Alan Lomax
A visionary archivist whose relentless quest to record vanishing folk songs preserved the raw soul of American and global music.
1915–2002 (age 87)·American musicologist·Birthday: January 31·The Greatest Generation
Biography
Alan Lomax spent his life with a microphone in one hand and a mission in his heart: to democratize the world's songbook. Following in the footsteps of his father, John Lomax, he hit the road in the 1930s, not as a musician but as a hunter of sound. With a portable recording unit, he captured the voices of prison inmates, sharecroppers, and Appalachian musicians, giving permanent form to the ephemeral art of folk tradition. His recordings introduced the world to Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, and Muddy Waters, directly fueling folk and blues revivals. Lomax's work expanded far beyond collection; he was an evangelist, creating radio shows, producing concerts, and later launching a colossal global project to map the world's musical cultures. He argued that folk song was a vital form of social expression, and his life's work ensured those expressions would not be silenced.
The Greatest Generation
1901–1927
Grew up during the Depression, fought World War II, and built the postwar economic boom. Defined by shared sacrifice, institutional trust, and a belief that hard work and loyalty would be rewarded.
Alan was born in 1915, placing them squarely in The Greatest Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Alan Was Born
The biggest hits of 1915
#1 Movie
The Birth of a Nation
Alan's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1915Born
The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat
President: Woodrow Wilson
1920Started school
Women gain the right to vote in the US
Home: $3,395President: Woodrow Wilson"Swanee" — Al Jolson
1928Became a teenager
Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin; Mickey Mouse debuts
President: Calvin Coolidge"Ol' Man River" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: Wings
1931Could drive
The Empire State Building opens as the world's tallest
Gas: $0.17/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Minnie the Moocher" — Cab CallowayBest Picture: Cimarron
1933Could vote
FDR's New Deal launches; Prohibition ends
Gas: $0.18/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Stormy Weather" — Ethel WatersBest Picture: Cavalcade
1936Turned 21
Jesse Owens wins four golds at the Berlin Olympics
Gas: $0.19/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"The Way You Look Tonight" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: The Great Ziegfeld
1945Turned 30
WWII ends; atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $4,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Sentimental Journey" — Les Brown & Doris DayBest Picture: The Lost Weekend
1955Turned 40
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $9,550Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Rock Around the Clock" — Bill Haley & His CometsBest Picture: Marty
1965Turned 50
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1975Turned 60
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1985Turned 70
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
1995Turned 80
Oklahoma City bombing; Windows 95 released
Gas: $1.15/galHome: $96,500Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Gangsta's Paradise" — CoolioBest Picture: Braveheart
2002Died at 87
Euro currency enters circulation
Gas: $1.36/galHome: $137,800Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"How You Remind Me" — NickelbackBest Picture: Chicago
Key Achievements
- With his father John, recorded legendary folk singer Lead Belly at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in 1933.
- Directed the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress from 1937 to 1942, expanding its collection dramatically.
- Produced the 'American Folk Song' series for CBS Radio in the 1930s and '40s, bringing folk music to a national audience.
- Pioneered the Cantometrics project, a systematic analysis of the relationship between song style and culture.
- His field recordings in the American South and later in Europe, the Caribbean, and beyond created an irreplaceable audio archive of 20th-century folk traditions.
Did You Know?
He recorded a young Muddy Waters on the Stovall Plantation in Mississippi in 1941, before Waters' move to Chicago.
Lomax was blacklisted during the McCarthy era for his leftist political views, which forced him to work in Europe for several years.
He hosted a folk music show on BBC radio in the 1950s that influenced the early British folk revival.
The Lomax collection at the American Folklife Center contains over 17,000 recordings.
He was a driving force behind the 1960s folk revival, mentoring and influencing artists like Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger.
“The folk song is the newspaper of a people who do not have newspapers.”
