Search - John Jacob Niles :: My Precarious Life in the Public Domain

John Jacob Niles, "Folk Balladeer"

Scott Whitman | Los Angeles, CA | 09/19/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In 1948, John Jacob Niles wrote an article for the Atlantic Monthly entitled: "My Precarious Life in the Public Domain", an amusing account of plagiarization of his original work. Revola appropriated this ironically inappropriate title for their reissue of Niles' "Folk Balladeer" LP, a compilation released on RCA Victor in 1965. Unlike the recent Tradition re-release of "I Wonder As I Wander" of the late 50's containing both original and collected material, "Folk Balladeer", recorded between 1939 and 1941, consists entirely of ballads collected by Dr. Francis James Child of Harvard University. These seminal recordings include Niles' signature ballad, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (a.k.a. "The Hangman"), "The Ballad of Barberry Ellen", and other folk classics long in the public domain. Vocally Niles was at his peak and these recordings are arguably the finest of his career. Excellent remastering by Revola with original linear notes intact. "My Precarious Life..." is highly recommended, public domain or not, and no folk music collection is complete without it."