Alan Lomax

Jan. 31 1915 - July 19, 2002

by Chris Morda

We were saddened to hear of the news that folklorist and Ethomusicologist Alan Lomax passed away on July 19th. Alan started his folklore career in 1933 while accompanying his father, John Lomax (a highly respected folklorist in his own right) on a recording trip for the Library Congress. Alan Lomax spent the next nine years with his father, sister, or alone, on more field trip recordings. These recordings are of special note to blues fans for they include recordings of Son House in a string band setting, and the first recordings (1941-42) of a then unknown McKinley Morganfied a.k.a. Muddy Waters. The Lomax's also recorded Leadbelly after meeting him while he was in prison and subsequently helped Leadbelly earn his release.

In 1946, Alan Lomax recorded a series of interviews with Memphis Slim, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Big Bill Broonzy discussing the early origins and philosophy of the blues. These interviews are currently available as "Blues in the Mississippi Night" on Rykodisc records. Lomax continued to study folk musics of the world until his retirement in 1996. A wealth of knowledge is found in his collection of "Folk Songs of North America: In the English Language" which found Lomax's bandmate, Peggy Seeger, transcribing melodies and guitar chords.

"I found out that what I was really doing was giving an avenue for people to express themselves and tell their side of the story."
- Alan Lomax, 1991

In 1993 Lomax won National Book Award for his book The Land Where the Blues Began, an account of his work in the south from the 1930s to the 1980s. This book is a must read for acoustic blues fans as it discusses his initial meetings with Muddy Waters, Son House, and many others. Blues fans will also find the video of his research for this work very interesting as well. Before his retirement Alan Lomax and Rounder Records released a collection of cd's of his recordings of world music spanning 60 years of his research and field recordings. Needless to say Alan Lomax will be greatly missed, and yet at the same time his work will continue to be discovered again and again, and continue to inspire forever.
For more info visit the following websites:

Alan's site
Rounder Records Lomax site

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