Alan Lomax on the Sacred Harp (1982) 

I don't think Lomax ran over the other men. I think they were spellbound by the rich historical lecture Lomax was giving. He was trying to get them to contribute at one point, and they were just speechless as they processed all the information he had just poured out for their benefit. Bless Lomax, this has given me an even greater appreciation for Sacred Harp and Shape Notes.

Jesus Christ these comments, he's a folk expert, they're singers and i'm sure they have a lot to offer and i bet he drew a lot out of them in the full interaction, but he's going to have a lot more to say because he's one of the world's foremost experts on folk music. It's not like he's just some guy who turned up and started steamrolling them.

Jeez there are some negative people commenting on this clip. Just be grateful for this remarkable collection of material.

Allan Lomax introduced SO MANY ears and hearts to SO MANY different obscure musical traditions including the archaic Blues records which sparked the UK Blues revival and The Rolling Stones - this grassroots thread fired up the English Folk Revival and Woody Guthrie and Dylan were affected by him which fired up others like Led Zeppelin and Fairport Convention and Young Tradition could get an audience singing ‘What Wondrous Love is this’ and ‘Idumea’…..and he was June tabors mentor I think….a very important cultural reviver….no one should ever criticise him in ignorance of this history He has 100’s of recording in the Library of Congress as well

Lomax is so fascinating and I could listen to him talk forever.

Seriously, some stupid posts. Who are You ppl that have enough time to argue on youtube? I comment once a year and I love Sacred Harp.

As a fan of the work of Alan and his father, I was star struck watching this. I idolize Alan and his father. And he speaks just like his dad! And his brilliance put Sacred Harp in a much deeper geographic and historical context for me. But I agree with Phil Summerlin. Sacred Harp music is a conduit between god and my heart.

Absolutely fascinating. What an erudite and articulate man!

The longest sentence I have ever heard and the best

My goodness when he turned to those men tp get their opinions and they just want to hear him talk. They're as interested as I am.

This is fascinating and informative. Thank you so much. I understand now my urge to harmonize whenever the opportunity 😅. I believe the resonance created by the various harmonies vibrating through our bodies via song is healing and makes us feel happy.

'sircoughsalot': A glorified, money-grubbing thief! He talks too much and listens too little. - Listens too little! Come on! What would we have known of musical culture in 200 years' time without this man's ear? Our future is looking grim, this man recorded so very very much of what will be completely alien very soon. He personally seems only flawed, like everyone.

Great Man !

This looks like the cemetery at Holly Springs PBC. If so, they are sitting on the raised graves of my great grandparents. Cool.

I heard this recording in college and it stayed with me for decades. It took me a very long time to find this haunting melody again and I’m so glad I’ve found it 🙏🏼

And his son Alan traveled with him...

I think thats because you're just watching the clip of alan talking. Probably the entire discussion has a more equal input, and at 8:30 he asks everyone else what they think and they are all content to let him continue on his own for the time being.

Fascinating

Exactly, that's why it's frustrating: "But enough from me. What do you guys think? Because what I think is..." He clearly feels himself to be in charge of the conversation, so when these genuine experts politely defer to his (shall we say) superior fluency, he should perhaps have had the humility and the savoir-faire to draw them out with some interesting questions, rather than just plough on. As you say, we don't know what happens next, but he certainly has plenty to say for himself!

LOL FUNNY INTERVIEW.

yes, his father's name was John Lomax

Lomax was an interesting guy who did epic work, but what's up w/the nerdy haircut?

@muldoonspicnic Yeah- this kind of thing is always the conundrum with Lomax. he found and explored and brought into American and world memory so much, but he could never get out of the way of what he found.

This is beautiful. Just hearing that word "European" being said without bitterness is strange to my ears... Nowadays, American society won't even consider to think of something that was specifically European with any sort of respect, as holding beauty, or consider the cultures that came from there with any kind of awe or wonder. That strangeness renews my shock at how far my countrymen have fallen away from thinking of humanity as one people, let alone thinking of America as one people, and yet they preach about how much disunity that people "on the other side" are supposedly responsible for and are allegedly producing with joy. I find no joy in finding that my fellow christians disagree that all life, no matter the background noise of society's opinion, is precious and sacred, and worth defending. I find no pleasure in hearing fellow Americans and believers alike participating in, and encouraging an entire population to participate in, the mocking, shaming, or publicly maligning if a group of people based on the color of our skin. A color, which, is supposedly a mark of shame because it just so happens to coincide with *some* of the historical figures who have performed atrocities within the history of the world... Our American people's hearts and minds are so tied up within irrelevant references to race, references that are so flagrantly and disrespectfully spouted in this 2000's - 2020's era, and spouted so often in connection to the word "European," that we miss put on the humanity, art, and beauty of those who came before us. This man is not speaking about race, thankfully; he's speaking about the people and cultures that were developed out of that region as a unique and as a beautiful thing. It actually brought tears to my eyes to see the childlike wonder on his face when he talked about how many different styles of singing were incorporated into the Appalachian music-culture, including my own ancestors as a valuable contributing piece. What a time that must have been, where "white" people weren't publicly shamed or seen as racist for loving culture that happened to be in their ancestry.

Well said! Sing On...

Is Russia always too far away to be understood? 10;31/12;10

Interesting... but his geography of Britian is suspect and he didn't seem to be aware of th Lancashire/Old English sol-fa notation. Interestign mention of Soldier's Joy... first published in Sweden as a dance tune...and apparently a 3 part version exists in NOrway..... every tradition os=wes so much to others.

While this is interesting, I think it sucks the soul right out of Sacred Harp singing, something that be experienced more and analyzed less. I say this from the point of view of an avid singer who considers himself an atheist, so it is not necessarily a religious spirit that I'm talking about. Certainly, to many SH singers these songs are deeply spiritual. But for others there is a palpable power in the music, a connection with both the past and the present that stirs even heathen souls.

People interested in this might enjoy "Songcatcher", a new song we've written about musicologists, featuring some nice pics: /watch?v=VwThMcqTfaY

Dance to me is the link pin elephant in the world music discussion room-

well, Java has more and older four-square songs than Northwest Europe. What does it matter?

SHAME IYS NOT INTRODUCED TO NEWS PROGRAMS.COLD MOUNTAIN FILM REVEALED THIS STYLE

it matters because it is/was.

OH YES AND GREGORIAN CHANTS!!! PLEASE LISTEN TO THE SIMILARITIES!

With great respect to Alan Lomax, one might wish he had drawn out his companions and made this a conversation rather than a rambling lecture, and especially that he'd explored Phil Summerlin's interesting and prescient point about whether the in gaining greater acceptance the music will be "taken over somewhat". Thanks for posting all this wonderful material and keep up the good work.

Would have liked to hear more of the first gent. Pedantic indeed!

Lomax is frustratingly pedantic.

Lomax was the GOAT of folk music