American Folk Music, Folkways Records, 2 LP set Ballads

$

62

Here is what Wikipedia says:

Harry Smith was a West Coast filmmaker, bohemian, and eccentric, who, around 1940, developed a hobby of collecting old blues, jazz, country, Cajun, and gospel records, 78s being the only medium at the time. While mainstream America often considered these records to be ephemeral, he took them seriously and accumulated a collection of several thousand recordings, and over time began to develop an interest in seeing them preserved and curated.

In 1947, he met with Moses Asch, with an interest in selling or licensing the collection to Asch's label, Folkways Records. [1]. Smith wrote that he selected recordings from between "1927, when electronic recording made possible accurate music reproduction, and 1932, when the Depression halted folk music sales."[2] When the Anthology was released, neither Folkways nor Smith possessed the licensing rights to these recordings, many of which had initially been issued by record companies that were still in existence, including Columbia and Paramount. The anthology thus technically qualifies as a high-profile bootleg. Folkways would later obtain some licensing rights, although the Anthology would not be completely licensed until the 1997 Smithsonian reissue.[3]

Volume One: Ballads

1. "Henry Lee" — Dick Justice (1932)
2. "Fatal Flower Garden" — Nelstone's Hawaiians (1930)
3. "The House Carpenter" — Clarence Ashley (1930)
4. "Drunkard's Special" — Coley Jones (1929)
5. "Old Lady and the Devil" — Bill & Belle Reed (1928)
6. "The Butcher's Boy" — Buell Kazee (1928)
7. "The Waggoner's Lad" — Buell Kazee (1928)
8. "King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O" — "Chubby" Parker (1928)
9. "Old Shoes And Leggins" — Uncle Eck Dunford (1929)
10. "Willie Moore" — Burnett and Rutherford (1927)
11. "A Lazy Farmer Boy" — Buster Carter and Preston Young (1930)
12. "Peg and Awl" — The Carolina Tar Heels (1929)
13. "Ommie Wise" — G. B. Grayson (1929)
14. "My Name Is John Johanna" — Kelly Harrell (1927)
15. "Bandit Cole Younger" — Edward L. Crain (1930)
16. "Charles Guiteau" — Kelly Harrell (1927)
17. "John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man" — The Carter Family (1930)
18. "Gonna Die With My Hammer In My Hand" — Wiliamson Brothers and Curry (1927)
19. "Stackalee" — Frank Hutchison (1927)
20. "White House Blues" — Charlie Poole w/ North Carolina Ramblers (1926)
21. "Frankie" — Mississippi John Hurt (1928)
22. "When That Great Ship Went Down" — William & Versey Smith (1927)
23. "Engine 143" — The Carter Family (1927)
24. "Kassie Jones" — Furry Lewis (1928)
25. "Down On Penny's Farm" — The Bently Boys (1929)
26. "Mississippi Boweavil Blues" — The Masked Marvel (1929)
27. "Got the Farm Land Blues" — The Carolina Tar Heels (1932)

This set appears to be in very good condition.  The album number is FP 251. The original booklet is included, with a copyright date of 1952.  The booklet appears in excellent condition.  Either the booklet or the records cost $1.00 originally. There is an original leaflet from Folkways for ordering more copies of the booklet.  The LPs appear to be in excellent shape, nearly new condition. Quite frankly, they dont look like they have been played much, if at all.  I did not see any significant scratches or scuffs. It comes in the original cardboard box which also is in excellent condition.  Everything to me appears brand new.  It is all black cardboard box.  The cover is very plain, with a green sheet glued on the cover, listing the selections and artists in the album.  Super imposed on the cover is an unusual instrument described again, in Wiki:

Each of the three two-record sets carried the same cover art, a Theodore de Bry etching of an instrument Smith referred to as the "Celestial Monochord," taken from a mystical treatise by scientist/alchemist Robert Fludd. This etching was printed over against a different color background for each volume of the set: green, blue, and red. Smith had incorporated both the music and the art into his own unusual cosmology, and each of these colors was considered by Smith to correspond to an alchemical classical element: Water, Fire, and Air, respectively.

If you want photos or more information, please email me at: miker2001@msn.com

I have estimated the weight at 2-3 lbs. Buyer will pay actual postage. 

 I just added a picture and noticed a very tiny tear to a corner of the box. 

I also looked at the records again.  I saw three of the most minor, very small, light, surface scratches (three separate areas, on only two sides) which I very much doubt will affect the sound quality of the records. If you are not happy with them, you may return them, provided you pay the costs of postage.  I am not a record dealer and relatively new at this.  I am trying to describe to the best of my ability.