Biographies of Informants & some Collectors I-J-K
Biographies of Informants, Performers and some Collectors (Traditional Ballads and Folk Songs)
North America (Arranged in Alphabetical order by last name)
[This section is for biographies of the important informants of Anglo-Saxon ballads and folk songs and is not all inclusive. Every collector had their best informants. Some informants by their reputations were visited by many collectors, and recordings were made in some instances. Some informants were recording artists in the 1920s and their songs were collected indirectly by the record companies.
The focus of this study is North America. At some point The British Isles will be included on a separate page.
There is little known about some collectors, for example, Fred High (MO-AR), John Stone (VA, under the auspices of the Virginia Folklore Society), Winston Wilkinson (VA, under the auspices of the Virginia Folklore Society).
R. Matteson 2015]
Informants and Some Collectors- North America
CONTENTS
Ives, Burl (IL) 1909- 1995
Karpeles, Maud (England) Collector; editor
Kincaid, Bradley (KY) 1895-1989
Kennison, Josiah S. (VT)
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An Index to the Field Recordings in the Flanders Ballad Collection
at Middlebury College; Middlebury, Vermont.
In Chester and Grafton, George Brown had discouraging experiences in his initial attempt to find older ballads. However, in Townshend, in August 1930, he met a 68 year old man named Josiah Kennison, who sang for him a version of "Lord Bakeman" which, it appears from Brown's notes, greatly altered his attitude toward balladry and gave him impetus to continue his work.
In addition to "Lord Bakeman", Kennison sang several other well-known British and American ballads. Brown and Flanders returned to him again in October and November of that year and Flanders also later recorded his songs in 1931, 1932, 1937, 1939, 1942 and 1945. She took Kennison with her when she lectured in New England during the 1930s so that he could illustrate her talks with his songs. Altogether, Kennison contributed more than forty titles to the archive.