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The creation of this mythical 'folk' made it necessary to carry out certain
structural alterations on the folk music; anthologists and editors pruned it
down to respectable proportions, skilled composers and musicians 'improved' the
melodies by robbing them of their vitality, and concert singers showed the
people how their music should be sung.
The people. however, were unimpressed; they shrugged their shoulders and went
off to the music hall. In the countryside, folk-singers, not knowing any
better, went on singing the songs in the way they had been sung for generations.
What distinguishes the present folk-music renaissance from previous revivals is
the fact that the people are demanding that their music be served up 'neat',
and unadulterated, in the authentic traditional style.
And what possible connections can there be between British folk-music and the
Blues of America?
'The Blues aint notin' but a good man feelin' bad. The Blues aint notin' but a
woman on a poor man's mind. The Blues aint notin' but the poor man's heart
disease.' That is how a Blues singer defines the Blues. The same definition
might be applied to Lancashire songs such as The Four Loom Weaver' and 'Van
Dieman's Land'; to ballads like Lord Randall, 'The Rocks of Baun' and 'The
Sheffield Apprentice'.
In tonight's concert there will be traditional songs and ballads, work songs,
calypsos, Come-all-ye's and Blues. Some of the songs have been centuries in the
making, others are new.
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