Pretty much everyone hates Sixties Folk, except me and a few other weirdos. So you would think African-Americans would like it even less, right? African-Americans are usually not shy in declaring their musical preferences, whether it’s hip-hop, old skool, blues, jazz, easy listening or opera. So you would think if any of them liked Folk, they would say so, right?
And yet…and yet…
Sometimes when folky or oldie-type music is being played outdoors, like in a park or at a street fair, and there is a group of African-Americans nearby, at least one of them (usually older) will be listening intently, smiling slightly, secretly enjoying it all, but not saying anything.
So, let’s help out the recording industry demographers! Is there a Black demographic for folk-rock oldies?
Or is there just as much cultural peer pressure among African-Americans as among the rest of us? Is there pressure to like or not like the correct things? Does anybody ever yell at their Cousin Milton to turn off that hippy garbage?
There’s definitely as much pressure, if not more, to conform in your musical tastes in the black community. My old friend Kindro was constantly made fun of (when he wasn’t ignored) by other black kids because he liked heavy metal.
About the '60s folk-pop thing, it does seem to get sampled a lot in various rap and R&B songs. You might be onto something.
Dunno, tclouie & Badtz Maru. Conformity like that lessens considerably with age with ANY group. After your early to mid-twenties, unless you’re in that post-adolescent group of inhibited geeks/ethnically insecure buppies STILL looking for validation from your peers, who gives a damn how your music tastes grow? Tho’ you could have a problem throwing on a Peter Paul & Mary tune at a hip-hop party featuring mostly rappers from Death Row and Cash Money Records. When it comes to crowds, it just makes sense to play it safe. That’s why niche music stays in a niche.
In an era where Jay-Z could sample ANYTHING from that horrendously meretricious pop-culture dreck, ‘Annie’ and turn it into something halfway catchy, I’ll put nothing past anyone motivated enough. Let’s pray D’Angelo doesn’t listen to ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’ or we’ll be up to our ears in marijuana songs.
As an aside to Napster users: Where can I find that song that used to play during naptime segments on SESAME STREET, “Everybody needs sleep?” If you’re under twenty-five, ya probably don’t know what i’m talking about.
If you’re thinking the Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul, and Mary, or pre-1968 Simon & Garfunkel, I can’t picture older black folks secretly enjoying it. Or admitting to secretly enjoying it. That’s kinda the white-bread version of 60s Folk, the kind that made money for the record companies.
On the other hand, the Holy Modal Rounders, the Incredible String Band, the New Lost City Ramblers, and Dave Van Ronk (examples of defiantly non-commercial 60s Folk) performed and recorded lots of blues tunes and jug-band tunes and Gospel tunes that were originally played by African-American musicians.
An older black guy might hear “Hesitation Blues” or “See That My Grave is Swept Clean” or “Willie the Weeper” or “Borneo” and remember how his Aunt Petunia used to sing it to him while she dandled him on her knee.
What kind of idiot are you? Black people like all kinds of music, thank you very much. As much as a White person can enjoy Hip Hop, Rap, R&B, Alternative, Rock, Polka, Classical and Calypso a Black person can (and does) equally enjoy those types of music.
Your query is based on the (false) supposition that if it ain’t Rap, R&B or Hip Hop the brothas and sistas will diss it. May I invite you to put your myopic, ignorant views where the sun don’t shine.
So is the Black person supposed to come up to you and inform you that he/she really digs this music, in case you were wondering? I don’t know where you live or where your from, but don’t impose your limited experience(s) with what you do and don’t see Black people enjoying on us a whole.
[sub]Will somebody please create a putz smiley that isn’t smiling![/sub]
De La Soul sampled Johnny Cash in 1989 and blew my mind. And I can still tell the difference between sixties folk music and ‘folk-rock’. To me it’s sincerity. I sincerely hope that racial lines in music are created by money grubbing ‘West Coast Under Assistant’ men and not music fans.
Trust me, Simon and Garfunkel is MORE than just white bread folk. They did some old poems turned into songs, some medieval ballads, instrumentals, etc etc… a big S&G fan!
I’m with Ukulele You’ll have to define the “folk music”
FWIW, I listen to a shit load of sixties music. From Sly and the Family Stones to Credence Clearwater from the Average White Band to Simon & Garfunckle.
Oh and as Juanita implied: My record collection includes the folowing random sample: Quiet Riot(the one with Cum on feel the noise), Hank Williams Jr., Elton John, Earth Wind, The B52’s, Duran Duran, Parliament & Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. Classify that!
Good point, Juanita. I decided to give tclouie the benefit of the doubt and read “black people” as “cool people.” (Which also shows prejudice, I guess, but not the sort that gets complained about.)
Guin: Yeah, I probably shouldn’t have lumped S&G in with those other two…but I needed a third example to make a proper list. Okay, delete S&G and replace with…replace with…hell, replace with Peter, Paul, and Mary again.
Try maybe the Mamas and Papas…or better yet, the Byrds? No, the Byrds don’t work…um…how about that one song, “Reach Out in the Darkness?” (I think it’s so groovy now, that people are finally gettin’ together…)
You have no reason to insult me just for asking a question. The very reason I ask questions is because I realize I don’t know everything, and would like to become more enlightened. So enlighten me, but don’t be abusive about it.
You have got to be incredibly thin-skinned to be offended by someone simply asking, “What do black people like?”, and framing the question in terms of their own experience.
Sixties Folk: Purely acoustic, mostly pre-1965. Dylan, Ochs, Peter Paul & Mary.
Sixties Folk Rock: Mostly Post-1965, folk-influenced with more electric instruments. Dylan again, Byrds, Simon & Garfunkel.
JuanitaTech, apologies in advance don’t make it okay to use an approach more suited to the Pit than here. This isn’t a reflection on your point; just on how and where you expressed it. Please don’t do it again, advance apology or not.
tclouie, looks to me like some posters are taking your question in a way possibly you didn’t intend. I’ve warned against reactions inappropriate to IMHO, but apparently the confusion isn’t limited to one person. I understand your defensiveness but you’d be well advised to calmly and resonably explain what you do mean.