Music » Revival Folk Music

This definitive 16-track collection gathers signature singles and album cuts from her nine Elektra albums spanning 1964 to 1975. Co-produced by Judy Collins and featuring backing performances by Stephen Stills, Van Dyke Parks, Ray Baretto, and more.

Release Date: 1996-05-07, Audio CD, A&M

Release Date: 1990-10-25, Audio CD, Warner Bros / Wea

By 1958 "Tom Dooley" was already in circulation in the growing folk movement, but it was the Kingston Trio's hit that ignited the boom. These three clean-cut Hawaii residents may not have looked like accomplished musicians, but they were. David Guard first learned the open-G Hawaiian guitar and took up the banjo after a Weaver's concert; lead singer Bob Shane was much influenced by Harry Belefonte, and he sang with studied clarity; and Nick Reynolds contributed steady, old-timey guitar and signature harmony. Most of what the neophyte needs is here: "Tom Dooley," "Greenback Dollar," and the Carter Family tune, "Worried Man." --Roy Francis Kasten

The brooding Bob Dylan of the 1966 live collection in the Dylan bootleg series gave way to an even more hooded character on the second live bootleg album from 1974. Which makes the jump back to a younger Dylan in this set all the more jarring. Here is Dylan as an eager-to-please 23 year old with nothing between him and his worshippers but a guitar, a harmonica, and, for four songs, his lover, Joan Baez. In marked contrast to the acerbic electric Dylan of the mid-'60s and the tight-lipped living legend of the mid-'70s, here is Dylan as entertainer. Joking and bantering with the crowd, Dylan deals up some favorites ("The Times They Are A-Changin'," "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"), but is already shedding his earnest folkie persona; imagine another artist a mere two years into his career declining to perform a hit on the scale of "Blowin' in the Wind." But Dylan was moving fast. Having completed the last all-acoustic collection of his early years three months before the Philharmonic concert, he would record the half-electric/half-acoustic Bringing It All Back Home three months later. Three of the four acoustic songs from that album are presented here, as are a handful of then-unreleased songs, including "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues," "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" (which was soon given a rock arrangement), and a protest-period remnant, "Who Killed Davey Moore?" Had Concert at the Philharmonic Hall appeared the year it was recorded, it would been seen as a respite for folk fans to catch their collective breath before Dylan reappeared in his rock & roll Rimbaud guise. Heard for the first time decades later, it's simply a testament of his gifts as a showman and songwriter. --Steven Stolder

Dylan's outstanding second album is a tremendous jump from its predecessor. Whereas the debut established him as a peerless interpreter of folk and country-blues classics, and a singer like none before, this followup features some of the most pungent original songs of the '60s. "Blowin' in the Wind," "Masters of War," "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," "I Shall Be Free": if this sounds like the lineup for a greatest-hits collection, you've got the idea. Nat Hentoff's liner notes are charmingly dated, but Dylan's idiosyncratic singing, unexpected lyrics, and inimitable guitar and harmonica playing are as immediate and relevant as whatever you heard on the radio today. (As great as this is, there's much more: a handful of top-rank outtakes from Freewheelin' appear on the Bootleg Series box set.) --Jimmy Guterman

By 1958 "Tom Dooley" was already in circulation in the growing folk movement, but it was the Kingston Trio's hit that ignited the boom. These three clean-cut Hawaii residents may not have looked like accomplished musicians, but they were. David Guard first learned the open-G Hawaiian guitar and took up the banjo after a Weaver's concert; lead singer Bob Shane was much influenced by Harry Belefonte, and he sang with studied clarity; and Nick Reynolds contributed steady, old-timey guitar and signature harmony. Most of what the neophyte needs is here: "Tom Dooley," "Greenback Dollar," and the Carter Family tune, "Worried Man." --Roy Francis Kasten

Release Date: 1990-05-30, Audio CD, Capitol

Release Date: 1990-10-25, Audio CD, Vanguard Records

As much as a single disc overview can, these 16 tracks present some of the Weavers' best, if not always best known, performances: "This Land Is Your Land," "Empty Pocket Blues," and "Greenland Whale Fisheries." Like the traditional sources from whom they learned, the quartet's robust, belting harmonies can take some getting used to. But there's no denying the passion and enthusiasm behind their versions of these timeless folk songs. Many a folk musician today, could learn from the honesty and drive they gave to every line. --Roy Francis Kasten