{"product_id":"ballad-hunting-with-max-hunter-9780252044892","title":"Ballad Hunting with Max Hunter","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA traveling salesman with little formal education, Max Hunter gravitated to song catching and ballad hunting while on business trips in the Ozarks. Hunter recorded nearly 1600 traditional songs by more than 200 singers from the mid-1950s through the mid-1970s, all the while focused on preserving the music in its unaltered form. \u003cp\u003eSarah Jane Nelson chronicles Hunter’s song collecting adventures alongside portraits of the singers and mentors he met along the way. The guitar-strumming Hunter picked up the recording habit to expand his repertoire but almost immediately embraced the role of song preservationist. Being a local allowed Hunter to merge his native Ozark earthiness with sharp observational skills to connect--often more than once--with his singers. Hunter’s own ability to be present added to that sense of connection. Despite his painstaking approach, ballad collecting was also a source of pleasure for Hunter. Ultimately, his dedication to capturing Ozarks song cultur\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Hunter recorded nearly 1600 songs from more than 200 singers over a period of several decades. Because he was not directly connected to academia or to the publishing world, his work might not be as familiar as are the works of other Ozark folklorists, but we learn through the determined research of Sarah Jane Nelson that his life as a collector was rich with stories of fascinating musicians, folkloristic debates, shifting attitudes, and relationships with folklorists and folklore-related institutions throughout the country.\" --\u003ci\u003eOzarksWatch\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Vividly illuminates the efforts of a remarkable ballad-hunter, festival impresario, and personality, while offering attention to nationwide folksong currents intersecting with the Ozarks. There is an audience of scholars, folksong performers and enthusiasts, and Ozarks residents and aficionados awaiting this book.\"--James P. Leary, author of \u003ci\u003eFolklores of Another America: Field Recordings from the Upper Midwest, 1937–1946\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I appreciate that Ms. Nelson took the time and energy to write about Max Hunter's life, his quest for ballads, and the family and singers who helped him along the way. Her writing style is clean and unpretentious.\" --\u003ci\u003eMissouri Historical Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eForeword: The Singer in Me\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003eRobert Cochran\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreface\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntroduction: Max Hunter and the Ballad Field\u003c\/p\u003e\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSinging on the Way to Church\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA Traveling Salesman in Eureka\u0026lt;\u0026gt;\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRules of Collecting and How Hunter Got His Songs\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Child Ballads and Other Bounty\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSinging Grandmas and the Musical Tribes of Stone County\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCircle of Friends\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Importance of Columbia\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMore Than a Hobby\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMax Hunter’s Map of the Ozarks\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMax Hunter and the Festival Circuit\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOne Eye on the Past and One on the Future\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e Notes \u003cp\u003eSelected Bibliography\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIndex\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of Illinois Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49400456577367,"sku":"9780252044892","price":68.25,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780252044892.jpg?v=1730470727","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/ballad-hunting-with-max-hunter-9780252044892","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}