Track Listing

1. Henry Lee - Justice, Dick
2. Fatal Flower Garden - Nelstone's Hawaiians
3. House Carpenter - Ashley, Clarence
4. Drunkard's Special - Jones, Coley
5. Old Lady And The Devil - Reed, Belle
6. Butcher's Boy (The Railroad Boy) - Kazee, Buell
7. Wagoner's Lad (Loving Nancy) - Kazee, Buell
8. King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O - Parker, Chubby
9. Old Shoes And Leggins - Dunford, Uncle Eck
10. Willie Moore - Burnett & Rutherford
11. Lazy Farmer Boy - Carter, Buster
12. Peg And Awl - Carolina Tar Heels
13. Ommie Wise - Grayson, G.B.
14. My Name Is John Johanna - Harrell, Kelly
15. Bandit Cole Younger - Crain, Edward.L.
16. Charles Giteau - Harrell, Kelly
17. John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man - Carter Family
18. Gonna Die With My Hammer In My Hand - Williamson Brothers
19. Stackalee - Hutchison, Frank
20. White House Blues - Poole, Charlie
21. Frankie - Hurt, 'Mississippi' John
22. When That Great Ship Went Down - Smith, William & Versey
23. Engine 143 - Carter Family
24. Kassie Jones - Lewis, Walter 'Furry'
25. Down On Penny's Farm - Bentley Boys
26. Mississippi Boweavil Blues - Masked Marvel
27. Got The Farm Land Blues - Carolina Tar Heels
28. Sail Away Lady - Stevens, Uncle Bunt
29. Wild Wagoner - Jilson Setters
30. Wake Up Jacob - Hunt, Prince Albert Texas Ramblers
31. La Danseuse - Gaspard, Blind Uncle
32. Georgia Stomp - Baxter, Andrew
33. Brilliancy Medley - Robertson, Eric & Family
34. Indian War Whoop - Ming, Floyd & His Pep-Steppers
35. Old Country Stomp - Thomas, Henry
36. Old Dog Blue - Jackson, Jim
37. Saut Crapaud - Fruge, Columbus
38. Acadian One-Step - Various Artists
39. Home Sweet Home - Breaux Freres
40. Newport Blues - Cincinnati Jug Band
41. Moonshiner's Dance Part One - Cloutier, Frank
42. You Must Be Born Again - Gates, Rev. J.M.
43. Oh Death Where Is Thy Sting - Gates, Rev. J.M.
44. Rocky Road - Alabama Sacred Harp Singers
45. Present Joys - Alabama Sacred Harp Singers
46. This Song Of Love - Middle Georgia Singing Convention
47. Judgement - Nelson, Sister Mary
48. He Got Better Things For You - Memphis Sancified Singers
49. Since I Laid My Burden Down - McIntosh, Elder & Edwards' Sanctified Singers
50. John The Baptist - Mason, Rev. Moses
51. Dry Bones - Lunsford, Bascom Lamar
52. John The Revelator - Johnson, 'Blind' Willie (1)
53. Little Moses - Carter Family
54. Shine On Me - Phipps, Ernest & His Holiness Singers
55. Fifty Miles Of Elbow Room - McGee, Rev. F.W.
56. In The Battlefield For My Lord - Rice, Rev. D.C. & His Sanctified Congregation
57. Coo Coo Bird - Ashley, Clarence
58. East Virginia - Kazee, Buell
59. Minglewood Blues - Cannon's Jug Stompers
60. I Woke Up One Morning In May - Hebert, Didier
61. James Alley Blues - Brown, Richard 'Rabbit' (1)
62. Sugar Baby - Boggs, Dock
63. I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground - Lunsford, Bascom Lamar
64. Mountaineer's Courtship - Stoneman, Ernest V.
65. Spanish Merchant's Daughter - Stoneman Family
66. Bob Lee Junior Blues - Memphis Jug Band
67. Single Girl Married Girl - Carter Family
68. Le Vieux Soulard Et Sa Femme - Breaux, Clemo
69. Rabbit Foot Blues - Jefferson, Blind Lemon
70. Expressman Blues - Estes, 'Sleepy' John
71. Poor Boy Blues - Thomas, Ramblin'
72. Feather Bed - Cannon's Jug Stompers
73. Country Blues - Boggs, Dock
74. 99 Year Blues - Daniels, Julius
75. Prison Cell Blues - Jefferson, Blind Lemon
76. See That My Grave Is Kept Clean - Jefferson, Blind Lemon
77. C'Est Si Triste Sans Lui - Breaux, Clemo
78. Way Down The Old Plank Road - Macon, 'Uncle' Dave
79. Buddy Won't You Roll Down The Line - Macon, 'Uncle' Dave
80. Spike Driver Blues - Hurt, 'Mississippi' John
81. K.C. Moan - Memphis Jug Band
82. Train On The Island - Nestor, J.P.
83. Lone Star Trail - Maynard, Ken
84. Fishing Blues - Thomas, Henry

