TOP FIVE FOLK MUSICIANS

HI FOLKS

I find a lot of common grounds with Gordon Lightfoot fans from reading postings and opinions in this web site. I thank God for knowing about Lightfoot. His music has been my constant companion. And I also listen to other great folks musicians.

I predict that we listen to a lot of same other musicians who are unique like Mr. Lightfoot. And there are a lot of them out there. All over the world. We heard the most famous and the rest we have not. Lets share our opinion. Lets list the top five folk musicians.

I will list my top five composers as soon as I figure the last Two I am choosing. I would like to compare my opinion with yall. Of course, we do not have to limit the nominations to US and Canadian.

John

HI FOLKS

I find a lot of common grounds with Gordon Lightfoot fans from reading postings and opinions in this web site. I thank God for knowing about Lightfoot. His music has been my constant companion. And I also listen to other great folks musicians.

I predict that we listen to a lot of same other musicians who are unique like Mr. Lightfoot. And there are a lot of them out there. All over the world. We heard the most famous and the rest we have not. Lets share our opinion. Lets list the top five folk musicians.

I will list my top five composers as soon as I figure the last Two I am choosing. I would like to compare my opinion with yall. Of course, we do not have to limit the nominations to US and Canadian.

John

[fowlesjohn]

John,
Tough one, very opinionated, huh?
Gordon Lightfoot
Emmy lou Harris
Jim Croce
Tom Dooley artists ??? who were those guys
Joan Baez
Oooooh, This one is hard
Gwen

[This message has been edited by gwen snyder (edited April 11, 2003).]

[This message has been edited by gwen snyder (edited April 11, 2003).]

[This message has been edited by gwen snyder (edited April 13, 2003).]

[gwen snyder]

John,
Tough one, very opinionated, huh?
Gordon Lightfoot
Emmy lou Harris
Jim Croce
Tom Dooley artists ??? who were those guys
Joan Baez
Oooooh, This one is hard
Gwen

[This message has been edited by gwen snyder (edited April 11, 2003).]

[This message has been edited by gwen snyder (edited April 11, 2003).]

[This message has been edited by gwen snyder (edited April 13, 2003).]

[Mist O' The Morn']

Lightfoot
Tom Rush
Eric Andersen
Bob Dylan
Tim Buckley

This is a hard one because there are so many other great folk singers who came before, and who came after, Lightfoot. All poets in their own right, all voices of opinion, intertwined with a magical element of music.

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restless shadows

[walls]

Lightfoot
Tom Rush
Eric Andersen
Bob Dylan
Tim Buckley

This is a hard one because there are so many other great folk singers who came before, and who came after, Lightfoot. All poets in their own right, all voices of opinion, intertwined with a magical element of music.

------------------
restless shadows

What? No Stan Rogers? Shame on you!

What? No Stan Rogers? Shame on you!

[SilverHeels]

John,

this is not easy ...

Lightfoot
Tom Paxton
Jim Croce )not strictly folk
Harry Chapin )but I love 'em!
Judy Collins


and so many more ...

[Borderstone]

They all rule in my book because they don't go around (normally) trying to fit in with the latest music craze. If anyone tries to get them to do that it's the suits at their label! They sing from the heart,the mind,the soul which makes it completely real and true. I wish I could just go out,throw down a couple hundred dollars and buy all their music! I'm just not all that great at these however many best lists. Borderstone,O.H. & A.B. !`

This will be fun although some people will argue that not all the musicians are folk that I have listed.

1) Gordon Lightfoot
2) John Denver
3) Joni Mitchell
4) Don Mclean
5) Harry Chapin

HONORABLE MENTION: Cat Stevens, Jim Croce,
Johnny Cash, David Gates, Dan Fogelberg, Arlo
Guthrie,Paul Simon and Carol King.

This will be fun although some people will argue that not all the musicians are folk that I have listed.

1) Gordon Lightfoot
2) John Denver
3) Joni Mitchell
4) Don Mclean
5) Harry Chapin

HONORABLE MENTION: Cat Stevens, Jim Croce,
Johnny Cash, David Gates, Dan Fogelberg, Arlo
Guthrie,Paul Simon and Carol King.

