Country Blues > Super Electrical Recordings!
Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music
Stuart:
I've been poking around the S-F site trying to find the "Supplemental Notes to the Selections" that were available in the past (my printouts are dated 2002). I have the URLs as I printed them out, but now they're all dead links. I'll keep trying. I did find the following, however:
http://www.folkways.si.edu/resources/pdf/SFW40108_notes.pdf
Deaf Steever:
I first heard the Anthology about two years ago. I'm not even sure what prompted me to check it out, because at the time I was definitely not a fan of old-time music. I just saw it at the library (where I work) and decided to take it out. My salient memory is hearing Mississippi John Hurt's "Frankie" for the very first time. It was the closest thing to an epiphany I'll probably ever experience! It literally blew my mind. This discovery led me to Patton, Furry, Skip, Wilkins, etc, etc - and now here I am two years later writing this post on Weenie Campbell. :D Needless to say, my discovery of country blues also completely re-energized my interest in playing guitar.
So neat how a tune that was recorded 80+ years ago could have such a profound and life-changing effect. Thank you, Harry Smith! :)
jostber:
There is also a volume 4 released by Revenant:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Smith%27s_Anthology_of_American_Folk_Music,_Vol._4
jaycee:
what an absolutely wonderful thread. the song that really resonates with me is, dock boggs sugar baby. docks, banjo playing is just absolutely superb.
Lyle Lofgren:
I've listened to the Anthology hundreds of times over the years, starting in about 1960. I appreciate the booklet art and the fact that the notes and categories don't distinguish between Anglo-American and African-American traditions (others have remarked on this).
The quality of the selections is superb, considering that very few people were seriously collecting these records, so they were scattered around in Salvation Army stores.
But most of all, I'm impressed by the order of presentation. I think that's the real art here. Although I can't verbalize why it works the way it does, I can't imagine them being as effective if they were in any other order. Vol. 4 doesn't have this characteristic (it wasn't organized by Smith), so you could put your player on shuffle and you would be no worse off. But if you try that with the first 3 volumes, you'll be missing a lot.
Lyle
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