Edward James "Son" House Jr. was an American Delta blues singer and guitarist, noted for his highly emotional style of singing and slide guitar playing.
Big Bill Broonzy was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music to mostly African-American audiences. In the 1930s and 1940s, he navigated a change in style to a more urban blues sound popular with working-class black audiences. In the 1950s, a return to his traditional folk-blues roots made him one of the leading figures of the emerging American folk music revival and an international star. His long and varied career marks him as one of the key figures in the development of blues music in the 20th century.
Anthology of American Folk Music is a three-album compilation, released in 1952 by Folkways Records, of eighty-four recordings of American folk, blues and country music made and issued from 1926 to 1933 by a variety of performers. The album was compiled from the experimental film maker Harry Smith's own personal collection of 78 rpm records.
Quill was a rock band that played extensively throughout New England, New York, and the mid-Atlantic states in the late 1960s, and gained national attention by performing at the original Woodstock Festival in 1969. The band was founded by two singer-songwriters and brothers from the Boston area, Jon and Dan Cole.
The Holy Modal Rounders was an American folk music group, originally the duo of Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber, who formed in 1963 on the Lower East Side of New York City. Although they achieved only limited commercial and critical success in the 1960s and 1970s, they quickly earned a dedicated cult following and have been retrospectively praised for their groundbreaking reworking of early 20th century folk music as well as their pioneering innovation in several genres, including freak folk and psychedelic folk. With a career spanning 40 years, the Holy Modal Rounders proved to be influential both in New York scene where they began and to generations of underground musicians.
Dust Bowl Ballads is an album by American folk singer Woody Guthrie. It was released by Victor Records, in 1940. All the songs on the album deal with the Dust Bowl and its effects on the country and its people. It is considered to be one of the first concept albums. It was Guthrie's first commercial recording and the most successful album of his career.
Clamtones was an American folk rock group, and Jeffrey Frederick's most notable band. The best-known incarnation of the band formed in 1975 when Frederick and Jill Gross moved to Portland, Oregon and began playing with the backing band of the Holy Modal Rounders. Although the Clamtones only recorded one studio album, they were a popular act in the Portland music scene. They were inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in 2011, with the organization noting that the Clamtones "developed a reputation for being 'one of the best bar bands in the country.'"
Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was founded in 1987 after the family of Moses Asch, founder of Folkways Records, donated the entire Folkways Records label to the Smithsonian. The donation was made on the condition that the Institution continue Asch's policy that each of the more than 2,000 albums of Folkways Records remain in print forever, regardless of sales. Since then, the label has expanded on Asch's vision of documenting the sounds of the world, adding six other record labels to the collection, as well as releasing over 300 new recordings. Some well-known artists have contributed to the Smithsonian Folkways collection, including Pete Seeger, Ella Jenkins, Woody Guthrie, and Lead Belly. Famous songs include "This Land Is Your Land", "Goodnight, Irene", and "Midnight Special". Due to the unique nature of its recordings, which include an extensive collection of traditional American music, children's music, and international music, Smithsonian Folkways has become an important collection to the musical community, especially to ethnomusicologists, who utilize the recordings of "people's music" from all over the world.
Jeffrey Sutton Frederick (1950–1997) was a songwriter, guitarist and performer specializing in good-time Americana music—an idiosyncratic blend of folk, country and rock and roll. He was a largely uncredited predecessor of today's alternative country music genre. Also notorious for his pranks, he was a prodigious songwriter, specializing in sly, hilarious and soulful pieces. Frederick's tightly crafted songs and intricate guitar work were praised by the likes of Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, and Dan Hicks. His songs are being featured in a series of tribute albums, starting with St. Jeffrey's Day: The Songs of Jeffrey Frederick, Volume I (2008). Jeffrey Frederick and the Clamtones were inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame on October 8, 2011.
Have Moicy! is a collaborative studio album by Michael Hurley, the Unholy Modal Rounders and Jeffrey Frederick & the Clamtones. It was released on January 1, 1976 by Rounder Records. In 2011, Light in the Attic Records reissued Have Moicy! on vinyl. Although nominally credited to three different groups, the music is performed by an overlapping cast of musicians, with Hurley, Frederick, and Peter Stampfel alternating lead vocals with one track sung by Paul Presti.
"I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground" is a traditional American folk song. It was most famously recorded by Bascom Lamar Lunsford in 1928 for Brunswick Records in Ashland, Kentucky. Harry Smith included "I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground" on his Anthology of American Folk Music released by Folkways Records in 1952. The notes for Smith's Anthology state that Lunsford learned this song from Fred Moody, a North Carolina neighbor, in 1901.
Randal Bays is an American fiddler, guitarist and composer. This Irish-style fiddle and guitar player first gained international recognition through his recordings and performances with Co. Clare fiddler Martin Hayes in the early 1990s.
Peter Stampfel is an American fiddle player, old-time musician, and singer-songwriter.
Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.
Bernard Stollman was an American lawyer and the founder of the ESP-Disk record label.
The Youngbloods is the debut self-titled studio album by the American rock band the Youngbloods, released in 1967. It was also reissued in 1971 under the title Get Together after the popular single from the album. The album peaked at number 131 on the Billboard 200 although two years later the single "Get Together" reached number five and sold more than a million copies.
Indian War Whoop is the third studio album by the Holy Modal Rounders, released in 1967 through ESP-Disk. The album is the band's first with contributions outside of the original members Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber. The title track is a cover of an obscure song featured on Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music.
The Moray Eels Eat the Holy Modal Rounders is the fourth studio album by the New York psychedelic folk band the Holy Modal Rounders, released in 1968 through Elektra Records. Although Peter Stampfel does not regard the album highly, it has received positive reviews and its opener, "Bird Song," was notably included in the 1969 film Easy Rider.
I Make a Wish for a Potato is a compilation album by psychedelic folk band The Holy Modal Rounders, released on April 10, 2001 through Rounder Records. The album draws from the band's three releases on Rounder Records and also includes songs by associated acts such as Michael Hurley as well as the Clamtones.
Steven P. Weber was an American folk singer-songwriter and guitarist.
