A CD compilation of two albums
Pete Seeger recorded under the same title in the late '50s,
Folk Music of the World sounds like
Seeger's response to
Theodore Bikel's big-selling series of albums devoted to the local
folk music of various countries. There's little attempt to be "faithful" in any literal sense, as
Seeger performs all of the songs in pretty much the exact same way: upbeat
singalongs with banjo or acoustic guitar accompaniment, so that the Hebrew-sung
Israeli folk tune
"Road to Eilat" sounds more or less identical to the
cowboy song of the American West
"Kisses Sweeter Than Wine." (Which, incidentally,
Seeger performs in the familiar
pop version popularized by
Jimmie Rodgers and
the Weavers, not in one of the older variant forms.)
Seeger would no doubt argue that this was intentional, an attempt to show the commonality of music from the world over. There's something to be said for this argument, to be sure, but in execution,
Folk Music of the World sounds like dumbed-down "
folk lite" for those late-'50s college students who thought that
the Kingston Trio had the folky equivalent of street cred. ~ Stewart Mason
![Desire [Remastered]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0827969239322_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Desire [Remastered]")
