Week 12: THE HARRY SMITH ANTHOLOGY

Revised cover from the 1960s (with photo by Ben Shahn from the 1930s)

 The Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music - 1952 / A Sampler 

 
Now that you have a sense of Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie, I want you to use the time to get acquainted with Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music, published by Folkways Records in 1952. These three volumes, issued as a set of lps, were the source for a good part of the American folk music revival of the later 1950s and early 1960s. Harry Smith (among many other things) was an avid record collector--and the Anthology draws on his archive. The material included--mostly recordings from the 1920s and 30s--were ones some people had found again as individual records, but it was Smith's Anthology that brought the full range of them into view. It became "the folkies' bible." Note also that the Anthology was the source for two of Mississippi John Hurt's early recordings: Frankie and Spike Driver Blues, which lead to his "rediscovery" in the 1960s. We explored some of this last week. The key song was Avalon Blues--not on the Anthology, but the Anthology led to its rediscovery as well.

The Smithsonian (which acquired the Folkways records archive) reissued the Anthology as a 6-CD boxed set in 1997, with a reprint of Harry Smith's original booklet (see out Reader, pps. 269-96) and collateral essays. The original songs are all included.

It's in three sections, as devised by Smith in the original:
Volume 1:  Ballads
Volume 2:  Social Music
Volume 3:  Songs

Note that the final song on the Anthology was Henry Thomas' Fishin' Blues. That's the version that so many people learned during the folk revival--incuding Taj Mahal, who made it a central part of his early repertory. Here's his 1968 recording (now of course a classic in its own right: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQC2_NJj2iA
There's also an earlier version  by The Lovin'Spoonful (1965). Both of these recordings will give you as glimpse of how the Anthology influenced the soon-to-follow folk revival movement.

Some have argued that there's an over-all narrative to the material (see Robert Cantwell's book, When We Were Good, a ruminative history of the Folk Revival which (as I recall) includes a very good chapter on the Harry Smith Anthology.)

I'd have you access the entire Anthology online through the Music Library resources, but apparently because of licensing issues, the full set is not available in one go. So, instead, I've put together a Sampler, posted on box, with a number of the songs. It seems most of the others are available individually on YouTube. (Or, you could purchase the box set from the Smithsonial online, about $78).  So, listen to the Sampler, and spend some time with Harry Smith's booklet (it's the last section in our reader). His mini descriptions of the songs are worthwhile in themselves, and you'll pick up a lot of other details--record labels, bibliographic notes, collage fragments--all part of Smith's eccentric genius.)

Also, as a supplement, here's the Smithsonian's Anthology webpage, with samples from all 84 songs: https://folkways.si.edu/anthology-of-american-folk-music/african-american-music-blues-old-time/music/album/smithsonia.  No doubt you can find most of the songs in full version on YouTube .

Follow your own path through this material, see what you find interesting, intriguing--do some exploring.

DOWNLOAD on BOX:
https://berkeley.box.com/s/3k1phwj91zjk0ng4d5gb

Note that you have some of these songs in other downloads I've prepared for the class. The source for all of them was Harry Smith's Anthology. That's why they're included here again. I wanted to chose representative samples--which means some repeats. Be sure to download the .xml file for track information. For starts, listen to "Fifty Miles of Elbow Room," recorded by Rev. F.W.McGee.

Also, as a supplement, here's the Smithsonian's Anthology webpage, with samples from all 84 songs: https://folkways.si.edu/anthology-of-american-folk-music/african-american-music-blues-old-time/music/album/smithsonian

Harry Smith, David Gahr photo

READING. Harry Smith's own notes, which he referred to as "a scientific/aesthetic handbook," Reader p. 269ff. Use this last chapter in our Reader as your guide to listening--you'll get a sense of the original experience of the Anthology at the outset of the Folk Revival. Smith's notes are quirky and particular. What does that tell us today about the place of this music in the American consciousness? Then and now?

PROJECT: Start with "Fifty Miles of Elbow Room" or another of the Anthology songs that you want to work from. (You'll recognize how many of the songs fit into groupings we've seen earlier this semester--Omie Wise as an Appalachian Ballads, for example.
Or find an individual way to re-synthesize the Anthology for today--your own sense of this material--interpreted visually.

An opportunity to revisit some of the material we've covered in the course, and a chance to see it in it's original Folk Revival context--how the Anthology became an inspiration...
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A Note on the Cover: The original 1952 cover included an image of the  "Celestial Monochord," (below, right), from an etching by Theodore de Bry in a treatise by 16th century alchemist Robert Fludd. The choice of the image reflects Harry Smith's unique--and eclectic--metaphysical sensibility. The cover was revised in the 1960s, using a Depression-era photograph by Ben Shahn (below, bottom))--a better fit for the emerging Folk Revival listeners, and also a better commercial strategy. (The revised cover  was by Folkways Records' Irwin Silber, over Harry Smith's strenuous objections. Silber was the founder of SingOut!--a very popular small press publication for folk enthusiasts. He was also a noted political activist.) What does the revision tell us about the times? And how they were changing?

You have a reprint of Harry Smith's Anthology liner-notes,  what he called the "Scientific/Aesthetic Handbook." It's the the last chapter in our S&P Reader.)

Original 1952 cover

"The Celestial Monochord" from Robert Fludd

Revised cover from 1960s