[Janice]

Here goes (in no particular order)

1) Jack Williams
2) Ramblin' Jack Elliot - I know he's not really considered a composer, but the challenge was "Let's list the top 5 folk 'misicians'" so, to that end, I include him since he was very influencial to folk musicians who came along after him (including Dylan).
3) Woody Guthrie
4) Chuck Brodskey
5) Tim Flannery
6) Gordon Lightfoot

Sorry, I listed 5 in addition to Lightfoot since, obviously, he's a given

[Simone]

It seems that the folk label varies widely in interpretation. What is the definition? I recently bought the Time Life Collection and many of the numbers are suspect.

Number one I grew up with, on my parents giant console stereo.

1. Ian and Sylvia
2. Simon and Garfunkel
3. Bob Dylan
4. Peter, Paul, & Mary
5. Gordon Lightfoot

[Chris in Virginia]

It seems that the folk label varies widely in interpretation. What is the definition? I recently bought the Time Life Collection and many of the numbers are suspect.

Number one I grew up with, on my parents giant console stereo.

1. Ian and Sylvia
2. Simon and Garfunkel
3. Bob Dylan
4. Peter, Paul, & Mary
5. Gordon Lightfoot

[talbot10]

1) Gordon Lightfoot
2) Dave Mallett
3) Greg Brown
4) David Willcox
5) Pierce Pettis


Bill

[Borderstone]

Titan:I agree with you're list,all except Dan Fogelberg. I have all 11 Dan Fogelberg hit songs and the only one I would say even comes close to folk is,"Run For The Roses". (That one makes me cry,dang it!) Dan F. comes across more as a mix of AC & MOR than anything. As for John Denver,yes he's a folk singer and songwriter! He wrote<"Leaving On A Jet Plane for P.P.& M. and I don't thik he was ever more folksy than when he did,"Thank God,I'm A Country Boy" or "Sunshine On My Shoulders." I'm sure he admires Gordon and Bob Dylan very much. (I may never understand his helping The Starland Vocal Band though. Borderstone,outta here and Alberta Bound!

Borderstone- We think alike so much it's scarey. Your taste in music is alot like mine from what I can tell.

Borderstone- We think alike so much it's scarey. Your taste in music is alot like mine from what I can tell.

[Bill]

Besides Gord:
Tom Rush
Harry Chapin...folk or pop?
Jim Croce...folk or pop?
James Taylor...folk or pop?
Cat Stevens...rock?
Sarah McGaughlin...rock
Karla Bonoff...rock

Are we talking hard core folk or more mainstream singer-songwriters?

[Auburn Annie]

Okay, I guess this depends on a definition of 'folk'. Are we talking traditional music (e.g. Barbara Allen) or music of the common working folk, or popular acoustic music?
Anyway, here are my candidates:
1) Woody Guthrie - 'nuff said
2) The Seeger Family: Pete Seeger - solo or with the Almanac Singers (Lee Hays, Sonny Terry, and Brownie McGhee) or The Weavers (Lee Hays, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman); stepmother Ruth Crawford Seeger who compiled existing folk songs; step siblings Mike and Peggy Seeger, folk musicians in their own right.
3) Huddie (Lead Belly) Ledbetter - "King of the 12-String Guitar" and writer of songs such as "Good Night Irene", "Rock Island Line", "Midnight Special" (how many people have recorded that one?) and prison songs. Worked as a duo with Blind Lemon Johnson. Influential in both folk and rhythm & blues.
4) Joan Baez - began as an interpreter of traditional ballads ("East Virginia" is one of my favorites) while adding contemporary folk and pop/folk, especially Dylan.
5) our own Gord who did for Canada what the others above did for the US, starting with tradtional music, solo or with Terry Whelan as the Two Tones, recording a select few others, and of course writing his own.

