Research Catalog

Title

The rose & the briar : death, love and liberty in the American ballad / edited by Sean Wilentz and Greil Marcus.

Publication

New York : W.W. Norton, c2005.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

• Wilentz, Sean
• Marcus, Greil

Description

viii, 406 p. : ill., map; 24 cm.

Summary

The ballad has been part of American history since before the country had a name. In this book, the editors have assembled an astonishing group of writers and artists--novelists, essayists, performers, and critics--to explore the ineffable power of the American ballad. In words and in drawings, the collaborators have tapped the veins of America's most imaginative and expressive form. From "Barbara Allen," one of the earliest, through "The Wreck of the Old 97," to contemporary ballads by Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, The Rose & the Briar presents a rich new patch of art and commentary--like the ballads, no two the same, but all of a piece, about stories, storytellers, and American death, love, and liberty.--Publisher.

Alternative Title

Rose and the briar

Subject

• Ballads, English > United States > History and criticism
• Death in music
• Love songs > United States > History and criticism
• Liberty > History and criticism

Genre/Form

• Songs
• Music
• Criticism, interpretation, etc.
• Musique.

Note

• "Doomed lovers, highway shooeters, a nation lost and found. " -- Dustjacket.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Includes discography.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

"Barbara Allen" / Dave Marsh -- "The water is wide" / Ann Powers -- "Pretty Polly" / Rennie Sparks -- Music, when soft voices die / Sharyn McCrumb -- Naomi Wise, 1807 / Anna Domino -- John Brown's body / Sarah Vowell -- "When you go a courtin'" / R. Crumb -- Little maggie : a mystery / J.C. Oates -- We did them wrong : the ballad of Frankie and Albert / C. Brown -- The sad song of Delia Green and Cooney Houston / S. Wilentz -- Destiny in my right hand : "The wreck of old 97" and "Dead man's curve" / D. Thomas -- I thought I heard Buddy Bolden say / L. Sante -- "See Willy fly by" and "The cuckoo" / J. Langford -- Mariachi reverie / Paul Berman -- "The foggy, foggy dew" / John Rockwell -- "Come Sunday" / Stanley Crouch -- "El Paso" / James Miller -- "Trial of Mary Maguire" / Ed Ward -- Love, lore, celebrity, and dead babies : Dolly Parton's "Down from Dover" / Eric Weisbard -- "Sail away" and "Louisiana 1927" / Steve Erickson -- Dancing with Dylan / Wendy Lesser -- "Nebraska" / Howard Hampton -- "Blackwatertown" / Paul Muldoon -- Envoi / Greil Marcus.

ISBN

0393059545 (hardcover)

LCCN

^^2004014811

OCLC

• 55744543
• SCSB-10395025

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library