The Folkways Collection

Another oldie but goodie from my Singing Muses blog. If you haven't had a chance to catch up with this series - it's still available for your listening pleasure. This is your second reminder, so you have no excuses now.

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.

Here is a complete list of all the programs in the collection:
Episode 1: A Folkways Overture
Episode 2: Moses Asch: Man and Myth
Episode 3: Folkways: An American Canon
Episode 4: The Anthology of American Folk Music Part I
Episode 5: The Anthology of American Folk Music Part II
Episode 6: The Anthology of American Folk Music Part III
Episode 7: Huddie Leadbetter (Lead Belly)
Episode 8: Woody Guthrie
Episode 9: Blues
Episode 10: Jazz
Episode 11: Country and Bluegrass
Episode 12: Pete Seeger
Episode 13: Music and the Winds of Change: The Labor Movement
Episode 14: Music and the Winds of Change: The Civil Rights Movement
Episode 15: Music and the Winds of Change: The Women's Movement
Episode 16: Children's Music
Episode 17: Voices of History
Episode 18: Music of the World
Episode 19: Music of the World II
Episode 20: The Poets
Episode 21: Subterranean Homesick Blues I
Episode 22: Subterranean Homesick Blues II
Episode 23: Phil Ochs
Episode 24: Epilogue

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.

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