Audio file
Title: Alan Lomax dictates various correspondence (part 1)
Date recorded: January 1, 1981 to January 14, 1981
Contributor(s): Contributor: Lomax, AlanBelongs to: Lomax, 1981
Rights: The rights to the audio, photographic, and video materials contained within the Lomax Digital Archive are administered by various publishers, record labels, collectors, estates, and other rights holders. Any uses, commercial or not, must be cleared by the specific rights holders. For questions regarding the use of any material on the LDA, please contact Permissions.
Date recorded: January 1, 1981 to January 14, 1981
Contributor(s): Contributor: Lomax, Alan
Subject(s): Folklore; Cantometrics; Choreometrics; Roosevelt, Franklin Delano; Geddes, William R.; Lomax, John A.; Morton, Ferdinand (Jelly Roll)
Genre: dictation
Culture: African American, Cajun
Location:
Tape number: T3683
Track Number: 1
Archive ID: T3683a
Note: Alan recalls that a small grant from the Carnegie Corporation enabled John A. Lomax to establish the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress and the role the Library's recordings played in the folk song revival and in popular grass-roots phenomena such as rock and roll. However, today young people are unaware of the rich tradition of black folk music. Alan plans to produce a treasury of Black folk music which will survey black folk and popular music of the USA, the West Indies, and other parts of the New World. Funds are needed for annotation and illustration (with photographs and drawings) and for gratis distribution to black institutions and the centers where black culture is being studied. Dictated letter to Ahmet Ertegun: Years ago when we met across Jelly Roll's piano in Washington I guess you never guessed that one day you would be head of a vast recording empire. In my recent trip across the South I discovered that TV had intervened between black young people and the traditions of their grandparents. I realized I must prevent this disaster or the main source of our musical culture will have dried up. I am preparing a collection of 12 albums that would make the best of this tradition available. Our Cantometrics work of the last 20 years reveals that one of the most remarkable periods of world music occurred in the South, testifying to the unbelievable genius of these people, who without instruments or learning, made a brand new music out of their hearts. I hope Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, and others will put their names on these albums as sponsors. New World Records, the university press of record companies, has agreed to publish them in a non-profit way. To William R. Geddes, University of Sydney, Australia: I had the great pleasure of presenting your beautiful film at the Margaret Mead Festival. I read excerpts of your beautiful and fascinating "Nine Dyak Nights," one of the masterpieces of ethnography. I had no idea you were a remarkable writer as well as the best of film-makers. You may recall that you let workers from Choreometrics analyze some of your film footage. Request for some information about the film of the male belly dancers of Egypt - the name of the group, date, location, and film maker.
About the session: Alan Lomax dictates correspondence to various colleagues, including to Ahmet Ertegun and William R. Geddes (University of Sydney, Australia).
Do you have something to add, or do you see an error in this record? We'd love to
hear from you.