Anthology of American Folk Music

Various Artists, edited by Harry Smith

album cover

The Mother Lode of American Music

Superlatives fly whenever people talk about the Anthology of American Folk Music, a massive compendium of American musical history assembled by an eccentric scholar named Harry Smith and issued in 1952, at the height of Joseph McCarthy's anti-Communist witch hunt. Many musicians, Joan Baez among them, have described the set as a catalyst— these are the records that turned the light on for them, and helped them understand the majesty and inescapable humanity of American roots music. John Fahey, the folk artist and scholar, gauges the Anthology's impact this way in the liner notes to the 1997 CD edition: "I'd match the Anthology up against any other single compendium of important information ever assembled."

That's not an overstatement. Here, on six CDs enhanced with multimedia content, are the building blocks of American music, the essential DNA of the blues, jazz, gospel, country, and then some. The information is strung together in a way that tells stories and builds mythologies—indeed, part of its genius is in Smith's organization, which divides the discoveries into sections devoted to "Ballads," "Social Music," and "Songs." The offerings include wild-eyed screamers (Charley Patton), fleet-fingered mountain banjo pickers (Clarence Ashley), medicine-show veterans (Jim Jackson), wellknown song rescuers (the Carter Family), and woefully unknown Cajun characters (Joseph Falcon). Just about every selection has been influential in some way since the Anthology's release. Not only did Smith reintroduce artists who'd been forgotten for years, he encouraged investigation into long-dormant styles and provided the troubadours of '50s folk with an abundance of source material.

Decades after the Anthology had made its mark, Smith was quoted as saying, "I'm glad to say that my dreams came true: I saw America changed through music." If that's even a bit accurate, it's because Smith set out to document not just music, but the way music functioned in American society. He showed how one generation can benefit from the sounds that captivated past generations. In seeking the ongoing musical conversations that traveled between old and young, black people and white people, rich and poor, city dwellers and those isolated by miles, he paints a picture of an America connected by sound—and stories—long before it was connected by highspeed Internet and superhighways.

Genre: Folk
Released: 1952, Folkways (Reissued 1997)
Key Tracks: Furry Lewis: "Kassie Jones Pts. 1 and 2." Mississippi John Hurt: "Frankie." Joseph Falcon: "Acadian One-Step." Rev. Moses Mason: "John the Baptist"
Next Stop: John Fahey: The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death
After That: Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited
Book Pages: 803–804

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#1 from villash - 08/23/2010 7:15

I have musicians, Joan Baez among them, have described the set as a catalyst— these is the records that turned the light on for them, and helped them understand the majesty and inescapable humanity of American roots music…Transfer Test Northern Ireland

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