Discovering American Folk Music

Year Published: 1982

Format: 16mm

Color: Color

Sound: sound

Description: Reviews the two main influences -- African and English -- on the development of American folk music. Traces the history of one ballad from its original British version through its journey across America to its emergence in the American West as the cowboy song, 'The Streets of Laredo,' and later in a Negro blues version entitled 'Saint James Infirmary. For more on filmmaker Bernard Wilets, visit http://www.afana.org/wilets.htm