Classic Bluegrass from Smithsonian Folkways Vol. 1

Classic Bluegrass

from Smithsonian Folkways Vol. 1

Catalogue Number: SFMCD40092

Title: Classic Blues Vol. 1

Artist: Various

Label: Smithsonian Folkways

Format: 1 CD

Dreamlines is the official distributor for Smithsonian Folkways in Ireland– all our CDs are imported directly from source.

About:

It all began in 1956 with the release of the historic Folkways album American Banjo: Three-Finger and Scruggs Style (SFW 40037), the first-ever full-length bluegrass LP. From that point on, Folkways Records was synonymous with great bluegrass music. Folkways founder Moses Asch released scores of bluegrass albums, and this collection comprises the cream of the crop from these recordings, including works from giants of the genre such as Red Allen & Frank Wakefield, Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, the Stanley Brothers, and The Country Gentlemen. It serves as an outstanding introduction to the wealth of great bluegrass Smithsonian Folkways has to offer. Extensive notes & photos compiled and annotated by Lee Michael Demsey and Jeff Place.

Track listing:

1. EARL TAYLOR & THE STONEY MOUNTAIN BOYS: White House Blues
2. THE JOHNSON MOUNTAIN BOYS: Our Last Goodbye
3. BILL MONROE & HIS BLUE GRASS BOYS: When He Reached Down His Hand For Me
4. HAZEL DICKENS & ALICE GERRARD: Tiny Broken Heart
5. RED ALLEN, FRANK WAKEFIELD & THE KENTUCKIANS: New Camptown Races
6. HARLEY ALLEN-MIKE LILLY BAND: Suzanne
7. THE NASHVILLE GRASS: I Heard My Mother Call My Name in Prayer
8. THE FRIENDLY CITY PLAYBOYS: Teardrops in My Eyes
9. SNUFFY JENKINS: Cumberland Gap
10. RED ALLEN & THE KENTUCKIANS: Live and Let Live
11. ROGER SPRUNG & DOC WATSON: The World is Waiting for the Sunrise
12. HUGH MOORE: Hello City Limits
13. THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN: Legend of the Brown Mountain Light
14. RONI STONEMAN: Lonesome Road Blues
15. DOC WATSON: The Train that Carried My Girl from Town
16. THE NEW LOST CITY RAMBLERS: The Little Girl and the Dreadful Snake
17. THE STANLEY BROTHERS: Little Birdie
18. THE STANLEY BROTHERS: Rabbit in a Log
19. DAVID & BILLIE RAY JOHNSON: Grey Eagle
20. CULLEN GAYLEAN & THE VIRGINIA MOUNTAIN BOYS: Wayfaring Stranger
21. THE LONESOME STRANGERS: Billy in the Lowground
22. HAZEL DICKENS: The Rebel Girl
23. SMILEY HOBBS: Train
24. THE LILLY BROTHERS & DON STOVER: 'Neath that Cold Grey Tomb of Stone
25. BILL MONROE & HIS BLUE GRASS BOYS: Get up John

About Smithsonian Folkways – the original and best Jazz, Blues and Folk Label in the world!

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States. We are dedicated to supporting cultural diversity and increased understanding among peoples through the documentation, preservation, and dissemination of sound. We believe that musical and cultural diversity contributes to the vitality and quality of life throughout the world. Through the dissemination of audio recordings and educational materials we seek to strengthen people's engagement with their own cultural heritage and to enhance their awareness and appreciation of the cultural heritage of others. Our mission is the legacy of Moses Asch, who founded Folkways Records in 1948 to document "people's music," spoken word, instruction, and sounds from around the world. The Smithsonian acquired Folkways from the Asch estate in 1987, and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has continued the Folkways commitment to cultural diversity, education, increased understanding, and lively engagement with the world of sound.

History of Smithsonian Folkways

Folkways Records & Service Co. was founded in 1948 in New York City by Moses Asch (1905-1986) and Marian Distler (1919-1964). Under Asch's enthusiastic and dedicated direction, Folkways sought to record and document the entire world of sound. Between 1948 and Asch's death, Folkways' tiny staff released 2,168 albums. Topics included traditional, ethnic, and contemporary music from around the world; poetry, spoken word, and instructional recordings in numerous languages; and documentary recordings of individuals, communities, current events, and natural sounds.

As one of the first record companies to offer albums of "world music," and as an early exponent of the singers and songwriters who formed the core of the American folk music revival (including such giants as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Lead Belly), Asch's Folkways grew to become one of the most influential record companies in the world.

Following Asch's death, in 1987 the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage in Washington D.C. acquired Folkways Recordings and the label's business papers and files to ensure that the sounds and genius of its artists would continue to be available to future generations.

As a condition of the acquisition, the Smithsonian agreed that virtually all of the firm's 2,168 titles would remain "in print" forever--a condition that Smithsonian Folkways continues to honor through its custom order service. Whether it sells 8,000 copies each year or only one copy every five years, every Folkways title remains available for purchase.

In the years since 1987, Smithsonian Folkways has continued to expand on Asch's legacy, adding several other record labels to the collections and releasing over 300 new recordings that document and celebrate the sounds of the world around us.