Alan Lomax
January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002
Alan Lomax was an ethnomusicologist who, like his sister, Bess Lomax, followed in the footsteps of his father, John A. Lomax by documenting folk music around the world in the form of field recordings. After he got out of college during the ’30s, the younger Lomax went to work archiving folk music at the Library of Congress. Around this time, he traveled through the southern states of America to record the local blues and folk musicians. While visiting a Louisiana prison, he discovered Lead Belly. Besides making field recordings, Lomax interviewed countless music pioneers. That list includes Muddy Waters, Jelly Roll Morton, and Woody Guthrie. He also penned numerous best selling folk music history book. During the ’50s, Lomax traveled Europe in search of its hidden folk music. In all, he is said to have recorded thousands of songs. Alan Lomax was 87 when he passed away on July 19, 2002.
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