In 1941, Woody Guthrie wrote 26 songs in 30 days--including classics like “Roll On Columbia

In African American Folksong and American Cultural Politics: The Lawrence Gellert Story, scholar and musician Bruce Conforth tells the story of one of the most unusual collections of African American folk music ever amassed—and the remarkable story of the man who produced it: Lawrence Gellert.

Collected correspondence from arguably the most important folklorist of the twentieth century

Considered something of a folk classic from its first appearance as a PhD dissertation in 1971 until its present incarnation (revised and updated by the now-deceased original author's wife), this lively, fair-minded, scholarly cultural history describes the connections between the politics, folklore, and music of the period, providing a mostly chronological account of the movement and the musicians, political activists, and folklorists involved. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

With roots in Appalachia, the Mississippi Delta, New Orleans, the Piedmont, Memphis, and the prairies of Texas and the American West, the musical genre called Americana can prove difficult to define. Nevertheless, this burgeoning trend in American popular music continues to expand and develop, winning new audiences and engendering fresh, innovative artists at an exponential rate. As Lee Zimmerman illustrates in Americana Music: Voices, Visionaries, and Pioneers of an Honest Sound, “Americana” covers a gamut of sounds and styles. In its strictest sense, it is a blanket term for bluegrass, country, mountain music, rockabilly, and the blues. By a broader definition, it can encompass roots rock, country rock, singer/songwriters, R&B, and their various combinations. Bob Dylan, Hank Williams, Carl Perkins, and Tom Petty can all lay valid claims as purveyors of Americana, but so can Elvis Costello, Solomon Burke, and Jason Isbell. Americana is new and old, classic and contemporary, trendy and traditional. Mining the firsthand insights of those whose stories help shape the sound—people such as Ralph Stanley, John McEuen (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), Chris Hillman (Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers), Paul Cotton and Rusty Young (Poco), Shawn Colvin, Kinky Friedman, David Bromberg, the Avett Brothers, Amanda Shires, Ruthie Foster, and many more—Americana Music provides a history of how Americana originated, how it reached a broader audience in the ’60s and ’70s with the merging of rock and country, and how it evolved its overwhelmingly populist appeal as it entered the new millennium.

Michael Cain offers an informal social history that describes Americana as both a musical genre and a movement, showing what it is, where it came from and where it is going. Through anecdotes and interviews, Cain provides a firsthand view into the creation of Americana, trying to clarify how the genre can be categorized and defined.

Folk music legend Joan Baez's disarmingly frank, moving, and warmly funny memoir of her loves, beliefs, and music.

"August 2014 marks 50 years since Bob Dylan released his remarkable fourth album, Another Side of Bob Dylan. Recorded in one night, in the middle of a turbulent year in his life, the album marked a departure from Dylan's socially-conscious folk songs andbegan his evolution toward other directions. Few people outside Dylan's immediate family have ever been closer than Victor Maymudes, who was Dylan's tour manager, personal friend, and travelling companion from the first days in 1960s Greenwich Village through the late 90's. Another Side of Bob Dylan recounts landmark events including Dylan's infamous motorcycle crash; meeting the Beatles on their first US tour; his marriage to Sarah Lownds, his romances with Suze Rotolo, Joan Baez, and others; fellow travelers including Ramblin Jack Elliott, Wavy Gravy, Dennis Hopper, The Band, The Traveling Wilburys, and many more; memorable concerts around the world, and the recording of his seminal album, Blood on the Tracks. On January 26th, 2001, after recording more than 24 hours of taped memories in preparation for writing this book, Victor Maymudes suffered an aneurysm and died. His son Jacob has written the book, using the tapes to shape the story. The result is a vivid, first hand, and unique account of Dylan as an artist, friend, and celebrity, illustrated with never-before-seen photographs, and told by an engaging raconteur who cut his own swathe through the turbulent counterculture"--