| 1-1 | Bob Dylan– | Boots Of Spanish Leather Written-By – Bob Dylan Written-By – Bob Dylan |
| 1-2 | The Band– | Long Black Veil Written-By – Danny Dill, Marijohn Wilkin Written-By – Danny Dill, Marijohn Wilkin |
| 1-3 | Joan Baez– | Love Is Just A Four Letter Word Written-By – Bob Dylan Written-By – Bob Dylan |
| 1-4 | The Byrds– | The Times They Are A-Changin’ Written-By – Bob Dylan Written-By – Bob Dylan |
| 1-5 | Donovan– | Colours Written-By – Donovan Leitch*Written-By – Donovan Leitch* |
| 1-6 | Tim Hardin– | Simple Song Of Freedom Written-By – Bobby DarinWritten-By – Bobby Darin |
| 1-7 | Judy Collins– | Early Morning Rain Written-By – Gordon Lightfoot Written-By – Gordon Lightfoot |
| 1-8 | The Kingston Trio*– | Greenback Dollar Written-By – Hoyt Axton, Ken Ramsey Written-By – Hoyt Axton, Ken Ramsey |
| 1-9 | Trini Lopez– | La Bamba Written-By – Ritchie Valens Written-By – Ritchie Valens |
| 1-10 | Jose Feliciano*– | Light My Fire Written-By – Jim Morrison, John Densmore, Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger* Written-By – Jim Morrison, John Densmore, Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger* |
| 1-11 | The Cyrkle– | Red Rubber Ball Written-By – Bruce Woolley, Paul Simon Written-By – Bruce Woolley, Paul Simon |
| 1-12 | Harry Belafonte– | The Midnight Special Arranged By – Harry Belafonte Arranged By – Harry Belafonte |
| 1-13 | Billy Grammer– | Gotta Travel On Written-By – David Lazar, Larry Ehrlich, Paul Clayton (2), Pete Seeger Written-By – David Lazar, Larry Ehrlich, Paul Clayton (2), Pete Seeger |
| 1-14 | The Brothers Four– | Scarlet Ribbons(For Her Hair) Written-By – Evelyn Danzig, Jack Segal Written-By – Evelyn Danzig, Jack Segal |
| 1-15 | The Mitchell Trio*– | Leaving On A Jet Plane Written-By – John Denver Written-By – John Denver |
| 2-1 | The New Christy Minstrels– | TodayWritten-By – Randy SparksWritten-By – Randy Sparks |
| 2-2 | The Rooftop Singers– | Tom Cat Written-By – Erik Darling, Lynne Taylor, Thomas Salvatore Geraci, Bill Svanoe* Written-By – Erik Darling, Lynne Taylor, Thomas Salvatore Geraci, Bill Svanoe* |
| 2-3 | The Sandpipers– | Kumbaya Written-By – William Justis*, Tommy Leonetti Written-By – William Justis*, Tommy Leonetti |
| 2-4 | The Brothers Four– | Blue Water Line Written-By – Dora Graf, Martin Seligson Written-By – Dora Graf, Martin Seligson |
| 2-5 | The Kingston Trio*– | M.T.A. Written-By – Bess Hawes, Jacqueline Steiner Written-By – Bess Hawes, Jacqueline Steiner |
| 2-6 | The Clancy Brothers– | The Whistling GypsyWritten-By – Patrick McGuire (2)Written-By – Patrick McGuire (2) |
| 2-7 | Chad And Jeremy*– | Willow Weep For Me Written-By – Ann Ronell Written-By – Ann Ronell |
| 2-8 | The Seekers– | A World Of Our OwnWritten-By – Tom SpringfieldWritten-By – Tom Springfield |
| 2-9 | Pozo-Seco Singers*– | I Can Make It With You Written-By – Chip Taylor Written-By – Chip Taylor |
| 2-10 | Jerry Jeff Walker– | Mr. Bojangles Written-By – Jerry Jeff Walker Written-By – Jerry Jeff Walker |
| 2-11 | Kris Kristofferson– | Me And Bobby McGee Written-By – Kris Kristofferson Written-By – Kris Kristofferson |
| 2-12 | Roger Miller– | England Swings Written-By – Roger Miller Written-By – Roger Miller |
| 2-13 | Van Morrison– | Brown Eyed Girl Written-By – Van Morrison Written-By – Van Morrison |
| 2-14 | The Mojo Men– | Sit Down, I Think I Love You Written-By – Stephen Stills Written-By – Stephen Stills |
| 2-15 | Scott McKenzie– | San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair) Written-By – John Phillips |
Besides the ones you mention- Jose Feliciano’s horrid cover of the Doors Light My Fire, Roger Miller’s England Swings, The Mojo Men, Van Morrison. These are stretching the definition of folk pretty far.
