http://pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/37680
Wilco, Beck, Sonic Youth on Harry Smith Tribute
The late
Harry Smith, renowned musicologist, filmmaker, and painter, will be soon receive the tribute treatment with a four-disc box set titled
The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited, due October 24 on
Shout! Factory.
The two-CD/two-DVD collection draws performances from Wilco, Beck, Lou Reed, Nick Cave, Beth Orton, Richard Thompson, David Johansen, Steve Earle, and more. In addition, it holds a new documentary on Smith's continuous influence on contemporary music, as well as three of his short films.
The tracks, drawn from concerts staged by Hal Willner (who also compiled and produced
Revisited) at London's Royal Festival Hall (1999), Brooklyn's St. Ann's Center (1999), and Los Angeles' Royce Hall at UCLA (2001), take inspiration from Smith's six-LP
Anthology of American Folk Music. Released in 1952, it introduced listeners to artists such as Mississippi John Hurt, the Carter Family, Robert Johnson, and Blind Lemon Jefferson.
The first DVD,
A Concert Film - The Harry Smith Project Live, will be available separately as well.
P.S. Allen Ginsburg took the photo at the top of this story. That gives you some idea of how cool this guy was.
Tracklist:
Disc One:
01 David Johansen - "Old Dog Blue"
02 Steve Earle - "Prison Cell Blues"
03 Wilco - "James Alley Blues"
04 Beth Orton - "Frankie"
05 Beck - "Last Fair Deal Gone Down"
06 Kate and Anna McGarrigle - "Sugar Baby"
07 Elvis Costello - "The Butcher's Boy"
08 David Thomas - "Way Down the Old Plank Road"
09 Richard Thompson and Eliza Carthy - "The Coo Coo Bird"
10 Ed Sanders - "My Baby Done Left Me"
11 Nick Cave - "John the Revelator"
12 Eric Mingus and Gary Lucas - "Oh Death Where Is Thy Sting?"
13 Roswell Rudd and Sonic Youth - "Dry Bones"
14 Garth and Maud Hudson - "No Depression in Heaven"
15 Geoff Muldaur - "K.C. Moan"
16 Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer - "When That Great Ship Went Down"
Disc Two:
01 Robin Holcomb - "A Lazy Farmer Boy"
02 Van Dyke Parks and Mondrian String Quartet - "Sail Away Lady"
03 Geoff Muldaur - "Poor Boy Blues"
04 Marianne Faithfull - "Spike Driver Blues"
05 Lou Reed - "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean"
06 Kate and Anna McGarrigle With Elvis Costello - "Ommie Wise Part 1 & 2 (What Lewis Did Last...)
07 Gavin Friday - "Fatal Flower Garden"
08 Bob Neuwirth and Eliza Carthy - "I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground"
09 David Thomas - "Fishing Blues"
10 Mary Margaret O'Hara - "He Got Better Things for You"
11 Mocean Worker - "Harry Goes a Courtin"
12 Robin Holcomb and Todd Rundgren - "The House Carpenter"
13 Don Byron, Percy Heath and Bill Frisell - "This Song of Love"
14 Nick Cave - "Shine on Me"
15 David Johnansen - "James Alley Blues"
16 Petra Haden - "Single Girl Married Girl"
Disc Three (DVD):
01 Elvis Costello - "The Butcher's Boy"
02 David Johansen - "Old Dog Blue"
03 Nick Cave - "John the Revelator"
04 Beck - "Last Faire Deal Gone Down"
05 Ed Sanders - "One Hot Summer Night With Harry Smith"
06 Kate and Anna McGarrigle - "Sugar Baby"
07 Lou Reed - "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean"
08 Beth Orton - "Frankie"
09 Rosewell Rudd and Sonic Youth - "Dry Bones"
10 The Folksmen - "Old Joe's Place"
11 Robin Holcomb and Todd Rundgren - "The House Carpenter"
12 Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer - "When That Great Ship Went Down"
13 Philip Glass - "Etude No. 10"
14 David Johansen - "James Alley Blues"
15 Eric Mingus and Gary Lucas - "Oh Death Where Is Thy Sting?"
16 Petra Haden - "Single Girl, Married Girl"
17 Richard Thompson and Eliza Carthy - "The Coo Coo Bird"
18 Bob Neuwirth and Eliza Carthy - "I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground"
19 Geoff Muldaur - "Poor Boy Blues"
20 Don Byron, Percy Health and Bill Frisell - "This Song of Love"
21 Kate and Anna McGarrigle with Elvis Costello - "Ommie Wise Part 1 & 2 (What Lewis Did Last...)
22 Steve Earle - "Prison Cell Blues"
23 David Thomas - "Fishing Blues"
Bonus features: Three films by Harry Smith and interactive music selections: "Film #2", "Film #7", "Film #10", Philip Glass - "Etude No. 10", DJ Spooky - "HS Tone Poem", Mocean Worker - "Harry Goes a Courtin' (The Mowo! Live Hootenanny Throw-Down)
Disc Four:
The Old, Weird American: Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music