Top Folk Music Albums
Folk music, defined loosely, is music which the people of a nation or group identify themselves. It is music that comes from small towns or villages. It is often used in contrast to the so-called elitist classical or art music culture.
In America, folk music refers to the style of music that comes from the heartlands or the rural areas. In the 60s folk music was used as a powerful tool for change in the American social revolution.
Folk music has simple melody and structure, usually with guitar accompaniments and simple key structure and choral sequence. The most important element of folk music are the words of the songs.
The subgenre of folk music are folk songs, traditional folk, political folk & protest songs, the folk revival, folk rock, folk pop, UK folk, Irish folk, alternative folk, contemporary folk, neo-traditional folk.
Bob Dylan sings "Blowin' in the Wind" from the album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
The following are folk music recordings that should belong to the library of every collector:
- Anthology of American Folk Music - Harry Smith
- The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan
- John Prine - John Prine
- Bringing it All Back Home - Bob Dylan
- Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan
- Joan Baez - Joan Baez
- Blonde on Blonde - Bob Dylan
- Time Out of Mind - Bob Dylan
- Mr Tambourine Man - The Byrds
- Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan
- Liege & Lief - Fairport Convention
- Basket of Light - Pentangle
- Blue - Joni Mitchell
- I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight - Richard & Linda Thompson
- Graceland - Paul Simon
- Five Leaves Left - Nick Drake
- Court & Spark - Joni Mitchell
- For the Roses - Joni Mitchell
- Hissing of Summer Lawns - Joni Mitchell
- Shoot Out The Lights - Richard and Linda Thompson
- Pieces of the Sky - Emmylou Harris
- Unhalfbricking - Fairport Convention
- Hejira - Joni Mitchell
- Solitude Standing - Suzanne Vega
- Dust Bowl Ballads - Woody Guthrie
- Peter, Paul and Mary - Peter, Paul and Mary
- We Shall Overcome: The Complete Carnegie Hall Concert - Pete Seeger
- Kate and Anna McGarrigle - Kate and Anna McGarrigle
- Bootleg Series Vol 4: Live 1966 - Bob Dylan
- Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme - Simon & Garfunkle
- Talking with the Taxman About Poetry - Billy Brag
- Jack Takes the Floor - Ramblin' Jack Elliot
- Aqualung - Jethro Tull
- Shaka Zulu - Ladysmith Black Mambazo
- Time (The Revelator) - Gillian Welch
- Red Dirt Girl - Emmylou Harris
- Last of the True Believers - Nanci Griffith
- Guitar Town - Steve Earle
- The Wayfaring Stranger - Burl Ives
- The Balfa Brothers Play Traditional Cajun Music - The Balfa Brothers
- The Transports - Peter Bellamy
- Dock Boggs: His Folkway Years 1963 - 1968 - Dock Boggs
- Dream Letter: Live in London - Tim Buckley
- Byker Hill - Martin Carthy with Dave Swarbrick
- It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best - Karen Dalton
- Sandy - Sandy Denny
- The Essential Ramblin' Jack Elliot - The Essential Ramblin' Jack Elliot
- The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death - John Fahey
- The High Lonesome Sound - Roscoe Holcomb
- Where Did You Sleep Last Night - Leadbelly
- There and Now: Live in Vancouver 1968 - Phil Ochs
See also: Top Country Music Albums
