The Anthology Of American Folk Music

Overview
The Anthology Of American Folk Music was a compilation of 84 folk songs from 78s released 1926-1932. Originally on 3 volumes on 6 lps, later re-released in 1997 on 6 CDs. It was edited, compiled, and annotated by Harry Smith, and released by Folkways Records on 1952. This album is considered by many to be one of the most important albums of the 20th century because it started a revival of interest in American Folk Music.

Purpose
Harry Smith's purpose for creating The Anthology Of American Folk Music was to see if America could be changed through music. This did indeed happen, after the album was released, it intrigued many young American musicians and inspired them to make their own folk music. One of these musicians was Bob Dylan. It also caused a mass-rediscovery of the performers in this compilation that were still alive at the time.

Vol. I, "Ballads"
This was first volume of The Anthology Of American Folk Music. The title of Vol. I was "Ballads", meaning that the songs in this volume was were songs that told stories, usually tragic ones. The Ballads were organized in chronological order by when the ballad originated. One of the possible reasons why this volume was arranged this way was to give a brief social history of the south from c. 1776-1929, each song illustrating roughly a different period. Most of the songs before #6 where renditions of ballads referenced in Francis James Child's English And Scottish Popular Ballads. It contains songs 1-27.


 * 1) Henry Lee- Dick Justice
 * 2) Fatal Flower Garden- Nelstone's Hawaiians
 * 3) The House Carpenter- Clarence Ashley
 * 4) Drunkard's Special- Coley Jones
 * 5) Old Lady And The Devil- Bill and Belle Reed
 * 6) The Butcher's Boy- Buell Kazee (performer)
 * 7) The Wagoner's Lad- Buell Kazee (performer)
 * 8) King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Mi-O- Chubby Parker
 * 9) Old Shoes And Leggins- Uncle Eck Dunford
 * 10) Willie Moore- Burnett And Rutherford
 * 11) A Lazy Farmer Boy- Buster Carter and Preston Young
 * 12) Peg And Awl- Carolina Tar Heels (group)
 * 13) Ommie Wise- G.B. Grayson
 * 14) My Name Is John Johanna- Kelly Harrell and The Virginia String Band
 * 15) Bandit Cole Younger- Edward L. Crain
 * 16) Charles Giteau (song)- Kelly Harrell
 * 17) John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man- The Carter Family
 * 18) Gonna Die With A Hammer In My Hand- Williamson Brothers and Curry
 * 19) Stackalee- Frank Hutchison
 * 20) White House Blues- Charlie Poole and The North Carolina Ramblers
 * 21) Frankie- Mississippi John Hurt
 * 22) When That Great Ship Went Down- William and Versey Smith
 * 23) Engine 143- The Carter Family
 * 24) Kassie Jones- Furry Lewis
 * 25) Down On Penny's Farm- The Bently Boys
 * 26) Mississippi Boweavil Blues- The Masked Marvel
 * 27) Got The Farm Land Blues- Carolina Tar Heels (group)

Vol. II, "Social Music"
This was the second volume of The Anthology Of American Folk Music. The title of Vol. II was "Social Music", meaning that the songs in this volume were songs that would be played at social gatherings. Disc A featured Dance Music, and Disc B featured Religious Music. It contains songs 28-56.


 * 1) Sail Away Lady- "Uncle Bunt" Stephens
 * 2) The Wild Wagoner- Jilson Setters
 * 3) Wake Up Jacob- Prince Albert Hunt's Texas Ramblers
 * 4) La Danseuse- Delma Lachney and Blind Uncle Gaspard
 * 5) Georgia Stomp- Andrew and Jim Baxter
 * 6) Brilliancy Medley- Eck Robertson and Family
 * 7) Indian War Whoop- Floyd Ming and His Pep Steppers
 * 8) Old Country Stomp- Henry Thomas
 * 9) Old Dog Blue- Jim Jackson
 * 10) Saut, Crapaud- Columbus Fruge
 * 11) Arcadian One-Step- Joseph Falcon
 * 12) Home Sweet Home- Breaux Fréres
 * 13) Newport Blues- Cincinnati Jug Band
 * 14) Moonshiner's Dance, pt. 1- Frank Cloutier and The Victoria Café Orchestra
 * 15) Must Be Born Again- Rev. J.M. Gates
 * 16) Oh Death, Where Is Thy Sting?- Rev. J.M. Gates
 * 17) Rocky Road- Alabama Sacred Harp Singers
 * 18) Present Joys- Alabama Sacred Harp Singers
 * 19) This Song Of Love- Middle Georgia Singing Convention No. 1
 * 20) Judgement- Rev. Sister Mary Nelson
 * 21) He Got Better Things For You- Memphis Sanctified Singers
 * 22) Since I Laid My Burden Down- Elders McIntorsh and Edwards' Sanctified Singers
 * 23) John The Baptist- Rev. Moses Mason
 * 24) Dry Bones- Bascom Lamar Lunsford
 * 25) John The Revelator- Blind Willie Johnson
 * 26) Little Moses- The Carter Family
 * 27) Shine On Me- Ernest Phillips and His Holiness Singers
 * 28) Fifty Miles Of Elbow Room- Rev. F.W. McGee
 * 29) I'm On The Battlefield For My Lord- Rev. D.C. Rice and His Sanctified Congregation

Vol. III, "Songs"
This was the third volume of The Anthology Of American Folk Music. The title of Vol. III was "Songs". Meaning that the songs on this volume were miscellaneous songs that had no story or social purpose. It contains songs 57-82.


