The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited

The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited is a blog that looks at the original Anthology of American Folk Music, released in 1952, and its impact on American music today.

The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited

The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited is a box set compiled by Beck and released in September 2008 on his record label, Dust to Digital. It is a tribute to, and reinterpretation of, the six-album Anthology of American Folk Music compiled by Harry Smith and originally released in 1952 by Folkways Records.

The project features newly recorded versions of songs from the original Anthology by Beck and a wide variety of other artists, including Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Eliza Gilkyson, Ani Difranco, The Magnetic Fields, Gillian Welch, Richie Havens, Martha Wainwright, and Devendra Banhart.

The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of American Folk Music

The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of American Folk Music is a box set released in 1997 by Rev label. It consists of sixty-four tracks compiling recordings originally issued on 78 rpm records dating from 1927 to 1932 by Harry Smith. These recordings were originally released on eighty-three discs and were originally played on Victor or Columbia phonographs. The recordings were then transferred to tape and edited by Smith for his personal use. The box set was produced with the cooperation of the Smithsonian Institution and includes a ninety-page booklet with an essay by Greil Marcus.

The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of Folk Music

The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of Folk Music is a compilation album revisiting the influential 1952 collection of folk music assembled by Harry Smith. It was released on October 2, 2000, on CD and vinyl by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and included contributions from Beck, Sonic Youth, Billy Bragg, Steve Earle, Philip Glass, Ani DiFranco, Alasdair Roberts, and Bonnie “Prince” Billy.

The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of Music

Originally released in 1952, The Anthology of American Folk Music was a six-album set compiled by musicologist Harry Smith. The Anthology is widely credited with sparking the folk revival of the 1950s and ’60s, and its influence can still be felt today.

In 1997, several artists came together to pay tribute to Harry Smith and his Anthology with The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited. This critically acclaimed album features new interpretations of 24 songs from the original anthology, performed by some of the most respected names in folk and Americana music.

The Harry Smith Project was produced by Hal Willner, who also worked on another tribute album called Weird Tales (1993). Willner is known for his eclectic taste and willingness to take risks, and both Weird Tales and The Harry Smith Project reflect his unique vision.

If you’re a fan of the original Anthology of American Folk Music, or if you’re interested in exploring this important document of American music, The Harry Smith Project is an essential album.

The Harry Smith Project: Anthology

In the late 1940s, Harry Smith compiled a now-legendary, six-album set of American folk music for Folkways Records. The Anthology of American Folk Music, as it came to be known, was drawn from commercial 78 rpm recordings that were popular in the decade before Smith’s birth in 1923. These “old-time” recordings, made between 1927 and 1932 by such artists as the Carter Family, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Clifton Chenier, and Dock Boggs, were mostly out of print and forgotten by the time Smith discovered them. Yet they captured a moment in American musical history when traditional songs and tunes from the British Isles and Africa collided with the emerging sounds of country music and blues to create a distinctly American musical hybrid.

The Harry Smith Project

The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited is a box set released on August 29, 2000, by Legacy Recordings. It features fifty-seven tracks recreated by contemporary artists from original recordings compiled by musicologist Harry Smith for his influential 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music.

The Project: Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited

The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited is a 2006 album released by Rykodisc. The album features new recordings of songs from the 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music, which was compiled by Harry Smith. The album was produced by Hal Willner, who also produced the similar Weird America project in 2000.

The album includes new versions of songs by artists such as Beck, Elvis Costello, Sonic Youth, Steve Earle, Patti Smith, and Sufjan Stevens. The Project was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 49th annual ceremony.

The Project: Anthology of American Folk Music

When folklorist and musicologist Harry Smith compiled the Anthology of American Folk Music in 1952, he brought together songs that had been recorded between 1927 and 1932 by performers who were then largely forgotten. The 82 recordings on the original six-album set, representing a wide range of regional traditions and musical styles, included such classics as “In the Pines,” “The Coo Coo Bird,” “Pretty Polly,” and “House of the Rising Sun.”

The Anthology had a profound impact on the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, and its influence can still be heard in the work of contemporary musicians. In 1997, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings released a commemorative box set that included a CD version of the original Anthology as well as four CDs of recordings made after 1952 that were inspired by Smith’s work.

Now, on the 75th anniversary of the original recordings, Smithsonian Folkways is proud to present The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited. This comprehensive box set features more than 5 hours of music on 8 CDs, with newly remastered versions of the original Anthology recordings alongside more than 70 new recordings by some of today’s most visionary musicians.

The Project: Anthology of Folk Music

The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited is a multi-artist project conceived by Hal Willner and released on October 6, 2017, by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. The album features new interpretations of 84 songs drawn from the six-album Anthology of American Folk Music (1952), compiled by Harry Smith. It is one of the most influential releases in the history of folk music, having inspired Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, and many others.

The Project: Anthology

In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, Harry Smith compiled a 3-album set of folk music entitled Anthology of American Folk Music. These albums were incredibly influential in the development of the American folk music revival of the 1950’s and 1960’s. In 2000, The Harry Smith Project was launched in order to revisit Smith’s collection and give it new life for a new generation.

The original Anthology albums were compiled from commercial recordings that were popular at the time. These recordings were mostly from the 1920’s and 1930’s, a time when American folk music was undergoing a major transformation. The songs on the Anthology represent a cross-section of this transformation, from traditional songs handed down orally to more modern, commercialized recordings.

The Harry Smith Project revisits these songs with new recordings by contemporary artists. The goal is to create a new anthology that captures the same spirit as the original, while also bringing these songs into the 21st century. The project has been hugely successful, with many acclaimed artists contributing to the cause.