Now this list doesn't BEGIN to cover other contributors like Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie, the Lomaxes who preserved early artists' work, Burl Ives, Paul Robeson, Ian & Sylvia, Theodore Bikel, Joni Mitchell, Chad Mitchell and Kingston Trios, Odetta, Peter Paul & Mary, Phil Ochs, Judy Collins, Buffy Sainte Marie, Eric Andersen, Tom Paxton, Hamilton Camp, etc., etc., etc. And this doesn't include (U.S.)Civil War and temperance protest songs, union songs, Dust Bowl and other Great Depression songs and so on.

[Auburn Annie]

Okay, I guess this depends on a definition of 'folk'. Are we talking traditional music (e.g. Barbara Allen) or music of the common working folk, or popular acoustic music?
Anyway, here are my candidates:
1) Woody Guthrie - 'nuff said
2) The Seeger Family: Pete Seeger - solo or with the Almanac Singers (Lee Hays, Sonny Terry, and Brownie McGhee) or The Weavers (Lee Hays, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman); stepmother Ruth Crawford Seeger who compiled existing folk songs; step siblings Mike and Peggy Seeger, folk musicians in their own right.
3) Huddie (Lead Belly) Ledbetter - "King of the 12-String Guitar" and writer of songs such as "Good Night Irene", "Rock Island Line", "Midnight Special" (how many people have recorded that one?) and prison songs. Worked as a duo with Blind Lemon Johnson. Influential in both folk and rhythm & blues.
4) Joan Baez - began as an interpreter of traditional ballads ("East Virginia" is one of my favorites) while adding contemporary folk and pop/folk, especially Dylan.
5) our own Gord who did for Canada what the others above did for the US, starting with tradtional music, solo or with Terry Whelan as the Two Tones, recording a select few others, and of course writing his own.

Now this list doesn't BEGIN to cover other contributors like Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie, the Lomaxes who preserved early artists' work, Burl Ives, Paul Robeson, Ian & Sylvia, Theodore Bikel, Joni Mitchell, Chad Mitchell and Kingston Trios, Odetta, Peter Paul & Mary, Phil Ochs, Judy Collins, Buffy Sainte Marie, Eric Andersen, Tom Paxton, Hamilton Camp, etc., etc., etc. And this doesn't include (U.S.)Civil War and temperance protest songs, union songs, Dust Bowl and other Great Depression songs and so on.

[BrightSide]

Yeah--if you really wanted to be a purist about this, Gord doesn't qualify as a folk artist. He's "adult contemporary"!

But be that as it may--my list includes both "traditional" and "contemporary" types:

1. Gord
2. Dylan, who had more influence on 20th century POPULAR music than any other individual except Duke Ellington
3. Cisco Houston (especially singing Woody Guthrie songs)
4. Burl Ives, because I grew up listening to him
5. Lucinda Williams--or is she country rock?

There are a lot of grey areas! I also like traditional Irish music and bluegrass/newgrass. LOTS to choose from in both those categories, like the Chieftains and Alison Krauss, respectively.

[MaryEllen]

Yeah--if you really wanted to be a purist about this, Gord doesn't qualify as a folk artist. He's "adult contemporary"!

But be that as it may--my list includes both "traditional" and "contemporary" types:

1. Gord
2. Dylan, who had more influence on 20th century POPULAR music than any other individual except Duke Ellington
3. Cisco Houston (especially singing Woody Guthrie songs)
4. Burl Ives, because I grew up listening to him
5. Lucinda Williams--or is she country rock?

There are a lot of grey areas! I also like traditional Irish music and bluegrass/newgrass. LOTS to choose from in both those categories, like the Chieftains and Alison Krauss, respectively.

[Auburn Annie]

Yes, he's adult contemporary now, and has been since the late 60s/early 70s when the folk revival disappeared under the onslaught of the British Invasion. And he's never been entirely one thing or another; witness his early barbershop quartet work, a little bit of country, and an interest in jazz in his late teens. Folk was what was 'happening' when he was searching for his own sound - that's where the crowds (and paying gigs)were. So he sang Copper Kettle and The Fox and scores of others until he had a shot with his own songs at Teachers College in Toronto in 1964. He knew he could hold an audience with his own works then. It wasn't his folk singing that caught Ian's & Sylvia's ears but his own composition (Early Morning Rain). The style started folk but didn't stay that way for long.