The
Anthology of American Folk Music, edited by Harry Smith (1923–1991), is one of the most influential releases in the history of recorded sound. Originally issued by Folkways Records in 1952, the
Anthology brought virtually unknown parts of America's musical landscape recorded in the late 1920s and early 1930s to the public's attention. For more than half a century, the collection has profoundly influenced fans, ethnomusicologists, music historians, and cultural critics; it has inspired generations of popular musicians, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Jerry Garcia, and countless others. Many of the songs included in the
Anthology have now become classics, as has Harry Smith’s unique "scientific/aesthetic handbook" of song notes and drawings. Reissued by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings in 1997, this deluxe 6-CD collector's boxed set contains a 96-page book featuring Harry Smith's original liner notes and essays by Greil Marcus and other noted writers, musicians, and scholars.
“ The Anthology was our bible…. We all knew every word of every song on it, including the ones we hated. They say that in the 19th-century British Parliament, when a member would begin to quote a classical author in Latin the entire House would rise in a body and finish the quote along with him. It was like that.” – Dave Van Ronk
“Had he never done anything with his life but this Anthology, Harry Smith would still have borne the mark of genius across his forehead. I'd match the Anthology up against any other single compendium of important information ever assembled. Dead Sea Scrolls? Nah. I'll take the Anthology.” – John Fahey
“First hearing the Harry Smith Anthology of American FoIk Music is like discovering the secret script of so many familiar musical dramas. Many of these actually turn out to be cousins two or three times removed, some of whom were probably created in ignorance of these original riches. It also occurred to me that as we are listening at a greater distance in time to a man or woman singing of their fairly recent past of the 1880s, we are fortunate that someone collected these performances of such wildness, straightforward beauty, and humanity." – Elvis Costello
The
Anthology of American Folk Music was issued in 1952, in three 2 LP volumes. The entire anthology included 84 tracks of Appalachian folk songs, fiddle music, gospel, hillbilly, blues and Cajun tunes. The collection consisted of recordings produced between 1927 and 1932, a period that Smith perceived as the final years of distinct regional musical traditions. During the late 1920s professional musicians in rural America remained relatively insulated from the influence of the mass market and many were recorded performing vernacular music
before they knew how they sounded on records. Smith edited a strange looking booklet, decorated with cut-outs from Sears Roebuck and farm catalogs, facsimiles from the 78 record covers, musical instruments from turn of the century catalogues and photographs of the performers, sheet music and collages, to accompany the release.
In his book Invisible Republic Greil Marcus described the Anthology as the story of “the old, weird America.” It was an America of many voices, voices speaking of poverty, violence, oppression and unrequited love. Smith thoughtfully divided the collection into three distinct volumes: Ballads, Social Music and Songs and deliberately arranged tracks to conjure a dialogue between performers. Subverting established ethno-musicological practice, Smith never revealed the race of the Anthology’s performers, preventing listeners from assessing the music in racial terms.
Referred to as the “founding document of the American folk revival,” and a “one-man cultural revolution,” the Anthology’s influence was tremendous, with Dave Van Ronk stating “It was the Bible for hundreds of us.” Songs continue to be performed by successive generations of singer/songwriters and remain a central component of the American vernacular songbook. The Anthology was re-released in 1997 on compact disc with expanded notes and essays and has contributed to the resurgence of the alt-country movement of artists like Wilco, Beck and Lucinda Williams.
