This impressive--and frankly, fun--musical document is still sending out shock waves almost 50 years after its original 1952 vinyl release. The Smithsonian's six-CD reissue is painstakingly researched, annotated, and packaged (even boasting an enhanced disc for the techno-capable). Unlike field recorders, eccentric filmmaker/collector/musicologist Harry Smith assembled the "Anthology" from commercially released (though obscure) 78 rpm discs issued between 1927 and 1935. Its broad scope--from country blues to Cajun social music to Appalachian murder ballads--was monumentally influential, setting musicians like Bob Dylan down the path to folk fandom. The White House started its own national music library with the "Anthology"; anyone with more than a passing interest in American roots music should do the same.--Michael Ruby
| Track | Artist | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Henry Lee | 3:28 | |
| Fatal Flower Garden | 2:58 | |
| The House Carpenter | 3:16 | |
| Drunkard's Special | 3:16 | |
| Old Lady & the Devil | ||
| The Butcher's Boy | 3:05 | |
| The Wagoner's Lad | 3:05 | |
| King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O | 3:09 | |
| Old Shoes & Leggins | ||
| Willie Moore | 3:16 | |
| A Lazy Farmer Boy | 3:00 | |
| Peg & Awl | ||
| Ommie Wise | 3:12 | |
| My Name Is John Johanna | 3:13 | |
| Bandit Cole Younger | 2:57 | |
| Charles Giteau | 3:05 | |
| John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man | 2:57 | |
| Gonna Die With My Hammer in My Hand | ||
| Stackalee | 3:01 | |
| White House Blues | 3:31 | |
| Frankie | 3:28 | |
| When That Great Ship Went Down | 2:58 | |
| Engine 143 | 3:19 | |
| Kassie Jones, Parts 1 & 2 | ||
| Down On Penny's Farm | 2:50 | |
| Mississippi Boweavil (Boll Weevil) Blues | ||
| Got the Farm Land Blues | ||
| Sail Away Lady | 2:58 | |
| The Wild Wagoner | 3:17 | |
| Wake Up Jacob | 2:55 | |
| La Danseuse | 2:56 | |
| Georgia Stomp | 2:47 | |
| Brilliancy Medley | ||
| Indian War Whoop | 3:13 | |
| Old Country Stomp | 2:55 | |
| Old Dog Blue | 3:04 | |
| Saut Crapaud | 2:49 | |
| Acadian One-Step | 3:00 | |
| Home Sweet Home | 3:00 | |
| The Newport Blues | ||
| Moonshiner's Dance Part One | 2:40 | |
| Must Be Born Again | ||
| Oh Death Where Is Thy Sting | 1:29 | |
| Rocky Road | 2:44 | |
| Present Joys | 2:53 | |
| This Song of Love | ||
| Judgement | 2:25 | |
| He Got Better Things for You | ||
| Since I Laid My Burden Down | 3:19 | |
| John the Baptist | ||
| Dry Bones | 3:00 | |
| John The Revelator | 3:21 | |
| Little Moses | 3:14 | |
| Shine on Me | ||
| Fifty Miles of Elbow Room | ||
| I'm in the Battlefield for My Lord | ||
| The Coo Coo Bird | 2:56 | |
| East Virginia | 3:01 | |
| Minglewood Blues | 3:44 | |
| I Woke up One Morning in May | 3:04 | |
| James Alley Blues | 3:07 | |
| Sugar Baby | 2:58 | |
| I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground | 3:21 | |
| Mountaineer's Courtship | 2:44 | |
| The Spanish Merchant's Daughter | 3:18 | |
| Bob Lee Junior Blues | 3:11 | |
| Single Girl, Married Girl | 2:47 | |
| La Vieux Soulard Et Sa Femme | 3:10 | |
| Rabbit Foot Blues | 2:57 | |
| Expressman Blues | 3:01 | |
| Poor Boy Blues | 2:24 | |
| Feather Bed | 3:16 | |
| Country Blues | 2:59 | |
| 99 Year Blues | 3:07 | |
| Prison Cell Blues | 2:47 | |
| See That My Grave Is Kept Clean | 2:55 | |
| C'est Si Triste Sans Lui | ||
| Way Down the Old Plank Road | ||
| Buddy Won't You Roll Down the Line | ||
| Spike Driver Blues | 3:17 | |
| K. C. Moan | ||
| Train on the Island | ||
| The Lone Star Trail | 3:15 | |
| Fishing Blues | 2:45 | |
| Old Lady and the Devil | 3:05 | |
| Old Shoes and Leggins | 3:01 | |
| Peg and Awl | 2:59 | |
| Kassie Jones | 6:16 | |
| Mississippi Boweavil Blues | 3:09 | |
| Brilliance Medley | 3:01 | |
| Newport Blues | 2:58 | |
| You Must Be Born Again | 1:31 | |
| In The Battlefield For My Lord | 3:20 |
