Program Summaries and Playlists

Program 1: Introduction

Michael Asch is the only child of Moses and Frances Asch. He was a professor of Anthropology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton until his retirement. However, as he says in this first program "The show is not about me. It is about my father, and more specifically about the record company my father founded and ran for 38 years. The company's name is Folkways Records, and, due to the foresight and perseverance of many people at the Smithsonian Institution, the company still continues as Smithsonian Folkways Records. This program features an overview of great Folkways sounds.

This show is dedicated to music on Folkways that has a special place for Michael Asch. It includes some of his favourites and some of his father's favourites. Some of these songs are from his childhood and some from my early adulthood when he worked for Folkways.

In this show the focus is on the blues, but from a particular personal angle. Listeners from Chicago may well recognize the title "The Midnight Special," as being used on a radio show that has been broadcast on WFMT since 1953 and is now broadcast as well over the net. Michael thought to honour that program by recreating what he heard when moved to Chicago to attend university in the fall of 1961.

A remarkable thing about Folkways is the number of significant movements in the 20th century with which it was in tune. One of the most significant movements found on Folkways is the African-American poetry scene, starting with the Harlem Renaissance that began in the 1920s. The Harlem Renaissance is a rather loose term that identifies a flourishing of poetry and prose to emerge from Harlem. The poetry ranges greatly stylistically. But what unites all these poets is that they focus in some way on the experience of the African-American in the U.S.

In this hour Michael traces the history of a folksong, probably most familiar to you as "The Streets of Laredo" but also reflected in the song "St James Infirmary." In 1960, Folkways released an album put together by folklorist Kenneth Goldstein called The Unfortunate Rake: A Study in the Evolution of a Ballad.

This hour features bluegrass music on Folkways Records. Bluegrass is a style developed mostly in Appalachia that combines Scots-Irish and African-American elements from jazz and blues. Michael presents a personal journey, choosing from those performances he considers 'classic.' Performers include Bill Monroe, Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard, Roger Sprung, The Country Gentlemen, The Lily Brothers, Eric Weisberg, Ralph Rinzler and Mike Seeger.

In this show we jump into the world of animal sounds and songs about animals. Of course there are many songs about animals. But Michaels father Moe Asch also released a number of recordings of animal sounds, some straightforward recordings and others, well, you'll hear throughout the hour. Michael will pair a song about an animal with the sounds of the animal, all from the wide ranging Folkways Records catalogue.

This show focuses on topical songs, mostly from a small-distribution, widely influential magazine from the 1960s and 70s and 80s called Broadside Magazine. In 1962, the first issue cost 35 cents and consisted of a meager 300 copies. But it included songs from such masters as Malvina Reynolds, Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs. Broadside brought many topical singer songwriters to the public's attention, including, in addition to Reynolds, Ochs and Dylan; Tom Paxton, Richard Farina, Janis Ian and Buffy St. Marie, to name just a few.

The theme of this show is about Folkways material inspired by dogs, so Michael has called the show "going to the dogs." The idea for the show came from Rob Wiznura, researcher on this radio series, and a guy who likes dogs, and puns about them. Michael is less committed, more of a cat man. Hear songs, sounds and documentary segments.. all on the canine theme.

This show is about the world of sound captured by Tony Schwartz and produced on Folkways Records. While not a household name, Schwartz is a legendary figure in the advertising business. There is another side to Tony Schwartz. It is found in his passion for recording sounds, particularly human made sounds; and for New York City. The marriage of these passions is found in sound documents that range from short sound poems to lengthier sound essays. Often produced for his radio show, sometimes these found their way to become tracks on albums he made for Folkways Records.

This show is built around the song "The Ink is black" or "Black and White" by David Arkin, Alan Arkin's father and Earl Robinson, who for a time was the music teacher at Michael's school in New York City. Written on the occasion of the 1954 de-segregation decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, it epitomizes the sensibility that segregation is inherently evil. The show begins with the complete version of the song Black and White, made famous by Three Dog Night. Poetry, Prose and much Folkways music supports the theme.

It was kind of a gloomy day around Michaels' home when his researcher Rob Wiznura sent him an idea for a show that presented the days of the week in song. It was a blue day, so he thought Blue Monday, because it goes through the days of the week and returns to Monday, as did his idea. But Folkways didn't record Blue Monday. But then it came to me, even better than Blue Monday was Stormy Monday as it captured the weather and also went through the days of the week. And so it was that an idea for a Folkways radio show was born. Listen as Michael presents material from "the days of the Folkways week."

