The
American folk music revival was a phenomenon in the United States that began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like
Josh White,
Burl Ives,
Woody Guthrie,
Lead Belly,
Big Bill Broonzy,
Richard Dyer-Bennet,
Oscar Brand,
Jean Ritchie,
John Jacob Niles,
Susan Reed,
Paul Robeson and
Cisco Houston had enjoyed a limited general popularity in the 1930s and 1940s. The revival brought forward musical styles that had, in earlier times, contributed to the development of
country & western,
jazz, and
rock and roll music.