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11045 in Music
• Released on: 2009-10-21
• Number of discs: 6
• Formats: Box set, Enhanced, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: 2.43 pounds

CD Description
This six-CD box set is nothing less than a blueprint for virtually every form of 20th Century pop music. A staggering compendium of the varied but closely connected styles of early American music, the ANTHOLOGY collects folk, blues, hillbilly, and church music to present a textured and unbelievablyrich tapestry. This collection's worth as both a historicaldocument and a source of infinite delight cannot be overstated. Folk archivist Harry Smith envisioned the project and compiled these 78s in 1952. His choice of material reveals not only his impeccable taste but also the spirit of true democratic humanity, manifested and reflected in song.
Recorded largely in the rural South of the early '20s and '30s, the ANTHOLOGY covers forlorn ballads of lost love, Creole chants, Christian hymns, deep swamp blues, novelty songs, political music, and innumerable tunes that dazzle with their melodic and rhythmic charms and risks. Included here are many legends of roots music, including The Carter Family, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charlie Patton, Dock Boggs, and Mississippi John Hurt, as well as dozens of others less heard. Make no mistake. This definitive examination of the roots of America's musical family tree is of monumental importance. It belongs in every music lover's library.

Customer Reviews

Back to the Future
Some of the songs in this massive collection make you shake your head with wonder - surely this one can't have been released as a record for people to buy in a record shop? Imagine the conversation from 1929 - "Excuse me, have you got I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground, by Bascom Lamar Lunsford?" "Why certainly young sir, it's right here, that'll be 30 cents!" But apparently ALL of these songs, ballads, fiddle tunes, gospel shouts, shape-note choirs, blues, string bands, cajuns and hot sermonising were indeed issued on 78s, and the public did buy them. Well - the rural folk in the Southern states, not those sophisticates in New York.
A guy called Ralph Peer found out by accident that white people down in the South would buy records by Uncle Bunt Stephens in their hundreds and thousands - he couldn't understand it either, being a city slicker himself, but he knew a good thing when he saw it. So what became the country music industry started up. Then Ralph deduced that the black folks would also like the opportunity to buy their own kind of music, and so began to issue country blues. Between 1925 and 1933 an amazing kaleidoscope of country, folk, blues and jazz was released and some of it's right here in this big box.
And at least half is just as enjoyable now as it was then - although you probably need to be a bit of a folkie or a blues fan to really love it. Or maybe you went to see O Brother Where Art Thou and got the brilliant soundtrack album - well, Harry Smith's Anthology is where you find the original recordings of that kind of stuff. It's often raw and harsh, but it cuts through. It has power and magic, and a crazy happiness to it. This music is not show business.

Wierd Old America
If you thought that Bob Dylan's sound was new way back in the early 60's (as I did) then think again. That sound goes back much further to an even wierder time. Harry Smith pretty much bootlegged this cross section of American music ranging from blues through jug and gospel to early Dylan style harmonica howls from recordings on obscure labels, which begs the question, how did this very strange music attract a commercial audience in the USA of the 20's and thirties? The roots of all modern music are here and this stuff certainly did influence a generation or two or three. It's a good game spotting who subsequently ripped off what. To own it is to love it. Peg and Awl defies description, but Smith has a go at it, as he does all of these tunes with wonderfully concise tongue in cheek summaries.

The source of it all
This is the collection of songs and music that inspired almost everybody on the hip side of life in the 60's. Published in 1952 by Folkways, this has survived brilliantly and is still a major source of inspiration for roots musicians. This 6 CD set was compiled out of true love to the music, and has made Harry Smith a legend like Ralph Peer, Sam Phillips or Don Law - For the record collector , this is a "MUST HAVE!"

Nils Maaetoft