 * 1) The Coo Coo Bird- Clarence Ashley
 * 2) East Virginia- Buell Kazee (performer)
 * 3) Minglewood Blues- Cannon's Jug Stompers
 * 4) I Woke Up One Morning In May- Didier Hébert
 * 5) James Alley Blues- Richard 'Rabbit' Brown
 * 6) Sugar Baby- Dock Boggs
 * 7) I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground- Bascom Lamar Lunsford
 * 8) The Mountaineer's Courtship- Mr. and Mrs. Ernest V. Stoneman
 * 9) The Spanish Merchant's Daughter- The Stoneman Family
 * 10) Bob Lee Junior Blues- Memphis Jug Band
 * 11) Single Girl, Married Girl- The Carter Family
 * 12) Le Vieux Soulard Et Sa Femme- Cleoma Breaux and Joseph Falcon
 * 13) Rabbit Foot Blues- Blind Lemon Jefferson
 * 14) Expressman Blues- Sleepy John Estes
 * 15) Poor Boy Blues- Ramblin' Thomas
 * 16) Feather Bed- Cannon's Jug Stompers
 * 17) Country Blues- Dock Boggs
 * 18) 99 Year Blues- Julius Daniels
 * 19) Prison Cell Blues- Blind Lemon Jefferson
 * 20) See That My Grave Is Kept Clean- Blind Lemon Jefferson
 * 21) C'est Si Triste Sans Lui- Cleoma Breaux and Joseph Falcon
 * 22) Way Down The Old Plank Road- Uncle Dave Macon
 * 23) Buddy Won't You Roll Down The Line- Uncle Dave Macon
 * 24) Spike Driver Blues- Mississippi John Hurt
 * 25) K.C. Moan- Memphis Jug Band
 * 26) Train On The Island- J.P. Nestor
 * 27) The Lone Star Trail- Ken Maynard
 * 28) Fishing Blues- Henry Thomas



Vol. IV
After the release of the first three volumes, Harry Smith had plans for a fourth volume, he even made some master tapes. But it was never released during his lifetime. This was because Marian Distler, one of the co-founders of Folkways Records insisted that he put a song on it that had to do with re-electing Franklin Roosevelt, he wouldn't do it because he didn't think it was a very good song. So they never released it. The notebooks in which he wrote the annotations for the songs in Vol. IV were lost as well. But the tapes changed hands every now and then, until it landed in the hands of John Fahey who finally released it in 2000 on his own label, Revenant Records. This volume didn't have a specific subject, but they were all supposed to be what Harry Smith considered 'good performances'. All the songs on this volume were from 1928-1940, but the majority were from 1930-1940, even though this was out of the range of the first three volumes, they were all authentic folk songs. This suggests that this volume was made to show the few performers that continued to exhibit the folk tradition after and during the depression. It contained 28 songs on 2 CDs.


 * 1) Memphis Shakedown- Memphis Jug Band
 * 2) Dog And Gun (An Old English Ballad)- Bradley Kincaid
 * 3) Black Jack David- The Carter Family
 * 4) Down On The Banks Of The Ohio- Blue Sky Boys
 * 5) Adieu, False Heart- Arthur Smith Trio
 * 6) John Henry Was A Little Boy- J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers
 * 7) Nine Pound Hammer Is Too Heavy- Monroe Brothers
 * 8) Southern Casey Jones- Jesse James (musician)
 * 9) Cold Iron Bed- Jack Kelly and His South Memphis Jug Band
 * 10) Packin' Trunk- Lead Belly
 * 11) Baby Please Don't Go- Joe Williams' Washboard Blues Singers
 * 12) Last Fair Deal Gone Down- Robert Johnson
 * 13) Parchman Farm Blues- Bukka White
 * 14) Mean Old World- Heavenly Gospel Singers
 * 15) Hello Stranger- The Carter Family
 * 16) Stand By Me- Sister Clara Hudmon
 * 17) West Virginia Gals- Al Hopkins And His Buckle Busters
 * 18) How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live?- Blind Alfred Reed
 * 19) Wreck Of The Tennessee Gravy Train- Uncle Dave Macon
 * 20) Governor Al Smith- Uncle Dave Macon
 * 21) Milk Cow Blues- Sleepy John Estes
 * 22) No Depression In Heaven- The Carter Family
 * 23) I'll Be Rested (When The Roll Is Called)- Roosevelt Graves and Brother
 * 24) He's On The Ring (Doing The Same Old Thing)- Memphis Minnie
 * 25) The Cockeyed World- Minnie Wallace
 * 26) Barbecue Bust- Mississippi Jook Band
 * 27) Dans Le Grand Bois (In The Forest)- Hackberry Ramblers
 * 28) Aces' Breakdown- The Four Aces

Vols. V & VI
In the foreword in the original booklet, Harry Smith says: "Volumes 4, 5, and 6 of this series will be devoted to examples of rhythm changes between 1890 and 1950" (1). Unfortunately, Harry Smith gave away his entire record collection before he even started to work on Vols. 5 & 6, and volume 4 ended up not having the purpose he said it would have in the foreword when it was posthumously released in 2000.

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