America's Musical Legacy in the 20th Century

dateline: 08/10/00

National Public Radio (NPR) is running a weekly series of in-depth stories about the 100 most important musical works of the twentieth century. The list includes individual songs in every genre from folk to punk as well as some entire symphonies and Broadway musicals. From Woody Guthrie to Nirvana, it's an eclectic overview. The question is, does this kind of list influence what we think of as folk music?

In any case, some solid folk classics they've included so far are:

Goodnight Irene (Leadbelly)
This Land Is Your Land (Woody Guthrie)
Tom Dooley (made #1 by the Kingston Trio)
Graceland (the album - Paul Simon)
Fire and Rain (James Taylor)
I'm so Lonesome I could Cry (Hank Williams)
Foggy Mountain Breakdown (Earl Scruggs)
Hellhound On My Trail (Robert Johnson)

Hmmmmm - they're all guys.....

Listen to the fascinating stories behind the music via streaming audio:
http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/vote/list100.html

Hugh Blumenfeld, Editor
hugh@balladtree.com