Documentaries

THE OLD WEIRD AMERICA: HARRY SMITH'S ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC

Rani Singh
USA 2007
90 min
V'07

The same year he died, legendary ethnomusicologist Harry Smith received an Emmy for his conservation efforts, specifically the landmark 1952 vinyl collection of American folk music culled from the tens of thousands of 78s he had collected for years. «My dreams came true», he said at that 1991 broadcast: «I saw America changed through music.» Built around the 1999-2001 series of concerts organized by music producer and «ringmaster» Hal Willner and the breathtakingly broad roster of musicians assembled, The Old Weird America is a history and celebration of Smith's singular contribution to music. From David Johansen to David Thomas by way of Nick Cave, Beth Orton, and Sonic Youth, the cavalcade of stars interpreting the songs from what Johansen calls «the Rosetta stone of the folk boom» include Beck, the ubiquitous Elvis Costello, Bob Neuwirth, Steve Earle, and the McGarrigles. (Eddie Cockrell)

Credits
  • Harry Smith
  • Elvis Costello
  • Beck
  • Sonic Youth
  • Rani Singh
  • Hal Willner
  • Timothy Tobin
  • Iain Kennedy
  • Hal Willner
Harry Smith Archives PO Box 1269 Stuyvesant Station New York, NY 10009, USA T 310 440 7625 rsingh@getty.edu

Rani Singh 2519, 34th Street Santa Monica, CA 90405, USA T 310 440 7625 rsingh@getty.edu

Video (Digi Beta)
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