Creole Negroes; Reels; Minstrel Types; Breakdowns and Play Parties; Songs of Childhood; Vaqueros of the Southwest; Cowboy Songs; Songs of the Overlanders; Miner; Shanty-Boy; Erie Canal; Great Lake; Sailors and Sea Fights; Wars and Soldiers; White Spirituals and Negro Spirituals. Often there is a short story of the song in addition to the collection notes.

A decent introduction to the ballad form and its music precedes the collection. This is an essential reference to anyone interested in ballads in America.

My father has an original copy of this book that I grew up reading. I was so very glad to see it back in print. The way that the book is arranged (railroad songs, chain gangs, blues, reels, cowboy songs, etc.) makes it easy to navigate. The bulk of the songs cataloged are not the familiar ones that one is used to seeing in other collections.

An inclusive collection of different American ballads and folksongs- a classic indeed. Lovely that it includes sheet music as well! Rather than just being a collection of the lyrics to different ballads, for special study (like the Child ballads collection, however admirable), it also operates as a songbook

I WISH I WOULD HAVE RECEIVED THIS BOOK AS A PRESENT. IT IS A FASCINATING MIX OF HISTORY, MUSIC AND PERFECT FOR AN ENGLISH, HISTORY AND OF COURSE MUSIC CLASSROOM. I WILL NOT ONLY READ IT BUT USE IT AS A TEACHING TOOL.