I chose to review the album Classic Bluegrass Vol. 2 from Smithsonian Folkways. This album finished in 2002, it is a compilation of many of the best bluegrass songs that were in the Smithsonian “vault”. The Folkways Project of the Smithsonian started in 1948 by Moses Asch in New York. Asch had been very involved with music as he created his own business with the labels of Asch and Disk. During the 1940’s, he produced several records by people like Pete Seeger, Sonny Terry, Woody Guthrie, and Hobart Smith. The first compilation of folk music came about in 1952 with the Harry Smith’s compilation of Anthology of American Folk Music. More records came about when the innovative style of three-finger banjo playing by Earl Scruggs. In 1956, Pete Seeger suggested to Asch to contact this brother in order to make recordings of people who played guitar in the Scruggs’ style in their area. The project resulted in a recording that jumpstarted the career of Mike Seeger, Pete Seeger’s brother. Recordings started to fly off the press and until Asch’s death in 1970, recordings of folk music sky rocketed with thirty-six titles in eight years. The negotiation of these works to be donated to the Smithsonian became the project of Ralph Rinzler in 1987. Thanks to him, there is now the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. This compilation, along with the first CD, serve as an introduction to the “breadth of bluegrass that exists in the Folkways catalog.”

I really enjoyed all of the songs on this album. However, my favorite songs come from the Mountain Bluegrass Style album. One of the guys in this group went on to become a member of the Foggy Mountain Boys, which I’m sure most of you have heard of from the soundtrack of O Brother Where Art Thou? Another song that I really like is number 11 Back Up and Push. There are no lyrics and the banjos and guitars just keep strumming along at a pretty good tempo. The group, the Friendly City Playboys, played at the 1961Union Grove Fiddler’s Convention. This song is pretty famous and has been recorded by several different groups several times. Number six, Rocky Run sounds very familiar, but I just can’t put my finger on it.

I really like when some of the songs have spoken introductions to them by the artist themselves. It makes the music seem more personal and gives a little more needed background to the songs. I did not realize that there were different types of bluegrass music before listening to this album. After listening to all of these songs, I think that my favorite type is the mountain bluegrass style. I just really like the rolling rhythms of the banjos and guitars and makes me just want to stomp my feet and clap my hands. I really enjoyed this album.

This is in response to the Album Review Project.