Alan Lomax: Encyclopedia - Alan Lomax

Alan Lomax

Alan Lomax (January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American folklorist and musicologist specializing in the music of the United States and that of other nations which influenced American music. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording hundreds of songs in the United States, Great Britain, the West Indies, Italy, and Spain.

Lomax was son of pioneering musicologist and folklorist John Lomax, with whom he started his career by recording songs sung by prisoners in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. He earned a degree in philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin and worked on the oral history project for the Library of Congress. To some, he is best known for his theory of cantometrics.

Lomax's recordings are a highly regarded treasure trove of American and international culture. He spent a lifetime collecting folk music from around the world, particularly from the American South. He also recorded substantial interviews with many musicians, including Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Muddy Waters, Jelly Roll Morton, and Jeannie Robertson. He produced radio shows, had a regular television series, and was involved with the Folksong Revival of the 1950s.

His book, The Land Where the Blues Began, the story of the origins of Blues music, won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award in 1993. Lomax also received a posthumous Grammy Trustees Award for his lifetime achievements in 2003.

Alan Lomax - Bibliography

His books include

• - Selected Writings 1934-1997 (2003) (This includes a chapter defining all the categories of cantrometrics.)
• - The Land Where The Blues Began (1993)
• - Mister Jelly Roll: The fortunes of Jelly Roll Morton, New Orleans Crealo and Inventor of Jazz (1973)
• - Our Singing Country: Folk Songs and Ballads (2002)
• - Penguin Book of American Folk Songs (1968)

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