Yesterday, Smithsonian Folkways posted a playlist of 15 tracks from their vast catalog which was arranged, chosen, and annotated by our dear friend Warren Defever of the musical group His Name Is Alive. It’s a characteristically great list, and you have to read all of the comments as they mix his droll humor with the kind of childlike glee he lets slip out on occasion.
Defever wrote on his FB page that “Smithsonian Folkways asked me to go through their tapes and put a mix together – it includes great singers from all over the world going back a hundred years and a tiger recorded at the Detroit Zoo in 1958. Its got all the classics including Levon Helm’s only Folkways recording, Michael Hurley’s timeless howling, and Leadbelly running wild over an accordion… click your buttons to listen.”
You heard him! Click your buttons.
This article appears in Aug 12-18, 2015.
