Results: Anthology of American Folk Music
Published on 08/24/2023
So, I had no internet for a while and started looking at CD box sets of mine to which I'd not ilstened in a while...
QUESTIONS
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1.
1.
In 1952, Folkways Records released the Anthology of American Folk Music, a compilation of of six LP's in thematic 2-record sets, comprising 84 songs (including instrumentals) of Appalachian, blues, gospel, Cajun and other vernacular--or folk--music styles originally issued commercially on 78 r.p.m. 10-inch records between 1927 and 1932. It became a foundational document of the folk music revival of the late '50's-early '60's and, by extension, the development of folk rock. Have you heard, or at least heard of, this album?
Yes, heard at least some of it (and may own or have owned it)
7%
150 votes
Yes, have heard of it
7%
146 votes
Unsure
17%
362 votes
No, I was wholly unfamiliar with the Anthology until now.
69%
1442 votes
2.
2.
Which of the following facts about the Anthology of American Folk Music do you know or find interesting (if not compelling enough for you to check it out or revisit it)?
In an era where the concept of race had potential to cause division and worse, Anthology compiler Harry Smith didn't include any information about performers' skin color in the collection's accompanying notes.
8%
170 votes
Though the Anthology's three 2-LP volumes were divided by collections of Ballads, Social Music, and Songs, their respective album jackets were colored green (Ballads), red (Social Music/Dances & Religious) and blue (Songs) to correspond with the mystical significance of earth, fire, and sky.
9%
190 votes
Smith and Folkways proprietor Moses Asch essentially created an early bootleg album, as many of the labels whose records were included were still operating, and many of the performers whose music is included were still alive at the time of time of the Anthology's release. Neither Asch nor Smith made any effort to legally license any of the numbers on the Anthology.
6%
128 votes
Smith had no fixed address at the time he pitched Asch on his idea for the Anthology.
3%
62 votes
All of the above
9%
183 votes
None of the above
73%
1530 votes
3.
3.
Though many aspiring folkies, ethno(musico)logists, historians, and other academic and musical professionals have absorbed the Anthology and committed it to memory, some of the performers on it are better known than others outside the context of the collection. Which of these acts featured on the Anthology are familiar to you outside its 12 LP sides/six CD's?
The Carolina Tar Heels
4%
89 votes
Charlie Poole
4%
87 votes
The Carter Family (the early country music family act into whom Johnny Cash married when he wed June Carter)
22%
463 votes
Furry Lewis
3%
54 votes
Charley Patton (the acoustic blues artist known as The Masked Marvel on the song included on the Anthology, as that's how he was billed on the original record)
4%
91 votes
Buell Kazee
1%
22 votes
The Stoneman Family
2%
51 votes
Mississippi John Hurt
4%
83 votes
Dock Boggs
1%
31 votes
Blind Lemon Jefferson
6%
121 votes
Uncle Dave Macon
2%
52 votes
Ken Maynard
3%
53 votes
Bascom Lunceford (lawyer/folk song collector who in 1949, when he was 70, recorded 330 of the songs he obtained for the U.S. Library of Congress' collection)
1%
20 votes
Not Applicable
64%
1337 votes
All the above
2%
51 votes
4.
4.
Though the Anthology of American Folk Music can be a revelation for listeners who don't mind exposing themselves to music going on 100 years old, some might say it could be more inclusive in some ways. Regardless of whether you've heard any of it, in which ways might you find the Anthology deficient?
Few female performers
10%
203 votes
Absence of music originating from faiths other than Christianity
5%
106 votes
Music comes largely from the southeastern states
8%
162 votes
No field recordings (recordings made primarily or exclusively for cultural study, not commercial profit)
5%
112 votes
No recordings of Native American tribal music, especially since Smith recorded so much of it in his youth.
7%
150 votes
Apparent or real deficiencies aside, Smith did his best with the materials he had available to him
7%
143 votes
Not Applicable
71%
1498 votes
5.
5.
In 2020, Dust To Digital Records issued The Harry Smith B-Sides, a complement to the original Anthology collecting the the flip side songs of the records in the original Anthology. That is, save for three tunes with lyrics deemed racist by the couple operating Dust To Disc's. I'd say that's a fair call of conscience. However, at least one number on Smith's Anthology could also be deemed insensitive by some listeners who nowadays would object to certain sports team names and other issues adjacent to Native Americans' concerns: Hoyt "Floyd" Ming And His Pep-Steppers– "Indian War Whoop." There's no citation of Ming and his family band's ethnic heritage in the supplemental notes for the Anthology's 1997 CD reissue, so...do you find the adaptation of indigenous Americans' vocalizing (or stereotyping of same?) by non-indigenous artists offensive?
Yes, with no or little leeway
10%
202 votes
Unsure/Context is pretty much everything./It depends...
47%
992 votes
No, with little or no leeway
43%
906 votes
COMMENTS