last update 4/5/00
![[Cafe Wha? Coffehouse, Greenwich Village]](http://www.zipcon.com/~highroad/wah.gif)
![[Joan Baez]](http://www.zipcon.com/~highroad/joan3.jpg)
This site is dedicated to the Folkniks (as they were often called then), the folk and protest singers from the late 1950s through early 1960s. These warriors, armed only with voice and guitar, inspired the nation and the world with their conspiracy against racial segregation, military draft, McCarthyism, censorship, blacklists, the cold war. nuclear Sword of Damocles, nuclear fallout, and prevailing "don't rock the boat" mindset of the time. It may seem strange now, but then folk musicians could sell millions of albums, hear their songs played even on commercial radio and television, and read gossip about themselves in the mass media. There will be folk music revivals again, but there will never again be anything like those heady days!
Essential Artists. A baker's dozen albums representing the best of that era available on CD. I have somewhat arbitrarily included only North American artists, and displayed only one CD per artist. Here you can click on the artist's name for a fan site or biographical data. You can also click on an album cover to get more info on the album itself, usually including some sound clips, along with an option to purchase the CD (and while there you can click on the artist's name to see about other albums by that artist).
Honorable Mention. I ran out of room on the Essential Artists page, but these artists also certainly deserve notice.
Compilation Albums. You say you can't afford to buy all the CDs from the above links? Then take a look at these compilation CDs, an excellent way to start a collection. Also included on the page is a CD box set reissue of the collection that most influenced the Folkniks, plus a tribute album to the 60's folk artists from some of today's artists.
Children's Albums. Kids love folk songs, let's not lose the tradition of music for them!
New Crop. These are artists who started their careers in the 90's but whose strength of songwriting and performance remind me of the Folkniks.
Reissue Campaigns. A source of extreme frustration to the fans of that era is that much of the wonderful music is still unavailable on CD. Find out how you can help.
Books and Videos. This link lists books that can give you the flavor of the Folk Scare era's social, political and cultural context, plus some biographies and songbooks.
Webcast.The Great Folk Scare website now has it's own webcast. At least a 56k modem is required. Take a look at the Rotation List.
Community. Join our Virtual Coffeehouse Discussion Board, or just visit and browse the messages. The coffeehouses of the period were as noted for their impassioned discussions as for their music and expresso. On this BBS you can discuss anything you like as long as it is at least remotely relevant to the Folk Scare or other folk revivals. This is also where any site news will now be announced. If your browser accepts "cookies" it will always tell you how many new postings there have been since your last visit. And you can Subscribe to e-mail notification of new posts (you can Unsubscribe here too).
Links. External web sites with related content, including web broadcasts of folk music. See the lyrics to folksongs, read a brief history of the era, etc.
WebRings we belong to.
A few words about the scope of this site, in case you're wondering why your favorite musician isn't included. One of the realities of running a website like this is that you must have some focus; if it's too inclusive visitors will be overwhelmed with the volume of information and leave. To maintain such needed focus, I have not included the more commercial, clean-cut groups like the Kingston Trio, Limeliters, New Christy Minstrels, Brothers Four, Rooftop Singers, Serendipity Singers, etc. who targeted a mass audience. I have nothing against these groups, some of whom still have an enthusiastic following, they're just not the focus of this site (however, several are included in our webcast, which has a broader scope). For the same reason I have not emphasized those who got their start in a previous folk music revival, such as Dock Boggs, The Almanac Singers, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Cisco Houston, The Weavers, Josh White, the Carter Family etc, even though some were still performing. Finally, I had to exclude primarily regional performers, as well as artists like Gordon Lightfoot, Tim Hardin and Ritchie Havens who indeed started their careers in the era, but did not come into national prominence until after the "official" end of the Great Folk Scare era when Dylan went electric at the Newport Folk Festival of 1965.
Please report any SITE problems (broken links, etc.) to the Webmeister. Please discuss any CONTENT issues on our Virtual Coffeehouse discussion board.
Click on the logo below to search for and/or order music, books, videos etc. Subtle hint: ordering from Amazon.com through this site costs you no more than going there directly, you can still use any account you may have set up, and it brings us a small commission that enables and encourages us to keep this site maintained and growing. Please consider bookmarking this page for your online music. book, video, etc. purchases. Thank you for your cooperation.