Songs Of The North Woods

Edith Fowke (1913-1996) was a renowned Canadian folklorist, folk song collector, researcher, writer, and teacher who during her long career recorded nearly two thousand songs. Awarded the Order of Canada in 1978 and named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1983, Fowke's legacy is recognized by folk singers and scholars alike as the most comprehensive work in its field. Producing radio programs for the CBC throughout the 1950s and 1960s, she was responsible for discovering such eminent singers as LaRena Clark, Tom Brandon, and O. J. Abbott. O. J. Abbott was one of Fowke's most prolific singers, as she collected and recorded over 120 of his songs, 66 of them transcribed for this collection. The songs, mostly of Irish origin, were popular among settlers to the Ottawa valley and in the lumber camps of northern Ontario in the late 1800s. Born in England in 1872, Abbott worked throughout Ontario and Quebec in lumber camps before settling in Hull, Quebec. He recorded numerous records for the Folkways label and performed with such folk heroes as The Travellers, Ian and Sylvia, and Pete Seeger. Songs of the North Woods as sung by O.J. Abbott and collected by Edith Fowke includes a detailed musical analysis that outlines the meter, scale, and range of each song, an index that indicates where each song can be found on the original source tapes, and extensive field notes, interviews, and recording details.

Edith Fowke (1913-1996) was a renowned Canadian folklorist, folk song collector, researcher, writer, and teacher who during her long career recorded nearly two thousand songs. Awarded the Order of Canada in 1978 and named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1983, Fowke's legacy is recognized by folk singers and scholars alike as the most comprehensive work in its field. Producing radio programs for the CBC throughout the 1950s and 1960s, she was responsible for discovering such eminent singers as LaRena Clark, Tom Brandon, and O. J. Abbott. O. J. Abbott was one of Fowke's most prolific singers, as she collected and recorded over 120 of his songs, 66 of them transcribed for this collection. The songs, mostly of Irish origin, were popular among settlers to the Ottawa valley and in the lumber camps of northern Ontario in the late 1800s. Born in England in 1872, Abbott worked throughout Ontario and Quebec in lumber camps before settling in Hull, Quebec. He recorded numerous records for the Folkways label and performed with such folk heroes as The Travellers, Ian and Sylvia, and Pete Seeger. Songs of the North Woods as sung by O.J. Abbott and collected by Edith Fowke includes a detailed musical analysis that outlines the meter, scale, and range of each song, an index that indicates where each song can be found on the original source tapes, and extensive field notes, interviews, and recording details.

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Death and danger are dominant themes in the shantyboy's repertoire, as they were prevailing realities in his life. The ballad of Jimmy Whelan, one of many tragic heroes who went to a watery grave, ends with the warning to take care. "For death is drawing nearer and trying to destroy the pride of some poor mother's heart and his father's only joy." If constant occupational hazards are not enough to sour one's outlook, surely hard work for poor pay, loneliness, and lack of creature comforts will make a bitter person. Not the shantyboy. His songs may complain of hard times, but more often they celebrate his pride in a job well done, his strong sense of camaraderie, and his good humor, elements especially evident in the "moniker songs," which name each member of a crew and describe their job. Indeed, in one breath the shantyboy brands the food as such that dogs would bark at; in the next he cheerfully inquires, "who could lead a happier life than a jovial shantyboy?" In Ontario and adjoining areas of Quebec, the lumbercamps played a major role in preserving and spreading folk songs of all kinds, for the logger sang everything from British ballads to American music-hall ditties and also inspired the region's largest group of native songs. The compiler's collection of sixty-five songs, recorded from former shantyboys, is unique, being the first in this field to exclude the more general songs popular in the bunkhouse. By limiting her collection to only those songs that feature the shantyboy and his work, she presents a vivid picture of life in the north woods before the days of mechanization. This book includes many songs never before published and four ballads previously listed as of doubtful currency in oral tradition. The texts and music are complemented by detailed documentation and by comments on the history and currency of the songs and on their relation to other folk songs; variant texts and tunes are also given. Both published works and recordings by traditional singers are thoroughly covered in the references, which cite not only sources that give the same song or similar versions, but those that contain tune relatives. An essay by Norman Cazden, who transcribed the music and compiled the information on tune relatives, discusses the analysis of traditional tunes. --Dust jacket.

Much has been written about the songs gathered in North America in the first half of the 20th century. However, there is scant information on those individuals responsible for gathering these songs. The Ballad Collectors of North America: How Gathering Folksongs Transformed Academic Thought and American Identity fills this gap, documenting the efforts of those who transcribed and recorded North American folk songs. Both biographical and topical, this book chronicles not only the most influential of these "song catchers" but also examines the main schools of thought on the collection process, the leading proponents of those schools, and the projects that they shaped. Contributors also consider the role of technology--especially the phonograph--in the collection efforts. Chapters organized by region cover such areas as Appalachia, the West, and Canada, while others devoted to specialized topics from the cowboy tune and occupational song to the commercialization of folk music through song collections and anthologies. Ballad Collectors investigates the larger role of the ballad in the development of American identity, from the national appreciation of cowboy songs in popular culture to the use of Appalachian song forms in radio broadcasts to the role of dustbowl ballads in the urban folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s. Finally, this collection assesses the changing role of songs and song texts in the academic fields of folklore, anthropology, musicology, and ethnomusicology. Scholars and students of American cultural and social history, as well as fans of North American folk and popular music, will find The Ballad Collectors of North America a fascinating story of how the American folk tradition gained greater visibility, fueling the revolutions that would follow in the writing and performance of American music.