Continuity, Variation, and Authenticity in the English Folk-Rock Movement
2007; Volume: 9; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2056-6166
Autores Tópico(s)Musicology and Musical Analysis
ResumoThis article discusses the adaptation of British folk music for performance in rock music contexts, a combination often referred to as English folk-rock. This fusion has created a performance forum that has become part of a new folk music revival which has its origins in the growth in popularity of folk festivals linked to world music. It also embraces the use of modern instrumentation and music technology in folk-rock performance, and the reception by festival audiences of British folk music performed in modern contexts while retaining its cultural relevance and identity. ********** At the Folk-Song Society Centenary Conference in 1998 there were several discussions concerning the re-evaluation of late twentieth-century criticism of Cecil Sharp's work. (1) There was a groundswell of support for Sharp, notably from Vic Gammon, who maintains that his own historical criticism of Sharp should not be regarded as denigration and states that Sharp was 'undoubtedly the greatest folk song collector England has ever seen'. (2) In a later discussion of Sharp's definition of English folk music, Gammon refers to aesthetic Darwinism in Sharp's attempt to align aspects of the music with the theory of evolution. (3) Sharp proposed three principles--continuity, variation, and selection--as a means of explaining what he thought was the communal origin of folk songs. (4) These principles were later adopted by the International Folk Music Council in 1954. Gammon maintains that Sharp's defining principles are flawed, although he suggests that they provide areas for further discussion. (5) While Sharp's framework can be criticized for its lack of specificity, in that it is not confined to folk music alone, I propose that the three principles can be taken out of their original context to provide useful nominal descriptors that may be applied to various aspects of English folk-rock performance, in light of the change that has occurred since folk music has become amalgamated with popular musical styles. In this article, I use the term 'English folk-rock' to distinguish between this music and the folk-rock styles originally popularized in the USA by performers such as Bob Dylan and the Byrds in the late 1960s. Britta Sweers maintains that the term 'folk-rock' was first used in the UK by Island Records in the promotion of Fairport Convention's album Liege and Lief (1969), although she adds that the term did not become fully established until 1973-75. (6) Sweers prefers the description 'electric folk', although Paul Stump argues that 'the marriage of folk and rock was always on rock music's terms'. (7) This view is supported by Fairport Convention band member, Simon Nicol, who maintains that the group has always regarded itself as principally a rock band. (8) While Nicol emphasizes a rock focus, it is worth noting that English folk-rock bands have often drawn upon a variety of folk music from different parts of these islands. This article addresses areas that have often been the subject of debate among scholars and fans of folk music during the second half of the twentieth century. In the context of folk music combined with popular music, I argue that continuity exists in British folk music as it is amalgated with the mainstream styles of world, roots, and rock music, and that it consequently attracts larger audiences while retaining national identity. To demonstrate aspects of variation in the amalgamation of folk music and popular music, I discuss different performance contexts, including the adaptation of folk songs for folk-rock performance. Variation, as well as selection, is also demonstrated by the reinterpretation of folk song texts that are altered to make them pertinent to modern audiences, while retaining their original message. I have drawn upon Tamara Livingston's model of descriptive characteristics of music revivals as a basis for my argument. Several of what she refers to as 'basic ingredients' of music revivals are apparent in aspects of English folk-rock. …
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