Wail Songs Collection
Collection Overview
Scope and Contents
Collection consists of remaining audiotape masters from the filk label Wail Songs, which are mostly live performances at filk conventions from the 1980s. In addition to commercially-released material, some of the audiotapes may contain non-album tracks, alternate takes, and other material that was not released commercially.
Dates
- Creation: 1985-1991
Extent
43 Recordings
Creator
- Laurent, Bob (Filker) (Person)
Biographical / Historical
Founded in 1982 by Bob Laurent, Wail Songs was a record label dedicated to filk music, which is a fan-based popular and folk music genre, often, but not always, about science fiction and fantasy topics. Founded just after Off Centaur, arguably the earliest filk label that largely released studio albums, Wail Songs released live performances, usually from filk and science fiction conventions. The business was incorporated in 1991 and published a songbook that same year.
Laurent was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame in 1996 and passed away in 2020.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Currently available for educational and on-campus use only.
Conditions Governing Use
Researchers using this collection assume full responsibility for conforming to the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright, and are responsible for securing permissions necessary for publication or reproduction.
Language of Materials
English
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Merav Hoffman, October 2021.
Note on description
Where possible, description in this finding aid, including publication dates, song and album names, publisher numbers, recording information, and performers was drawn from accompanying documentation. When that information was not available within the collection, it was drawn from other sources, notably the community-driven sites Filk Discography Wiki and Fancyclopedia. Please contact MLBSSA staff with any corrections or edits.
- Title
- Guide to the Wail Songs Collection
- Author
- David R. Lewis and Patty Falk.
- Date
- 2022
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Sponsor
- This finding aid was updated as part of the project Filk Collections at BGSU: Preserving 1980s Fan Culture and Community during the 2022-23 academic year. This project was supported by a Recordings at Risk grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation