Anthology Of American Folk Music (Edited By Harry Smith)

If you enjoy the Anthology music you can hear a lot more of the same style on Yazoo Records' various "rural music" anthologies. Nearly every disc they issue has an Anthology track or two on it, or other work by artists who appear on this Anthology. I actually find Yazoo's "Before The Blues" series more enjoyable, track for track, than this collection. It's likely, though, that there would be no Yazoo records today if the AAFM hadn't come along in the early 1950s. Also, this Anthology includes secular, spiritual and "social" music in a rather comprehensive way, so understandably there don't seem to be many people who like EVERY song. Even Harry Smith didn't like every song in the collection (read the liner notes).


The Holy Grail   August 12, 2000
James Otterstrom (Big Bear City, CA United States)
21 out of 27 found this review helpful

THIS COLLECTION gave spark to the folk/roots revival of the 1950s & '60s, and arguably, was one of the most important influences on 20th Century pop culture, helping to prime the way for the social upheavals of the 1960s. Amidst the flag-waving patriotism of war, and the schlocky optimism of post WWII America, Harry Smith salvaged these forgotten recordings from junk-bins---old 78s that sang to the dark and painful reality of our American heritage---and gave them back to us. Thereafter, as country, folk, and rock music began dominating the airwaves, Hank Williams, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, The Everly Brothers, The Kingston Trio etc., showed white audiences a musical family tree which included not only folks like The Carter Family, The Monroe Brothers, and Jimmie Rodgers, but also names like Arthur Crudup, Sleepy John Estes, Yank Rachel, Leadbelly, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Mississippi John Hurt, Robert Johnson and so many others... Middle-class white kids suddenly found themselves deeply connected to music rooted in slavery, poverty, and anguish, as they learned to play National 'resonator' guitars, banjos, mandolins, and dulcimers. We turned off Ozzie & Harriet, turning on to Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, and The Beatles, eventually finding our way back to the folk/blues roots of American music. We also took to the streets protesting racial injustice, poverty, pollution, and war, and the world was changed profoundly as ordinary people empowered themselves to action. Harry once said of The Anthology... "I felt social changes would result from it, I'd been reading Plato's Republic and he's jabbering on about music, how you have to be careful about changing the music because it might upset or destroy the government". Today, the idealism of the 1960s is overshadowed by crass materialism while democracy itself is threatened by the tyranny of corporate globalization, yet a legacy attributable, at least in part, to Harry Smith's Anthology---the social impact of individual empowerment during the last half of the 20th Century--lives and breathes in millions of activists around the world. Whether advocating human rights, political accountability, corporate responsibility, consumer protection, or ecological awareness, individuals, grassroots groups, and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) are speaking out loudly, as we recently witnessed in the mass demonstrations at the Seattle WTO conference and in the very personal commitment of Julia 'Butterfly' Hill to ancient redwoods. The Anthology is in a category by itself and a five star rating is not sufficient, I consider it a perfect 10. So put it on and listen to the experiences of your ancestors---to songs passed down through generations of back-woods, bayou, & delta-dwelling country-folk---and in reverence to them, and Harry Smith, pick up something and bang on it. Let the world know how YOU feel...


"Old, weird America" for your listening pleasure   April 12, 2000
slappy (somewhere else)
15 out of 16 found this review helpful

Greil Marcus writes in this anthology's liner notes about(and I paraphrase)this collection of songs capturing the essence of "old, weird America". True. Harry Smith's gorgeously repackaged anthology serves as a genetic code for the music we listen to today. The pathos and passion of these songs runs deeper than anything I've ever heard on the radio. These songs were made out of necessity, not for the sole purpose of entertaining.


a glimpse into the old, weird america   April 23, 2002
joan of arc (richmond, va usa)
15 out of 17 found this review helpful

let me just say that listening to the anthology of american folk music was a big contributor to my decision in switching my college major from sculpture to ethnomusicology. for those who have heard the anthology, i really don't have to go into detail as to how mind-blowing this collection is. i recommend looking into other things harry smith has done; he was an amazing artist and well...my hero!