Some good songs but I detest Trini Lopez. Also not a fan of the type of fake folk that was often associated with the show Hootenany. Such as The Brothers Four, Kingston Trio, The New Christy Minstrels.
I know vmost of these songs but few are among my favorites even when I like the artists. Probably the fitst seven are the best. Especially Dylan and The Band.
And where is Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Dave Van Ronk, Jim and Jean?
Steve, when I locate the other three volumes of THE FOLK YEARS I’ll check to see if Seeger, Ochs, and Van Ronk show up.
I agree with you on Trini Lopez. I’ve always hated him. Pete Seeger is on my CD version.
Jeff, Trini doesn’t get a lot of Love, does he!
Whiny voice, but not untalented.
I recognize maybe half of these, though not necessarily the version here. Most of these I haven’t heard in years and generally have no desire to hear them again. Other than the obvious choices I remember (and sorta like) “England Swings” and the catchy “Red Rubber Ball” which, for some strange reason, I knew was co-written by Paul Simon.
Michael, Paul Simon started out as a songwriter and morphed into a singer-songwriter.
Simon was a teenage recording artist, with Garfunkel, and recorded in the UK on his own, before the duo broke big.
Todd, it was obvious to many listeners early that Paul Simon was talented, both as a performer and a songwriter.
Seems like many classics aren’t here and many here are not folk to me, but that’s always the way.
Patti, Time-Life spread the True Folk Songs over 8 CDs. A lot of dubious “Folk Songs” made it onto these discs.
Yes, all of them. As a matter of fact, Jackie bought a boxed 3 CD set of this, just called THE FOLK YEARS. A lot are the same, but some are missing from our set, and obviously there are additions. Yours has 15 songs each, for a total of 30. Ours has 18 on each, total of 54. Jackie plays this fairly regularly. I guess it would be easier to just list them.
1. The Folk Years:
Bob Dylan, BOots of Spanish Leather
The Band, Long Black Veil
Joan Baez, Love is Just a Four-Letter Word
The Byrds, The Times They Are A-Changin’
Donovan, Colours
The New Christy Minstrels, Today
Van Morrison, Brown Eyed Girl (not a folk song!)
The Kingston Trio, M.T.A. (one of Bill Crider’s favorites)
Trini Lopez, La Bamba
Jose Feliciano, Light My Fire
The Cyrkle, Red Rubber Ball
Harry Belafonte, The Midnight Special
Billy Grammer, Gotta Travel On
The Seekers, A World of Our Own
Roger Miller, England Swings (not a folk song either)
Chad & Jeremy, Willow Weep for Me
The Rooftop Singers, Tom Cat
Scott McKenzie, San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)
Will list the next separately when we get back from Costco – Senior Hour.
Jeff, you and Jackie must own a alternative set.
I like quite a lot of the songs here, but I’m not really feeling the “folk” vibe—although “Green Back Dollar” and “Kumbaya” might qualify.
Deb, Time-Life’s definition of Folk seems to be elastic.
I bought this collection a few years ago and still play it — not all that often — and it’s one I’ll keep.
Dan, I’ll be reviewing the three other FOLK YEARS sets in the months ahead.
I remember them, but MAYBE half are what I’d consider Folk Songs.
Rick, I think Time-Life had to expand the concept of “Folk Songs” to fill four 2-CD sets.
OK, we’re back. FYI to Costco members: July 23 is the last day of Senior Hours (8-9 am), as the following Monday (7/26) it will open at 9 am for everyone.
10 of the 15 songs on the first CD were the same. There was a different Kingston Trio song (Greenback Dollar vs. M.T.A.).
