Background
Cohen was born on December 13, 1936 in New York City, New York, United States; the son of Moshe and Yetta (Pickman) Cohen.
Portland, Oregon, United States
Reed College
Berkeley, California, United States
University of California
El Segundo, California, United States
Aerospace Corporation
Portland, Oregon, United States
University of Portland
("Impeccable scholarship and lavish illustration mark this...)
"Impeccable scholarship and lavish illustration mark this landmark study of American railroad folksong. Norm Cohen provides a sweeping discussion of the human aspects of railroad history, railroad folklore, and the evolution of the American folksong. The heart of the book is a detailed analysis of eighty-five songs, from "John Henry" and "The Wabash Cannonball" to "Hell-Bound Train" and "Casey Jones," with their music, sources, history, and variations, and discographies. A substantial new introduction updates this edition. "
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0252003438/?tag=2022091-20
1981
(American folk music has provided a narrative thread to th...)
American folk music has provided a narrative thread to the fiber of the nation since its earliest days. Folk music scholar Norm Cohen presents a thorough exploration of the many ways in which folk music genres and subgenres have arisen in different regions of America. Chapters on folk song types, folk instrumentation, and the urban folk revival set further context to the discussion, and an itemized summary of noted folksong collections serves as an additional tool for both general readers and folk music scholars. American folk music has provided a narrative thread to the fiber of the nation since its earliest days. Forms ranging from New England sea chanteys to Pennsylvania Dutch worksongs helped shape life in the Northeast. Appalachian ballads evolved in the South, as did slave spirituals that served as codes for the Underground Railroad. Folk ballads on lumbering and mining grew in the Midwest and Northwest, while cowboy ballads emerged across the Great Plains and the West, and railroad songs accompanied expansion along the American frontier. Folk music scholar Norm Cohen presents a thorough exploration of the many ways in which folk music genres and subgenres have arisen in different regions of America. Chapters on folk song types, folk instrumentation, and the urban folk revival set further context to the discussion, and an itemized summary of noted folksong collections serves as an additional tool for both general readers and folk music scholars. The Greenwood Guide to American Roots Music series includes volumes on musical genres that have pervaded American culture. Each volume explores the different ways that selected genres, such as folk music, have evolved naturally in different regions and scenes thoughout the nation.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0313328722/?tag=2022091-20
2005
(This state-by-state collection of folksongs describes the...)
This state-by-state collection of folksongs describes the history, society, culture, and events characteristic of all fifty states. Unlike all other state folksong collections, this one does not focus on songs collected in the particular states, but rather on songs concerning the life and times of the people of that state. The topics range from the major historical events, such as the Boston Tea Party, the attack on Fort Sumter, and the California Gold Rush, to regionally important events such as disasters and murders, labor problems, occupational songs, ethnic conflicts. Some of the songs will be widely recognized, such as Casey Jones, Marching Through Georgia, or Sweet Betsy from Pike. Others, less familiar, have not been reprinted since their original publication, but deserve to be studied because of what they tell about the people of these United States, their loves, labors, and losses, and their responses to events. The collection is organized by regions, starting with New England and ending with the states bordering the Pacific Ocean, and by states within each region. For each state there are from four to fifteen songs presented, with an average of 10 songs per state. For each song, a full text is reprented, followed by discussion of the song in its historical context. References to available recordings and other versions are given. Folksongs, such as those discussed here, are an important tool for historians and cultural historians because they sample experiences of the past at a different level from that of contemporary newspaper accounts and academic histories. These songs, in a sense, are history writ small. Includes: Away Down East, The Old Granite State, Connecticut, The Virginian Maid's Lament, Carry Me Back to Old Virginny, I'm Going Back to North Carolina, Shut up in Cold Creek Mine, Ain't God Good to Iowa?, Dakota Land, Dear Prairie Home, Cheyenne Boys, I'm off for California, and others.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005N58OM8/?tag=2022091-20
2008
Cohen was born on December 13, 1936 in New York City, New York, United States; the son of Moshe and Yetta (Pickman) Cohen.
Cohen received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry from Reed College in 1958. Two years later he earned his Master of Arts degree in Mathematics and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Chemistry in 1963 from the University of California.
Cohen began his career as a member of technical staff at Aerospace Corporation in 1963. Nine years later he took a position of a head of the chemical kinetics department at the same Corporation. Then in 1984, Norm became a senior scientist at Aerospace Corporation, where he worked until 1994.
Also since 1995 Cohen has been an adjunct assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Portland and at Portland Community College.
(This state-by-state collection of folksongs describes the...)
2008("Impeccable scholarship and lavish illustration mark this...)
1981(American folk music has provided a narrative thread to th...)
2005Cohen is a member of American Chemical Society, American Physical Society, American Folklore Society, Society for Ethnomusicology, Society of Recorded Sound Archives, California Folklore Society and Sigma Xi.
On July 11, 1959 Norm Cohen married Anne Elizabeth Billings, with whom he divorced in 1987. They have three children. On February 6, 1987 he married Verni Greenfield. They have a son, Matthew Jonathan Greenfield.