We begin with the back story of American folk, including the blues and work song field recordings of John and Alan Lomax and discovery of transplanted British Isles ballads in the Appalachian region of our country. Folk music’s broader popularity officially began with the early 1950s commercial breakthrough of the Weavers who scored big hits with Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie songs. Next came Harry Belafonte’s Jamaican Farewell and the calypso pop/folk trend that dominated for the next few years. Then the Kingston Trio hit big in 1958 with Tom Dooley. Finally at the end of the fifties a new star named Joan Baez emerged at the first Newport Folk Festival. Of course, throughout these ten years, many other folk artists appeared who would influence the larger folk revival of the sixties when protest folk music finally came to national attention. Program also includes Burl Ives, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie, Odetta, Theodore Bikel and Dave van Ronk who all played an important part of the story of folk music in the 1950s.

John Clark grew up in a small town in Ohio, attended college in Illinois and graduate school north of Boston. In Atlanta he taught adult education for twenty years for Emory University and Mercer University, creating classes on Bob Dylan, Fifties and Sixties music and a series called Lyrics as Literature. From 2008-2014 he was a high school history and English teacher. Since moving to Boston ten years ago, he has taught adult education for Brandeis, Tufts, Cambridge, Newton and Brookline. In 2023 he presented over 300 American Music history lectures for senior living communities and Councils on Aging. His is also an occasional guest disc jockey on MIT’s radio station, WMBR (88.1).