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Sounds of the South

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Book

Pages: 240

Illustrations: 15 b&w photographs

Published: October 1992

Editor: Daniel W. Patterson

Contributors: Michael T. Casey, Bess Lomax Hawes, Bill Malone, Paul Oliver, Thomas F. Carter, Ray Funk, Norm Cohen, Daniel W. Patterson, Walter C. West, Barry Ancelet, David E. Whisnant, Archie Green, George M. Holt

Beyond the familiar forms of Mississippi Delta Blues and mainstream country music, the vernacular music of the South also ranges from the ceremonial music of Native Americans, to "shout" singing in South Carolina sea islands, Cajun fiddling, and Mexican-American conjunto music. Sounds of the South assesses past efforts to document these richly varied musical forms and the challenges facing future work.
"Sounds of the South"—a 1989 conference that gathered record collectors, folklorists, musicians, record producers, librarians, archivists, and traditional music lovers—celebrated the official opening of the Southern Folklife Collection with the John Edwards Memorial Collection at the library of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Based on that conference, Sounds of the South includes Bill Malone's account of his own career as fan and scholar of country music, Paul Oliver on European blues scholarship, and Ray Funk on researching Black Gospel Quartets.
The contributors look at a number of topics related to the role of the archivist/folklorist in recording and documenting the music of the South—evaluating past fieldwork and current needs in documentation, archival issues, prospects for the publication of recordings, and changes in music and technology. Written in an accessible style, this volume will be of interest to all those concerned with preserving the music of the American South.

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Author/Editor Bios Table Of Contents Rights Additional Information

Author/Editor Bios

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Daniel W. Patterson is Kenan Professor of English at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is the coeditor, with Charles W. Zug III, of Arts in Earnest: North Carolina Folklife (Duke University Press).

Table Of Contents

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List of Illustrations ix

Preface / Michael T. Casey, George M. Holt, and Daniel W. Patterson xi

Introduction / Daniel W. Patterson 1

Part One: Personal and Historical Perspectives

Evaluating Our Work and Ourselves / Bess Lomax Hawes 31

Country Music and the Academy: A Thirty-Year Professional Odyssey / Bill C. Malone 41

Overseas Blues: Europeans and the Blues / Paul Oliver 57

Looking for Henry Reed: Confessions of a Revivalist / Thomas Carter 73

Research Approaches to Black Gospel Quartets / Ray Funk 90

Part Two: Archival Preservation of Southern Music

The John Edwards Memorial Foundation: Its History and Significance / Norm Cohen 113

The History of the Southern Folklife Collection: The Era of Surprise / Daniel W. Patterson 127

The History of the Southern Folklife Collection: Recent Developments 133

Who's Got What: A Survey of Southern Traditional Music in Public Repositories / Walter C. West and Michael T. Casey 140

The Center for Acadian and Creole Folklore: An Experiment in Guerilla Academics / Barry Ancelet 148

Part Three: Issues for the Future

Life as We Knew It / Allen Tullos 157

Turning Inward and Outward: Retrospective and Prospective Considerations in the Recording of Vernacular Music in the South / David E. Whisnant 165

Afterword: "Our Music": Exhit Ahead / Archie Green 183

Notes 191

Contributors and Conference Speakers 207

Index 215

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Sales/Territorial Rights: World

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Paper ISBN: 978-0-8223-1343-4 / eISBN: 978-0-8223-7770-2 /

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