1960s Anti Communist RIght-Wing Folk Singer

Over the course of my long career as a documentary filmmaker I have collected many clips that I would call amateur. I don't know anything about this clip, who the woman singing is, who the filmmaker is, but at this time, with 99% of the folk singers "on the left" I would love to know more about who she is and where she performed her song, Communism Lies.

I do hope that one of my subscribers or someone watching this short clip knows something more than I do about this. This was recorded in 1955 at the tail end of the Sen. McCarthy anti-Communist era. I was in high school at this time and loved folk music and was learning to play the banjo.

Looked at from the present, at least in my view, this folksinger was correct in what she was saying but at the time, I would be surprised if a single radio station or television station presented her and her song.

One of my subscribers found her. Her name is Janet Greene.

Greene was a folk singer active during the 1960s, but she is most notable not for her association with the popular folk music movement, but for her role in conservative, anti-communist propaganda. Sometimes called the "anti-Joan Baez," Greene was recruited by the Christian Anti-Communism Crusade (CACC) to counter the perceived leftist influence in the folk music scene of the time.

While folk music in the 1960s was largely associated with protest movements and progressive politics, Greene used the genre's style to promote right-wing, anti-communist messages. She collaborated with Dr. Fred Schwarz, the founder of the CACC, and recorded satirical songs like "Commie Lies," "Fascist Threat," and "Poor Left Winger." These songs aimed to expose and criticize communist ideas in a way that mimicked the style of leftist folk singers.

Greene's work didn't achieve widespread commercial success like her left-leaning counterparts, but she remains a unique figure from this period for her involvement in the culture wars of the 1960s, representing a different side of the folk music scene.