Smithsonian Folkways is the not for profit record label from the Smithsonian Institute. Begun as Folkway Records in 1948, they've been dedicated to documenting "people's music," "spoken word, instruction, and sounds from around the world" which continued right through and on from their acquisition by the Smithsonian in 1987 at the death of the founder Moses Asch.
Folkways were one of the first labels to publish world music and to promote American folk music, the likes of Woodie Guthrie and Pete Seegar and as their website explains, "Topics included traditional, ethnic, and contemporary music from around the world; poetry, spoken word, and instructional recordings in numerous languages; and documentary recordings of individuals, communities, current events, and natural sounds. "
One of the conditions of their funding was that all of their two thousand odd titles would remain in print even if they only sold one copy in five years and the company continue to publish new material, three hundred items per year and, as I'm sure you've guessed considering the title of this post, it's all available on Spotify.
The best way to get a measure of what's available is to look at their website and click through the catalogue entries. Drama, African American music. documentary, language records, sounds, science and nature, a fascinating array of material originally released on wax, then cd, now streaming, continuing the company's educational trade. To be honest it's best if you simply go in and explore.
Here are some sample titles to give you a flavour:
Bluegrass Blast: A Mixed Bag of Ol' Timey Music
The Original Read-In for Peace in Vietnam
An Actual Story in Sound of a Dog's Life (which sounds like a precursor to This American Life)
Computer Music (which sounds like nothing else you've heard before)
Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: The Complete Play
Che Guevara Speaks (or sings?)
Scottish Bagpipe Tunes
When I Was A Boy In Brooklyn
Barbara Dane Sings the Blues
Radio Moscow and the Western Hemisphere
Fasola: Fifty-three Shape Note Folk Hymns: All Day Sacred Harp Singing at Stewart's Chapel in Houston, Mississippi
12-String Guitar as Played by Lead Belly (as taught by Pete Seegar)
The Spotify Playlist returns next week.
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