This series continues to be a dated but definitive look at artists across a wide array of musical styles. Showcasing a moment in time during the '80s when a group of artists gathered to celebrate folk music forms, America's Music Legacy: Folk is a typical showcase. You have a wide range of talent, from the legends like Theodore Bikel (who also serves as the event's host), Doc Watson, and The Limeliters to upstarts like the young singers of the New Christy Minstrels. Even the latter group had a strong legacy, rotating new singers in to replace those whose careers were launched with New Christy Minstrels. The material also runs the gamut, from vaguely cheesy by today's standards ("Dixieland?" Really?) to Odetta's wrenching version of "House of the Rising Sun." Featuring a good mix of blue-eyed folk with diverse performers like Odetta, Buffy Saint Marie, and Josh White Jr. was a great way to send the message that folk was more than just long-haired hippies trying to escape their boring white suburbs.

Standout performances come from all the artists mentioned above, and Bikel's encyclopedic knowledge of the music comes through in his narration. Folk has largely been assimilated into pop music, by way of transitional artists like Bob Dylan and branching paths like The Beatles, but the musicians on this showcase represented the ongoing pure stream. Listening to Bikel perform Phil Ochs' "Power and Glory" in the mid '80s is timely, with Reaganism and the Cold War in full swing. The more radical and political side of the music is paired nicely here with the roots sounds of bands like Blue Flame String Band (performing "Aunt Caroline Dyer Blues") or the storytelling fun of Hoyt Axton singing "Della and the Dealer." Whatever your entry point into this music, America's Music Legacy: Folk will give you something familiar and hopefully introduce to at least one new artist. Some of these artists have faded or expired completed in the last two decades, but their legacy continues in the inspiration they provided to new generations of musicians. Watching Jos White, Jr. carry on his father's traditional style of folk music is a testament to exactly this kind of continuity and persistence within a musical form that is distinctly American. Educational, entertaining, and worth seeking out.