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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

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

Moran "Dock" Boggs, miner and musician, was first recognized for his "unorthodox" playing style. His popularity only grew after he was featured on the Anthology of American Folk Music (SFW40090) in... more

Cisco Houston's first solo album on Folkways Records represents a small portion of the artist's repertoire of American folk music. Extensive liner notes (complete with a glossary of cowboy slang such... more

Recorded in 1940, and later reissued by Folkways Recordings in 1950, Guthrie's first album chronicles the American Dust Bowl through his prosaic style of talking blues. Using only guitar and vocals,... more

Buell Kazee (1900-1976) grew up playing the five-string banjo in the traditional flailing style ("thrashing" style, as he called it). As a teenager, he began to study religion and ended up spending... more

Banjo player and singer Ola Belle Reed created this album and it's accompanying notes as an autobiography, a document that describes her childhood in the mountains, her experiences, and her opinions... more

It is voices like Peggy Seeger's on this album that helped to make significant strides in the struggle for gender equality. Seeger's commentary is poignant and timeless as songs like "Nine-Month... more

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

Shanties and foc'sle (forecastle) songs lightened the burden of work aboard ship and provided entertainment to off-duty sailors. This recording features Massachusetts singer Paul Clayton and the... 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

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

Harry "Haywire Mac" McClintock (1882-1957) was a man of many colors. In addition to serving in the Philippines as a civilian in the military during the Spanish-American War, he worked on the... more

Legendary Beat poet Allen Ginsberg explores the fusion of poetry and music in this rare 1970s recording. Called a "venerated bard of resistance" Ginsberg sought "how the raw mind actually works"... 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

Singer, activist, and founder of Paredon Records (now also under the stewardship of Smithsonian Folkways), Barbara Dane was born in 1929 and was still going strong last time we spoke with her. This... 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

Jean Ritchie is a national treasure, one of America's finest and best known traditional singers. She grew up in Viper, Kentucky, and is part of a large family, the famous "Singing Ritchies of... more

Archibald Camp had been playing the banjo for 70 years when he wrote to Folkways Records in January 1961, offering a tape of his banjo playing for their consideration. Camp was one of the few... 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

A native of Beech Mountain in the northwest corner of North Carolina, singer and banjo player Frank Proffitt's tremendous repertoire inspired musicians interested in old time music. This collection... more

In this album's liner notes, John Cohen writes, "After seven years of performing, The New Lost City Ramblers play in a great many country styles. We have each developed our own individual... more

Malvina Reynolds writes, "Story telling and making rhymes have always been the thing with me.... Some years ago I got a guitar and was up to my neck in the folk songs rediscovered by the great... more