Various Artists

The Harry Smith B-Sides

Genre: FOLK / ROOTS

4CD + Book Deluxe Box Set

Boomkat Product Review:

Dust-to-Digital close a century wide circle on a real collector’s special, racking up all 84 x B-side songs to the ‘78s originally included in Harry Smith’s pivotal ‘Anthology of American Folk Music’

Smith’s original 1952 series and boxset of country, blues, Cajun, and gospel music from the ’20s-‘30s arrived as something of an anachronism in the ‘50s, but would serve to light the touch paper of interest for this olde timey music that helped spark the whole ‘50s and ‘60s folk revival. It has remained a major touchstone for many ever since, with a resplendent boxset in 2000 also helping to trigger another wave of interest in this sound that, again, arguably influenced another generation of indie-psyche-folk types at the start of this century - heck, it’s fair to say even Taylor Swift is referencing this stuff, via her work with The National’s Aaron Dessner on ‘Folklore’.

Now newly remastered, like their A-side counterparts, these B-sides have also been arranged with the same sequence as filmmaker and record collector Harry Smith’s original set. They span a whole world of merriment and woes from a 100 years ago, taking in multiple barndances and church’s worth of material ranging from Mississippi John Hurt’s lilting folk, the quick Cajun fire of ‘Back To Mexico’ by Carolina Tar Heels, and the likes of Hoyt Ming & His Pep Steppers’ stomping ‘Old Red (Country Dance)’ along with glorious gospel by the legendary Alabama Sacred Harp Singers, and heads down, hard-bitten blues by Blind Willie Johnson.

4CD + Book Deluxe Box Set (10)

In Stock (Ready To Ship)

81 newly-remastered recordings on four CDs with a full-color, 144-page, cork-cover book in a cigar-style box. The book features archival images, original artwork by Harry Smith, and essays by John Cohen, Lance Ledbetter, and Eli Smith.

Play All 4CD + Book Deluxe Box Set (10)