From Burl To Bob

Not Bad For Fill-Ins

John Hammond had already established his reputation as the talent scout/ producer who discovered Teddy Wilson, Billie Holiday and Count Basie when, in 1938, he floated the idea of presenting jazz,...

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From Burl To Bob

by Mary Katherine Aldin

While performers such as Burl Ives enjoyed noticeable popularity singing folk songs in the 1940s, the late 1950s saw the start of a true explosion in the genre. Driven by collegiate interest in traditional American music, groups such as the Kingston Trio and the Brothers Four paved the way for the huge folk music "boom" with late '50s hit singles that sported tuneful melodies and singalong choruses. Meanwhile, a strong political sensibility began to emerge as well in folk music, influenced greatly by modern folk pioneer Pete Seeger and his group 1940s-founded group, the Weavers, who in turn had drawn from the musical inspiration of the great pre-World War II folk poet Woody Guthrie. That influence, in turn, was absorbed by Bob Dylan, who completely changed the direction of 1960s folk music from its cheerful, hootenanny approach to a rebelliously idealistic mirror of the civil rights-advocating, war-protesting social consciousness of the era.