For me, one of the joys of being a music lover for more than four
decades has been exploring music from weird, old America. Beyond the well-defined genres
and Top 40 playlists, there’s another universe of music that sounds strange to
ears that are used to modern, polished pop creations. But once you give the
music a chance, it proves to be infectious, passionate, happy, profoundly sad,
spiritual, profane, full of wisdom, full of nonsense, and above all utterly
original.
If experiencing new music could be compared to going for a
drive to look at the scenery, discovering this music is like leaving the paved
highway, traveling for miles down a gravel road until it turns to dirt or a
trail through a pasture, and finding that it leads to the most beautiful
canyon, lake, or meadow ever – something that’s just not visible from the main
highway, and if it were somebody would build a McDonald’s there.
A big slice of weird, old American music can be heard in the
Anthology of American Folk Music, a six-album collection assembled by filmmaker
and music collector Harry Smith and issued in 1952. This set of 84 folk, blues
and country songs hugely influenced Bob Dylan and many other folk musicians of
the 1950s, ‘60s and beyond. Aside from its influence on a number of influential
icons of the folk and rock eras, the Anthology of American Folk music offered a
glimpse into a musical expression of a weirder, older, wilder country. The
compilation was divided into three two-album volumes: "Ballads",
"Social Music", and "Songs."
Anyway, here are a few songs that fall in the “old, weird” category
for me. Some of these artists had recordings on the Anthology of American Folk
Music, but I believe that none of these recordings were on the set.
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