Happy birthday to weirdo filmmaker, bohemian, anthropologist and folk song archivist Harry Everett Smith! Where would we be without his awesome Anthology of American Folk Music, taken from his personal 78s collection and allowing the world to hear long-forgotten and buried blues, gospel, hillbilly and various folk musics.
Folkways released and marketed this set of records in 1952, well ahead of the Folk & Blues Revival, and many would-be stars cherished these recordings and many of them covering the songs contained. Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger and many others counted this glorious set as a major influence.