The Folkways Collection

I've just discovered The Folkways Collection, a podcast series from Smithsonian Folkways and CKUA Radio.

The Folkways Collection is a series of 24 one-hour programs exploring the remarkable collection of music, spoken word, and sound recordings that make up Folkways Records (now at the Smithsonian as Smithsonian Folkways Recordings).

The music of modern day giants like Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and Ani Difranco is interwoven with original Folkways recordings to demonstrate the lasting legacy that Folkways Records has on popular music. Recent and archival interviews with Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Mickey Hart, Studs Terkel, and others help reveal the remarkable human stories behind this equally remarkable collection.

The series covers all the major contributors to contemporary and traditional folk music, with detours into Jazz, blues, the poets (Ginzberg, Cohen, etc), ethnic music, the civil rights era, and much more besides. This is truely a stunning piece of work, and a must for all lovers of folk music. The series also serves as the perfect introduction to folk music for the host of contemporary singer-songwriters who are keen to explore their musical roots.

Go to the Folkways Collection page, to read a full summary of each show.

The one hour podcasts weigh in at around 50Mbytes each, so you will need lots of patience if you are downloading via a dialup modem, but download times are considerably quicker if you have a cable or broadband service.

The series was produced by CKUA Radio in Alberta, Canada and originally aired in 1999, but they have not dated at all. Of course, you can download all the programs, or just the podcasts you are interested in.

Highly recommeded.

On This Day in...

1967: On The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, in one of the greatest rock TV moments ever, Keith Moon rigs his drum set to explode at the end of the Who's performance of "My Generation." The resulting detonation cuts Moon's leg, singes Pete Townshend's hair, and does some serious damage to his hearing. 1947: Lol Creme of 10cc ("I'm Not in Love") and Godley & Creme ("Cry") is born in Manchester, England. 1923: The father of country music, Hank Williams is born in Mount Olive, Alabama. His Christian name was Hiriam.

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