Alan Lomax: recorder of the world, creator of Pandora?
To many people, Alan Lomax is simply the man who introduced the world to Woody Guthrie (and legendary folk songs like �This Land is Your Land�). But for Alan Lomax, Guthrie was just one of thousands of musical discoveries made over the course of more than half a century. Lomax, who served as Assistant Folk Song Archivist for the Library of Congress in the 1930s, recorded music from some of the most remote corners and people on earth � including Caribbean field workers, pygmies and black American prisoners. But how much do we know about the respected oral historian, producer, and interviewer?
John Szwed is the author of a new biography centering on the world’s most famous ethnomusicologist called �Alan Lomax: The Man Who Recorded the World.� He joins us in studio.
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.