What Was the Anthology of American Folk Music?
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The Anthology of American Folk Music is a six-album compilation released in 1952 by Folkways Records, comprising eighty-four American folk, blues and country music recordings that were originally issued between 1927 and 1932.
The Anthology of American Folk Music
The Anthology of American Folk Music is a six-album compilation released in 1952 by Folkways Records. The Anthology was compiled by noted musicologist and folklorist Harry Smith and originally issued in 1952 as a set of three double LPs. The musicians represented in the Anthology were drawn from all across the United States and were mostly unknown outside of their own local regions. The Anthology of American Folk Music proved to be hugely influential, helping to spur the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s.
What is the Anthology of American Folk Music?
The Anthology of American Folk Music is a six-album compilation released in 1952 by Folkways Records (catalog FP 251, FP 252, and FP 253), comprising eighty-four American folk, blues and country music recordings that were originally issued between 1927 and 1932. Experimental filmmaker Harry Smith compiled the music from his personal collection of 78 rpm records. The album is famous due to its role as a touchstone for the American folk music revival in the 1950s and 1960s.
Who compiled the Anthology of American Folk Music?
Released in 1952 by Folkways Records, the Anthology was compiled by Harry Smith from his personal collection of 78 rpm records. The double album, which features 84 songs recorded between 1927 and 1932, is one of the most influential releases in the history of recorded music.
Smith’s selections were based on his own taste and experience as a collector, and they represented a cross-section of the American folk tradition. The songs on the Anthology come from a wide range of sources, including commercial recordings, field recordings made by musicologists, and home recordings.
The Anthology quickly became a cornerstone of the American folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s. Several of the artists featured on the album, including Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, and Blind Lemon Jefferson, went on to become legends of the genre.
What is the significance of the Anthology of American Folk Music?
The 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 American folk music. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.
The Anthology was compiled from Harry Smith’s personal collection of 78 rpm records. He had begun collecting these records in the late 1930s, when he was working as a clerk at the Transcription Disc Company in New York City. He continued to collect them throughout the 1940s and early 1950s. In all, he amassed a collection of some 3,000 78 rpm records.
Smith compiled the Anthology primarily from commercial recordings that were popular during the 1920s and 1930s. He included songs that were sung by both white and black music performers. He also included songs from a wide range of genres, including blues, gospel, old-time music, and country music.
The Anthology was released in 1952 as a set of six LP records. It was reissued on CD in 1997, and again in 2011.
The Songs on the Anthology of American Folk Music
The Anthology of American Folk Music was a six-album set released in 1952 by Folkways Records. The Anthology was compiled by Harry Smith and consisted of 84 songs recorded between 1927 and 1932. The music on the Anthology has been extremely influential and has been covered by many artists.
What are the songs on the Anthology of American Folk Music?
The Anthology of American Folk Music is a six-album compilation released in 1952 by Folkways Records (catalogue FP251, FP252, and FP253), edited by Harry Smith. It was a collecting effort which assembled material from various important but previously obscure 78-rpm recordings made in the 1920s and 1930s by unknown artists.
The Anthology notably included “HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN”, recorded by Gwen Foster in 1929, which was later re-made as a chart hit for The Animals in 1964.
TheAnthology has exerted an enormous influence on the development of American folk music since its release. Musicians such as Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Odetta, Jerry Garcia, and Bob Dylan have all acknowledged its importance.
What is the history of the songs on the Anthology of American Folk Music?
In 1929, musicologist and folklorist Alan Lomax set out to record what he believed were disappearing sounds of the American South. Folk music, he explained in the introduction to his 1934 book Cantometrics, is “the primary constant in a society’s total culture.” Lomax went on to found the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress, where he continued his work recording musicians from around the country.
In 1952, Lomax compiled a six-album set of songs drawn from his earlier recordings, along with some new ones, released as The Anthology of American Folk Music. The set was intended as “a documentary survey of American music” covering the years 1917 to 1932.
The Anthology has been influential in many ways. It was an important source for the folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s; Bob Dylan has said that it was one of his favorite albums. More recently, it has been used as source material by numerous musicians working in genres as diverse as rock, hip hop, and electronic music.
What are the lyrics of the songs on the Anthology of American Folk Music?
The Anthology of American Folk Music is a six-album compilation released in 1952 by Folkways Records (catalogue FP 251, FP 252, and FP 253), comprising eighty-four American folk, blues and country songs recorded between 1927 and 1932.
The anthology was compiled by Harry Smith from his personal collection of 78 rpm records. It was released in 1952 as a 3-LP set, and has since been reissued several times on CD and LP. Initially containing fifty-four songs on three LPs, a 1997 reissue included sixty songs on three CDs, with notes and recordings not previously included in the original release.
The Anthology has been influential both folk music itself and the commercial folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s. The vast majority of the songs were popularized by commercial recordings made prior to 1932; many were only published as sheet music, or were only recently transcribed from field recordings made mostly in the southeastern United States.
The Legacy of the Anthology of American Folk Music
First published in 1952, the Anthology of American Folk Music was a six-album compilation of American folk music edited by Harry Smith. The Anthology is one of the most influential records ever made, helping to spawn the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s. The Anthology has also been praised for its wide-ranging scope, with songs that span the gamut of American folk music styles, from traditional ballads and blues to bluegrass and country.
How has the Anthology of American Folk Music influenced American music?
In 1952, Folkways Records released the Anthology of American Folk Music, edited by Harry Smith. The six-album set compiled 84 songs, mostly from the 1920s and 1930s, that were originally recorded on 78 rpm discs. Many of the artists were unknown and the recordings obscure. The Anthology was significant not only for its eclectic mix of music—blues, country, gospel, Cajun, and old-time—but also for its reissue of songs that had long been out of print and forgotten.
The Anthology had a profound influence on the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s. Bob Dylan was particularly inspired by the set; he said that it “changed my life.” Dylan’s electrified version of “House of the Rising Sun,” which appeared on his debut album in 1962, is based on a performance by Josh White that was included in the Anthology. The set also helped to popularize such artists asLead Belly, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Dock Boggs, who had previously been largely unknown outside of folk and blues circles.
In 1997, the Smithsonian Institution released a seven-CD version of the Anthology with additional liner notes and historic photos. It is considered one of the most influential folk music releases of all time.
What are some of the artists who have been influenced by the Anthology of American Folk Music?
The Anthology of American Folk Music is a six-album compilation released in 1952 by Folkways Records, comprising eighty-four American folk, blues and country songs recorded between 1927 and 1932.
The Anthology was assembled by Harry Smith from his personal collection of 78 rpm records. It was issued in LP form by Folkways in 1952, and later reissued in LP and CD form by Smithsonian Folkways.
The Anthology has been highly influential on many leading American folk and popular musicians, helping to revive interest in traditional folk music and leading to the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s. Artists who have been influenced by the Anthology include Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, Ralph Stanley, The Byrds and The Grateful Dead.
What are some of the songs that have been influenced by the Anthology of American Folk Music?
The Anthology of American Folk Music is a six-album compilation released in 1952 by Folkways Records, subtitled “From the Rounder Folksong Library.” The album was compiled by Harry Smith and originally released as a box set of 78 rpm records. The Anthology popularized many songs that had previously been unknown outside of their respective regions and helped spark the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s. Some of the most famous songs that have been influenced by the Anthology include:
-“I Ain’t Got No Home” by Woody Guthrie
-“Pretty Saro” by Bob Dylan
-“lightning Hopkins” by Sam Cooke
-“In My Time of Dyin'” by Led Zeppelin