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Ochs was one of the most enthusiastic contributors to Broadside, the original folk-music zine. This posthumous 1976 LP has live performances he gave for Broadside benefit concerts and demos he made... more

Recorded during the height of anti-war protests in America, this 14-track collection focuses on the issues of civil rights and the Vietnam War. Contributing songs and performances are Frederick... more

After researching, learning, and polishing songs found on early recordings of country music, multi-instrumentalist Mike Seeger laid down these rousing tracks in 1962 at his home in New Jersey. His... more

A paean to the joys of live performance, this album features rousing singalongs, blues, spirituals, and songs from South Africa and the Bahamas. Willie Dixon and Memphis Slim join Seeger in this... more

After attracting attention with his live sets in NYC (where he often played in a duo with Dylan), Spoelstra signed to Folkways and got the chance to show off his inspired takes on folk classics and... more

Their 1958 eponymous LP includes Dallas Rag; East Virginia; Take a Drink on Me; Brown's Ferry Blues; Roving Gambler; Davy, Davy; Tom Cat Blues; Don't Let Your Deal Go Down, and more great old songs... more

Another classic recording from Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon finds the powerhouse blues duo playing a collection of fine songs. Pete Seeger joins the guys for two tracks on the album: "Stew ball" and... more

Born in Brooklyn in 1936, Dave Van Ronk was Bob Dylan's "first New York guru," writes Dylan's biographer Robert Shelton. "Dave Van Ronk was the musical mayor of MacDougal Street," Shelton continues,... more

Cisco Houston's smooth, spirited voice croons songs from the railways, mines, and the open range on this collection of his favorite ballads. In the tradition of composing songs to tell stories,... more

Mike, Peggy, Barbara, and Penny Seeger join forces on this album of folk songs, which includes ballads, lullabies, and ring games. Particularly interesting is the accompanying essay by musicologist... more

Reissue of the stunning introduction to the musical world of the unique guitarist from the Bahamas, Joseph Spence. Recorded in 1958 on the porch of a shack in Fresh Creek Settlement, it captures... more

The Youngbloods and Holy Modal Rounders covered songs from this 1964 Folkways LP, the debut by this Pennsylvania-born singer-songwriter (whose unconventional singing and songs made him a hero in '60s... more

Malvina Reynolds, the well-known songwriter and activist for social justice and the environment, performs some of her most famous songs in the compilation of studio and live recordings fro mthe 1960s... more

Irwin Silber produced this classic 1960 Folkways comp of Civil War songs both famous and obscure, from rousing marches to brokenhearted ballads. Along with Tenting Tonight; Lincoln and Liberty; John... more

Released in 1966, two years after the "Freedom Summer" of 1964, when civil rights activists concentrated their energy on registering black voters in the South, this album explicitly addresses the... more

You don't need to be a card-carrying member to get swept up by the message and music here. This 1955 Folkways LP collects generations of working-man's anthems: We Shall Not Be Moved; Casey Jones (The... more

Named for the folk magazine Broadside, this 1963 LP (later reissued by Smithsonian Folkways) was recorded in Broadside's cramped NY apartment in decidedly intimate fashion. Along with "The Ballad of... more

Blacklisted actor and tireless social activist Will Geer toured government work camps with Guthrie and Burl Ives long before Geer and Guthrie released this 1956 LP. They tell it like it is the songs... more

Joined on this recording by fiddler Tracy Schwarz, this album explores new musical territory "at least ten years in either direction," including unaccompanied ballad singing and bluegrass. Of... more

Von Schmidt and Cahn's musical friendship grew out of ill-fated road trips, rebelliousness, and of course, a shared love for the blues. As Cahn writes, "What we had in common was a feeling about... more

Ten years after British scholar Cecil J. Sharp declared the traditional English ballad a "moribund" art form, he discovered a rich and thriving tradition of ballad-singing in America's southern... more

Pete Seeger teaches the 12-string guitar as played by the virtuoso Lead Belly through a detailed breakdown of both the instrument itself (how to tune it, steel vs. Silk strings etc.) and step-by-step... more

Released in 1972, after many of it's artists had risen to international acclaim, Broadside Ballads, Vol. 6 contains previously unreleased songs that appeared in the folk publication Broadside... more

The Ramblers amble back to the days of the Great Depression and unearth these sorrowful songs: No Depression in Heaven; Breadline Blues; White House Blues; How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and... more