The Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music

The Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music is a great collection of American folk music. It includes a wide variety of artists and styles, and is a must-have for any folk music fan.

The History of the Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music

The Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music was created by an online retailer in the early 21st century. The anthology is a three-volume set that includes eighty-four songs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The music included in the anthology is from a variety of genres, including blues, gospel, and folk.

The origins of the Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music

In the early 1990s, historian and musicologist John Fahey began to research and write the history of the Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music. The Amazon Anthology had been released in 1952 by Folkways Records, and it quickly became one of the most influential folk music collections ever released. Fahey’s research led him to discover that the Amazon Anthology was actually assembled by two different people: Harry Smith and Moses Asch.

Fahey’s research also uncovered the previously unknown origins of many of the songs on the Amazon Anthology. He discovered that many of the songs were actually recorded by commercial record companies in the 1920s and 1930s, and then purchased by Folkways founder Moses Asch in the 1940s and 1950s. Fahey’s research led to a renewed interest in the Amazon Anthology, and in 1996, Smithsonian Folkways released a six-CD box set containing all of the original songs from the collection, along with extensive liner notes written by Fahey himself.

The influence of the Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music

The Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music is a six-album compilation released in 1952 by Folkways Records, edited by Harry Smith. The album is one of the most influential releases in the history of recorded folk music and spawned the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.

The anthology was compiled from 84 commercial recordings that were originally issued between 1927 and 1932 on 78 rpm records. The material was primarily drawn from Harry Smith’s personal record collection, which he had amassed over several years while living in New York City. He chose what he believed were the best examples of each style of music, as well as representative recordings from different regions of the country.

Many of the songs on the anthology are now considered classics, such as “Crazy Water”, “I’m Going Home”, “In the Pines”, “John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man”, “Little Sadie”, and “Pretty Saro”. The set includes performances by some of the most important figures in early country music, including Jimmie Rodgers, The Carter Family, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie Johnson, and Clarence Ashley.

The release of the album was highly influential on subsequent generations of folk musicians. Bob Dylan has said that it was one of his favorite albums and that it was a major influence on his work.

The Music of the Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music

The Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music is a landmark folk music collection. It was released in 1952 by Folkways Records and consists of 84 songs. The album has been credited with popularizing folk music and helping to revive the American folk music tradition. The Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music is a great example of American folk music.

The genres of the Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music

The Anthology is significant not only because of the influence it had on the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, but also because of its role in introducing various little-known genres of American folk music to a wider audience. These include songs from field hollers, prison camps, work songs, railroads songs, and musics from the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi Delta.

The artists of the Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music

The Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music is a six-album compilation released in 1952 by Folkways Records (catalogue FP 251, FP 252, and FP 253), assembled by the noted musicologist and film-maker Harry Smith. It is widely considered one of the most influential recordings ever made in the genre of American folk music. In 2012, it was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

The Anthology was issued as three double LPs (or six separate albums) in 1952, with each album containing two hours’ worth of music. The set was released on compact disc for the first time in 1997. In 2003, it was reissued as a box set with a seventh disc of bonus tracks.

The artists represented on the Anthology are mostly from the southern Appalachian Mountains and other regions of the southeastern United States; many were born around the turn of the 20th century and were already in their 50s or 60s when they recorded their songs in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Many of them were previously unknown outside their local communities, and none had enjoyed much commercial success. The compilation includes both well-known artists such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Uncle Dave Macon, Bessie Smith, and Dock Boggs, as well as lesser-known but equally important figures such as Ell Presleyrodt (the only woman represented on the Anthology), Frank Hutchison, Richard Crisis Higgs, Moondog (later known as Louis Thomas Hardin), Harry ‘Haywire Mac’ McClintock, Roscoe Holcomb, and Clarence Ashley.

The common thread running through all six albums is that they were all commercially issued recordings that were popular in their day but had since fallen into obscurity; many of them had not been heard since their original release decades earlier. As such, they provide a unique snapshot of American folk music at a particular moment in time.

The Legacy of the Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music

The Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music was a six-album compilation released in 1952 by Folkways Records. The anthology was compiled by Harry Smith and included 84 songs. The albums were released on vinyl and cassette and are now out of print. The anthology has been influential in the folk and Americana music genres.

The impact of the Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music

The Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music, edited by Harry Smith and released in 1952, has been hugely influential in the development of American folk music. The anthology was compiled from Smith’s personal collection of 78rpm records and was originally released as a set of six albums. It contained 84 songs, many of which were previously unreleased, and had a profound impact on the folk music scene.

The music on the anthology ranged from traditional folk songs to blues and country tunes, and it is credited with helping to revive interest in traditional folk music. In addition, the anthology helped to introduce a new generation of listeners to the work of such renowned folk musicians as Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly.

The future of the Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music

The Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music is one of the most important and influential releases in the history of folk music. Despite being released over 60 years ago, the anthology continues to exert a profound influence on musicians across genres and generations. In recent years, the anthology has been subject to renewed critical and popular attention, culminating in a box set reissue by Smithsonian Folkways in 1997.

Despite its continued cultural significance, the future of the Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music is far from certain. The original release was a somewhat haphazard affair, with many of the songs being sourced from second- or third-hand 78 RPM records. As a result, the quality of the recordings is often poor, making it difficult for contemporary listeners to appreciate the music on its own merits.

What’s more, many of the artists featured on the anthology are now long forgotten, and there is no easy way to discover more about them or their music. Even when information is available, it is often scattered and difficult to access. As a result, the anthology risks becoming little more than a historical curiosity, its musical and cultural importance overshadowed by its logistical challenges.

There are some efforts underway to address these problems. In 2012, The Library of Congress launched an online database called “The Amazon Anthology Companion,” which provides background information on all of the songs featured on the anthology. And in 2014, historian Stephen Wade released a book called “The Songs That Kate Smith Used To Sing,” which tells the stories behind some of the most famous recordings on the anthology.

Even so, much work needs to be done if the Amazon Anthology of American Folk Music is going to remain relevant in the 21st century. With its wealth of musical and cultural treasures, it deserves nothing less.