In 1952, record collector Harry Smith released Anthology of American Folk Music, a six LP compilation of recordings from 1926 to 1933. Separated into three volumes of two LPs each, the collection has been highly influential, particularly for its popularity amongst those in the 1960s folk revival scene.
Although much is made about Harry Smith favoring eccentric and unconventional folk artists for the compilation, this narrative is perhaps pushed to an excessive degree. The recordings herein certainly do not sound much like most commercial folk music, but a more likely explanation of these folk musicians' curious sound is that they had small audiences because their particular musical dialect were not nearly as interesting to outside communities and thus died away with their forebears, never to be wildly known or influential in their time. In any case, there are commercial artists like the Carter Family who had authentic regional music and were national successes. Smith himself did not seem to outline a criterium for including unconventional artists--it's not the Anthology of Peculiar American Folk Music is it? Rather, he seemed very interesting in fulfilling the plainly stated title, going tedious lengths to paint this historical picture. The original liner notes pack significant information about each song while Smith also put the first volume "Ballads" in a rough chronological order based on when the songs were written. That said, Smith certainly enjoyed unconventional approaches to folk music and included his fair share of musicians and compositions on Anthology that are hilariously delightful (see "Drunkard's Special," "King Kong Kitchie," and "Rocky Road").
Although eccentricity was not a major criterium, Smith did have other guidelines when collecting material to document this important piece of early 20th century American culture. It may be easy to take it for granted today, but Smith did not exclude musicians based on race from his 1952 compilation. Instead, he mixed together music from black, Cajun, and white musicians, showcasing a diverse America that seamlessly unites into one zany melting pot of culture. Additionally, Smith only chose from commercial recordings (notably excluding field recordings John and Alan Lomax recorded for the Library of Congress) in an attempt to showcase popular music that had an intended audience. These audiences, like the musicians, were racial minorities or impoverished "hillbilly" white people.
Perhaps Harry Smith's greatest stroke of genius was limiting the compilation to a very small window of music history. In 1923, record companies saw for the first time the commercial opportunities of recording authentic country musicians when Fiddlin' John Carson's first recordings made impressive waves. By 1926, black country blues musicians were starting to get in on the action as well, leading to an explosion in the breadth of the American folk music library. (Although Smith could have undoubtedly chosen songs recorded before 1926, he chose this starting year because it was also the same time that record companies switched to "electric recording systems" which gave a much cleaner sound than could be achieved with the old "acoustic recording systems.") Thus, Smith captures the earliest time period when rural music were able to be self-documented, giving us a close approximation of the many humble and diverse musical traditions that had thrived for generations in the most isolated corners of America. In 1933, the year of the latest releases on Anthology, the Great Depression had put a halt to a significant portion of the recording industry. By the time the industry had recovered, folk music had evolved beyond the music highlighted in here. The old folk musicians had moved on (in fact, many Anthology musicians entirely gave up their music careers following the Great Depression), the diverse musical dialects of America had been become increasingly exposed to each other, and younger musicians had grown up with aspirations to record. Indeed, by the time Robert Johnson first recorded in 1936, he had adapted his performances for the 78 single format.
With these guidelines, Smith was able to distill his vast personal hoard of 78s into a collection that brilliantly documents the golden age of folk music. When it was released, however, the Anthology received no commercial or critical fanfare. Only a year after it was released on Folkways, it was out of print because only 50 copies were sold, 47 of which went to libraries and universities! There was simply no interest in music traditions that had disappeared not long after they were recorded. The 78s themselves--lacking in audience and even academic interest--were already so overlooked by the 1950s that many of them were close to being lost to history altogether. And no doubt many were. Fervent blues collectors recalled knocking on doors in the South and learning that children often destroyed the family's old 78s when using them as frisbees! Although some songs from the Anthology were still popular--obviously we all know "Stackalee" or "Casey Jones" in one form or another--the interpretations that Harry Smith collected couldn't have been further removed from the culture landscape only 25 years later. For many in the folk revival and even listeners today, this is what makes this impressive collection, which importantly made these recordings easily listenable in the LP era, so revelatory and engrossing upon introduction.
Eventually, Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music was slowly spread by a handful of enthusiastic individuals who presumably had every reason to initially doubt the self-canonizing title of an album assembled by an eccentric hobo. The high quality of the music inside Anthology can only explain the conversion of these early fans. As brilliantly as Smith collected this material, the musicians collected needn't Smith to vouch for them. Artists like Clarence Ashley, Buell Kazee, Henry Thomas, Charlie Poole, the Carter Family, Charley Patton, Furry Lewis, Mississippi John Hurt, Memphis Jug Band, Cannon's Jug Stompers, and Blind Willie Johnson (just to name a few) are visionaries, charming plain folk, and once in a lifetime talents that only begin to scratch the surface of what this period of musical history has to offer. Unlike Lenny Kaye's proto-punk compilation Nuggets, which collected outstanding singles from bands that usually needn't be explored further (well, that's my opinion at least), many of the musicians here have excellent and sometimes extensive discographies that would be sinful to skip out on. At the same time, it collects singles from incredibly underrated talents that unfortunately only left behind a handful of recorded songs because they were only ever able to secure one trip to a studio. What a shame! Indeed, the Anthology of American Folk Music isn't the end all be all of folk music. But it's an introduction to old, weird America like no other and will quickly entice those who pay heed to dig even deeper. A+
