Customer Reviews

Folk Years

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Costco sells a three CD set of this same - "The Folk Years" by Time/Life - even the cover of the box set is identical, but they sell it for $40.00 Upon inspection of the play list, at least half the songs are not on the discount store version. This one has at least 60 more songs on it and seems well worth it. Bummer for me - don't make the same mistake I did.

This collection of 8 discs may be the most comprehensive collection of its type. There are a total of 120 songs from almost as many artists. There are a few artists represented more than once, with The Kingston Trio represented by 9 songs, every one memorable. The era represented by these songs spans about ten years. The earliest songs in this collection date back to the late 1950's. The latest songs date to about 1968.

The list of groups singing these songs is a who's who of folk music. Pete Seeger, The Mamas and the Papas, The Cyrkle, The Byrds, Chad and Jeremy and many, many more. The songs are just as memorable, if not more so. The song that may be the definitive song from the era, "Turn, Turn, Turn." Scott McKenzie's phenomenal song "San Francisco." Jose Feliciano's version of "Light My Fire." Roger Miller, whose music transcended genres, is represented in this collection by "King of the Road" and "England Swings;" sad to say (or glad, maybe), I remember when both of these songs were playing on the radio in the mid-1960's,

This collection is full of well-remembered music and less remembered music. This music paralleled the success of rock and roll, and sometimes was considered part of that success, but this music is distinct from rock and roll and remains a unique part of a musical heritage that belongs largely to the United States.

For a little while folk music could be heard everywhere; on AM radio, in record stores, and every place there was a television set. There was an era when this music was king. This music is dated, but with an open mind and a feel for the era, this music is still fresh and new. Though there is much more music that remains to be discovered from the folk era, this collection is an incredible start.

Enjoy!

Luckily, I found this set at a local library, so I didn't have to shell out the beans, and while there are many tunes that take me back to my youth, I cannot understand why there is no Phil Ochs, and also cannot see why certain tunes were included: "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van? Cher's version of Dylan's "All I Really Want To Do"? Of course, Cher's version was by far the bigger hit, but it's not even folk rock, any more than The Beach Boys version of "Sloop John B", which is also included here, as is "Like To Get To Know You" by Spanky & Our Gang. I mean, I love Van, and I loved Cher in the 60's, but if those are included, why not "Wayfaring Stranger" by Quicksilver?
"We'll Sing In The Sunshine" by Gale Garnettwas an odd inclusion(which was great to hear- I'd never heard it & Ronstadt's "A Different Drum" close together: both anthems for emancipating girls and women). "Dock Of The Bay" by Otis Redding?
There are just some flat-out weird things here: "Blowin' In The Wind" by the Kingston Trio rather than Bob Dylan or Joan Baez?
Like I said, Phil Ochs is a glaring omission, and although I really needn't ever hear it again, where's "Puff, The Magic Dragon"?? He must still be grieving in his cave for little Jackie Paper. Where's "Girl From The North Country" by Dylan and Johnny Cash, which helped many of us bridge the gap from folk and rock to country?
Oh, well, at least Time Life included "Kumbaya", which I don't think I'd ever heard unless sung around a campfire or at summer camp. It's actually quite moving.

Just a cotton-picking second here: I'm ready to close this review, and the brain surgeons at Amazon suggest "outlaw country" as a tag? They evidently still need to use Preparation-H instead of Brylcream.

This sure brings back a lot of memories; it's pretty much the soundtrack of my childhood. One thing that stands out in the Amazon.com listing is "My Back Wages" by the Byrds. I think it's a Bob Dylan song about a bounced check, or something...

I don't normally buy used stuff from someone I don't know. This supplier was dead spot on in his description. The Folk Years product itself was a little surprise because it is folk "years" not all folk music. We liked it all, but if you're looking for folk music exclusively, this is not it.

Yeah, a lot is here, but somehow the tunes come off as trite and over-produced. You have to really like folk-rock to appreciate this collection. I was looking more for a Weavers kind of approach and I was disappointed. Just by reading the song/artist list, I should have seen that this wasn't what I wanted. However, if you want folk-rock, then this is for you. They don't miss many of the big hits and the sound is excellent.

How about Fred Neil!? The guy that wrote "Everybody's Talkin'"? Or Phil Ochs the "singing journalist" and arguably one of the most important folk singers ever? Dave Van Ronk? The guy taught Dylan for goodness sake... I guess it's not bad in general though... love those Tim Hardin songs.