Anthology of American Folk Music

The Anthology of American Folk Music is a recording that collects several dozen folk and country songs which were initially recorded from the 1920s and 1930s, and were first released on 78 rpm records. Although the choice of songs is idiosyncratic, the collection is famous due to its role as a touchstone for the folk music revival in the 1950s and 1960s.

Related Topics:
Folk - Country - 1920s - 1930s - 78 rpm records - 1950s - 1960s

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Harry Smith was a bohemian who lived in Berkeley, California in the late 1940s and 1950s. Although he considered himself an abstract-expressionist, with a special interest in film, he had a hobby collecting old folk and country records. At a time when many people considered these records ephemeral, he took them seriously and accumulated a collection of several thousand recordings.

Related Topics:
Harry Smith - Bohemian - Berkeley, California - 1940s - Abstract-expressionist - Film - Ephemera

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In 1952, Smith compiled 84 of his favorite songs on a collection of six LPs. This work provided direct inspiration to much of the emergent folk music movement. Many previously obscure songs became standards at hootenannies and folk clubs due to their inclusion on the Anthology. Some of the musicians represented on the Anthology saw their musical careers revived, and made additional recordings and live appearances.

Related Topics:
1952 - Hootenannies - Folk clubs

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The album is divided into three sections, Ballads, Social Music, and Songs. A fourth collection, including union songs and some songs recorded after World War II, was created but not released until 2000. Harry Smith created the liner notes himself, and these notes are almost as famous as the music. Smith used a fragmented, collage method that presaged some postmodern artwork, and he wrote narrative summaries of all the songs. Smith incorporated the music into his own unusual cosmology. Each of the four albums is associated with a color (Blue, Red, Green, and Yellow respectively), and an element (Water, Fire, Air, and Earth).

Related Topics:
World War II - Collage - Postmodern - Cosmology

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The Anthology originally appeared on the Folkways label established by Moses Asch. In 1997, Smithsonian Folkways republished the collection on six CDs. In 2000, Revenant Records released the fourth collection on two CDs and two LPs.

Related Topics:
Folkways - Moses Asch - Revenant Records

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