Which Side Are You On?: An Inside History of the Folk Music Revival in America

""Can white folks sing the blues?"" asks Weissman in his new book, which covers the folk music revival of twentieth century America and the relationships between the various types of music that derived from it. Weissman touches on the music business and the motives of some folksong collectors such as Jack Tharp, John Lomax, Lawrence Gellert, Charles Seeger and Alan Lomax, and explores the definition of ""folksong"" and the idea of ""authenticity"" in folk music. The book contains an interesting, albeit brief, segment on the rise and fall of folk-rock, in the midst of which Weissman hastily dismisses psychedelic rock (""many of the bands were under the influence of acid, and their performances featured long jam sessions.""). Among the most interesting sections are those on folksong as protest music and the blacklisting of folk singers, particularly The Weavers. Throughout the volume, big name artists such as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez appear, and Weissman discusses them in the contexts of their predecessors and the marketplace. Weissman's prose is casual, sometimes awkwardly so, and his knowledge of people, places and repertoire, and the connections between them, is so extensive that at times passages can read like cumbersome lists of names. Folk enthusiasts will appreciate this nearly one-stop shop of American folk history, but anyone with a casual interest in the form may find Weissman's information onslaught too overwhelming. 8 pp. b&w photos.