Nicola Sacco and Bartolmeo Vanzetti, Italian anarchists, were executed unjustly in 1927 for armed robbery and murder of two pay-clerks in Massachusetts. The case caused quite a stir at the time as for many the conviction was not for murder, but for being anarchists and immigrants. They were pardoned in 1977 by Governor Michael Dukakis. In 1947, twenty years after the execution, my father commissioned an album of original songs penned and sung by Woody Guthrie about the trial, an album Woody himself believed was his most important work. This program focuses on that recording and the circumstances around the case.

This show is called “talking about and singing the blues.” The idea comes from the Folkways album “This is the Blues.” It features Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry, and Brownie McGhee. The album was built around a radio show produced by the great Studs Turkel of Chicago’s WFMT and was recorded on May 7th, 1957.

This show will mine the Folkways catalogue for songs about clocks and time, at least Western conceptions of time. We start with a little bluegrass reflection on clocks and then move onto all sorts of songs with references to time or time keeping. A timely program.

Harold Courlander is an important figure in the history of Folkways. Well known in some circles for winning the case against Alex Haley, whose novel Roots plagiarized from Courlander’s novel The African, I think of Courlander as the early guiding spirit for what he and my father called the Ethnic series, which is the vast catalogue of what we now call world music. This time, I thought we’d feature an album Courlander put together in 1956 that documents the sensibilities he brought to this work in the immediate post-War period. Called World of Man: Volume 1, His Work, a title that situates it in the non-inclusive language of that time, the album is nonetheless a wonderful worldwide journey through the world of human labour. We’ll add other work songs from around the world in the show.

Shortly before he died, my father was interviewed I think by the Today Show on NBC. At that time, he justified his policy of never withdrawing a record title from the complete two thousand plus collection by saying: “would you take the letter J out of the dictionary merely because it is used less frequently than the letter S.” Well, I thought I would base this show on that idea. Here we have a show in celebration of the letter J. We will cover songs, music from countries, artists, instruments and sounds which all begin with the letter J.

This time, I thought we’d wander about the collection listening to a teeny bit of the Jazz that my father recorded. Given everything he did, it is easy to forget his keen interest in jazz and of his important recordings, such as for Jazz at the Philharmonic series. But rather than get caught up in the history of Jazz or the role that my father played or make an attempt at being exhaustive with the jazz recordings, I thought we would make things simple and just goose around the collection a bit.

In this program we take a trip around the world through the Folkways collection. The theme is simple: love. Love songs, courting songs, fertility songs, bridal and wedding songs. We’ll start in North Africa with the Berbers who live in Algeria and move around the world, geographically and emotionally.

I am originally from New York City, though Canada has been my home since 1969. But that wasn't my first time in Canada. In 1963, through a quirk, I got a ride to Toronto and attended the Mariposa folk festival. I fell in love with Canada on that trip. At that time I had no idea that Folkways had the largest collection of Canadian music available in the world. I don't think it is still true, but there are well over a hundred Folkways records that feature Canada and Canadians. In this show we explore them.

In this program we are exploring the various musical sides of Pete Seeger. We will begin with Pete at Carnegie Hall getting everyone to sing together. It reminds me of those Christmas concerts of my youth, singing at the top of my voice, trying to keep sweet and on pitch. That was Pete as he is best known, leading us, helping us to understand that when we stand together we can be a powerful and harmonious collectivity.

In this program, we focus on children's music. My father, Moe Asch, produced a huge collection of children's recordings, but, as I hope you'll hear, they were unique in many ways. Music from around the world, music for and from children at play, at school and even some in the workplace. Children's music.

A seminal event in American history in the twentieth century coincided with the Great Depression. In fact for many the event is synonymous with the Great Depression. I am talking about the Dust Bowl. Many people made accounts of the Dust Bowl. John Steinbeck's epic The Grapes of Wrath also came from it: As did Woody Guthrie's classic release Dust Bowl Ballads. This disc forms the backbone of this program, although I will include many other songs of the time.

What is a rainbow? Why are we so fascinated by them? Why do we associate things to them: hope, beginnings, security, riches, and so on? Rainbows have been a constant in western culture and song. This program asks What means a rainbow? Music comes from around the world in our search for an answer.

On this show I thought I would feature piano recordings on Folkways. Piano is my favourite instrument, and there is no doubt that my fathers three record companies: Asch, Disc and then Folkways recorded some of the very best jazz and blues pianists of the 30's 40's and 1950's. And, on this show I will highlight some of these artists as well as many familiar tunes.

My father was a steadfast and passionate advocate for the underdog who spoke up for him and her self. He cared deeply about unions, civil rights, fights for freedom, fights against oppression. On this show, I thought I would explore the catalogue looking for songs that exemplify his commitment to what he called songs of protest and struggle. From war through civil strife, this is a full program to conclude our series on Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On.