Customer Reviews
Back to the Future - By: P. Bryant, 27 Dec 2003 
Some of the songsin this massive collection make you shake your head with wonder - surely this one can't have been released as a record for people to buyin a record shop? Imagine the conversation from 1929 - "Excuse me, have you got I Wish I Was a Molein 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 & hot sermonising were indeed issued on 78s, & the public did buy them. Well - the rural folkin the Southern states, not those sophisticatesin New York.
A guy called Ralph Peer found out by accident that white people downin the South would buy records by Uncle Bunt Stephensin their hundreds & 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, & so began to issue country blues. Between 1925 & 1933 an amazing kaleidoscope of country, folk, blues & jazz was released & some of it's right herein 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 & 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 & harsh, but it cuts through. It has power & magic, & a crazy happiness to it. This music is not show business.
Not in Kansas anymore - By: doublegone, 20 Jan 2003 This collection gives most people a huge culture shock on first hearing. The music comes from a different time & place. Weird does not cover it. These people lived different lives & believed different things from most of us who dodge along today.
The cds are by no means easy listening. You would hardly get back from work on a Friday night, grab a beer & stick this on. Despite myself I cannot help but treat this as an academic resource. It is a historical document rather than entertainment.
I find it to be essential however, for anyone wishing to understand how American music developedin the 20th century.
Wierd Old America - By: Nude O'Regan, 24 Jan 2001 If you thought that Bob Dylan's sound was new way backin 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 & 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 audiencein the USA of the 20's & thirties? The roots of all modern music are here & 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 & Awl defies description, but Smith has a go at it, as he does all of these tunes with wonderfully concise tonguein cheek summaries.
The source of it all - By: , 01 Dec 2000 This is the collection of songs & music that inspired almost everybody on the hip side of lifein the 60's. Publishedin 1952 by Folkways, this has survived brilliantly & is still a major source of inspiration for roots musicians. This 6 CD set was compiled out of true love to the music, & 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
