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Summary: The essential song book for sing-alongs
Review: I received this book as a gift a few years ago, and now the pages are dog-eared and worn. Not just for folk songs, Rise Up Singing is a wonderful source for a wide range of songs. I bring it everywhere I bring my guitar. There have been a few times I have sung with others (including a famous folksinger) and we have forgotten the words to the verses of some song (everyone seems to know the words to the choruses). Some one usually yells out, "Anyone have 'Rise Up Singing'?" We use the book for guidance. It gets so much use that I will be buying another copy soon -- spiralbound, of course!
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Summary: This is a great book
Review: I sang out of this book all the time at camp and it brings back wonderful memories. You can find great songs in here, ones you would not expect to find in a hippie song book. I think anyone who loves to sing wuld benifit from the ownership of this songbook.
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Summary: Indispensable for Pros.
Review: I teach at all grade levels from K-adult and perform at camps for all ages and have found Rise Up Singing to be absolutely indispensible. I take it everywhere. Sing Out also has two volumes of song reprints that I find invaluable.
Rating: 
Summary: I was dissappointed
Review: I was disappointed in this book. It may have been my like of true musical ability, but I found it confusing. The selection of songs seem to have been chosen because of political correctness, There are some songs that I really like included, but for each I love there is one I dislike.
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Summary: Buy one for a friend while you're at it!
Review: If you want to sing it it is probably in this book, complete with the guitar chords! All of the people I play with now own a copy, and everyone needs their own since the print is a bit hard to see from a distance. Get the spiral bound version, it stays open without any trouble. I've been playing guitar and singing for 20 years and have boxes of songbooks. The only one I carry in my guitar case is Rise Up Singing.
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Summary: Latest edition correct tiny flaw
Review: In my earlier review here, I gushed about how great this songbook, but added a wish that the songs be indexed by author. In this current edition, that wish has been granted, helping me notice a few songs I'd overlooked before.Again, this is the best collection of songs you can actually sing, with guitar chords that usually work pretty well (occasional problems there may be in my skill level, not in the book!) There's no current Top 40 (there is some Motown) but these are the songs people have heard and sung and relaxed with and fought with and cried with and fallen in love with.....and been made to think with.
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Summary: Don't leave home without it.
Review: Invaluable. This has all the best English language folk music, plus some highlights from other languages. Two hundred and eighty-one pages, averaging several songs per page. The indexes are jewels in and of themselves: the songs are indexed by title, first line, ethnicity, subject, and writer (or major artist associated with the song). The songs themselves are organized according to broad subject: the Sea, Struggle, Women, Love, and so forth. There are a few inaccuracies, some in the words, a few more in the guitar chords. Also, some of the chords are simplified, which I suppose is reasonable but can be a little annoying. Finally, some of the songs marked as Anonymous (Wabash Cannonball, for example) simply weren't researched hard enough, and there are a couple of misattributions as well. However, these complaints are piddling compared to the overall quality of the book. This is the book I bring with me if I can't bring a bunch of books but think I might be doing some singing. If there were a version I could load into my PDA, I'd cheerfully take this thing everywhere I went. Rise Up Singing is, to my knowledge, the only music book ever to have a song written ABOUT it. And, well, it deserves it
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Summary: Outdated Socialist Anthems
Review: It's a real pity that a book with this much potential dwells mainly on the navel-gazing ballads of the 1960's-1970's, with illustrations to match. Many good songs are here, golden oldies and such, but the bulk of the songs in here tend more towards titles such as "Homophobia". One wishes that an adult had picked the selection instead of a group of middle-aged adolescents.
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Summary: Sing your heart out!
Review: Like most people, I had to get this when I saw a friend's copy. So much great stuff! I've been singing out of it for years, and now I'm starting to play mandolin and using the chords for the first time. I sympathize with the people who have difficulty with the notation in the book, but as a total beginner I can figure most of it out. There are a lot of songs that are included more for their admirable political content rather than for their lyric power. Since I, like almost anybody else, have never heard them, I can't comment on their musical charms, but they aren't destined to survive. But there's so much timeless music here: a must-have treasure.
Rating:
Summary: Sing your heart out!
Review: Like most people, I had to get this when I saw a friend's copy. So much great stuff! I've been singing out of it for years, and now I'm starting to play mandolin and using the chords for the first time. I sympathize with the people who have difficulty with the notation in the book, but as a total beginner I can figure most of it out. There are a lot of songs that are included more for their admirable political content rather than for their lyric power. Since I, like almost anybody else, have never heard them, I can't comment on their musical charms, but they aren't destined to survive. But there's so much timeless music here: a must-have treasure.
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