Our second CD was “Blowin’ in the Wind:
Kingston Trio, Where Have All the Flowers Gone
Peter, Paul & Mary, All My Trials
Judy Collins, Both Sides Now
Bobby Darin, If I Were a Carpenter
Dion, Abraham, Martin and John
Harry Belafonte, Jamaica Farewell
The New Christy Minstrels, Green, Green
Chad and Jeremy, A Summer Song
The Byrds, Turn, Turn, Turn (To Everything There is a Season)
The Kingston Trio, Blowin’ in the Wind
Glenn Yarbrough, Baby, The Rain Must Fall
Pete Seeger, Guantanamera
The Brothers Four, Greenfields
The Serendipity Singers, Don’t Let the Rain Come Down
We Five, You Were On My Mind
Gale Garnett, We’ll Sing in the Sunshine
Sonny and Cher, Baby Don’t Go
The Youngbloods, Get Together
Six from your second CD are on our first.
Lastly, we have Yesterday’s Gone:
Kingston Trio (again – Bill would have loved this), Tom Dooley
Trini Lopez, If I Had a Hammer
Harry Belafonte, Banana Boat Song (Day-O)
Terry Gilkyson & the Easy Riders, Marianne
The Rooftop Singers, Walk Right In
The Seekers, I’ll Never Find Another You
Glen Campbell, Gentle On My Mind
The Lovin’ Spoonful, Daydream
Gordon Lightfoot, For Lovin’ Me
Burl Ives, A Little Bitty Tear
The Journeymen, 500 Miles
The Kingston Trio, Tijuana Jail
Irish Rovers, The Unicorn
The Smothers Brothers, My Old Man
Harry Nilsson, Everybody’s Talkin’
Bobbie Gentry, Ode to Billie Joe
Bob Lind, Elusive Butterfly
The Byrds, Mr. Tambourine Man
Jeff, sounds like a consolidated version of the 4-volume set (8 discs).
The set is called Simple Song of Freedom — the first word is obscured by the picture of the Band, but it’s there.
I have a much better set, three cds called Troubadours of the Folk Era.
I don’t like M.T.A. just because I get tired of shouting at the wife, “If you can pass him a sandwich, you can pass him the money to get off!”
Jeff, thanks for that clarification! I missed that “Simple” in the title. You’re right: it’s there.
Jeff, I say the same thing every time I hear that song. “Why not just hand him a nickel?”
Virtually all of the performers and groups labeled as “folk” back in the day were MOR/pop. I like the Kingston Trio (whom we saw in 1980 in that year’s lineup of Roger Gambill, George Grove, and the only then-active member from the original group, Bob Shane), but I was never under the illusion that they were the real backwoods deal. Most of their repertoire, especially after 1960, consisted of newly written stuff by Billy Edd Wheeler, Mason Williams, Rod McKuen, etc. This CD lineup seems even more arbitrary. Van Morrison? Kristofferson?
I’d call many of these songs hippy area – which I remember fondly, those wonderful 60s when I was a student. And I was a political activist too – for the Humanist Students’ Union where we fought against the clerical fascists ruling in West Germany and most of the world then.
Some of my favourites:
La Bamba (in the original version by Richie Valens who died much too early – but liked Donna even more)
All the Bob Dylan songs listed
Bobby McGee
San Francisco
If I was a carpenter
Light my fire
Wolf, I’ve always been a fan of “Light My Fire” no matter who performed it.
Not really a folk music fan.
Peter, Paul, & Mary were the extent of my interest and I don’t think I own any of their albums.
I know this is heresy but – I’m also not a Bob Dylan fan. I can hear the collective gasp from here.
Beth, I was a Dylan fan until the mid-1970s. After that…not so much.
A lot of “folk-pop” and folk-rock, of course, because these were created to serve as PBS pledge tokens.
Todd, PBS must have made a lot of money off this series!
Just was catching up on your posts so read this one now. I would say about half the songs wouldn’t quailify as folk in my opinion. I saw most of the individuals and groups that were around in the folk music era and have many of their LPs in my basement gathering dust. When I think of folk, I start with Pete Seeger and remember the pop folk groups such as Peter, Paul and Mary, The (original) Kingston Trio, The Chad Mitchell Trio and The Brothers Four. Some of their hits remain on my Rockola jukebox.
Kent, I’m sure those vinyl albums would be worth Real Money to some collectors!