John Allison collection

1897-1981

Born on January 13, 1892, in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, John Blauvelt Allison was a folklorist and musician devoted to North American folk music. He began collecting and researching early North American folk songs in 1920, learning songs from his father, William Outis Allison, who was also a devotee of folk songs. In 1925, Allison married Lucy Newton Dodsworth and began teaching her folk songs from his collection. They started out by singing this material privately; soon they started to play music for the neighbors and were invited to perform at dinner parties. Lucy also brought folk material to a local nursery school and taught songs to large groups of young children.

In 1926, after a successful radio audition, John Allison began producing radio shows featuring folk songs performed by a trio consisting of himself, his wife, and Ted Dibble. Dibble was a Jew's harpist, guitarist, baritone singer and a longtime friend who had influenced Allison's interest in early folk music. This group was originally listed as "The Jubileers" and later "The American Folk Singers." Their programs were featured on New York City-based radio stations such as WRNY and WOR, as well as local New Jersey stations. In the early 1930s, John and Lucy formed a duo, discontinuing the trio. From 1938 to 1945, their daughter would often join John and Lucy in a group billed as "The Allisons."

In 1940, Allison released his first album, Ballads of the American Revolution and War of 1812, on RCA Victor. This album marked the beginning of Allison's notable work focusing on original adaptations of historical material.

Many press write-ups on this and other releases focused on Allison's promotion of North American folklore and how he helped to challenge the widespread notion that the United States had no folk music of its own. Notable supporters of Allison included poet Carl Sandburg, actor Burgess Meredith, and author John Steinbeck; Steinbeck invited John and Lucy Allison to perform in the Fight for Freedom Committee's "Fun to Be Free" pageant in Washington D.C. in 1941. Also in 1941, the Allisons were featured in "A Cavalcade of American Song," a Town Hall concert in New York City that included other musicians such as Burl Ives, W.C. Handy, Leadbelly, and Pete Seeger.

The Allisons also contributed greatly to the war effort by having their recordings broadcast on local radio to promote war bond sales. They also appeared in the Office of War Information series entitled "Uncle Sam Speaks." In 1943, the Allison duo performed a 15-minute program broadcast to American soldiers around the world. During World War II, Allison also released two additional albums: Songs of the Zoo (1941) and Early American Ballads (1943). He also recorded two albums with the Conneticut Folk Singers: Heroes, Heroines and Mishaps (1957) and Spaceway Ballads: Folksongs of the Rocketmen Circa 2075 AD (1960). Many of the songs included were based on family traditions, while some songs were reconstructed based on versions heard by Allison's musical collaborators. Allison also worked on a number of projects that were never released. In his later years, Allison focused more on his visual artwork.

John Allison remarried Eleanor Wilcox in 1954. He died on October 19, 1981, at the age of 88 in Pound Ridge, New York.