02-23-2026, 03:11 PM
Essay on Smith by Raymond Foye here:
"In the ten years since his death, Harry Smith’s (1923–1991) work and reputation have emerged from near obscurity to unforeseen cultural eminence. Painter, filmmaker, folklorist, anthropologist, and occult practitioner, Smith’s multi–faceted work has been the subject of two Getty Research Institute symposiums, in 2001 and 2002. In 1997 the Smithsonian/Folkways reissue of Smith’s seminal Anthology of American Folk Music (1952) (six CDs with extensive notes) became an unexpected best–seller, and reawakened an interest in the traditions of American folk music among young listeners and musicians that nearly equalled its initial impact in the 1950s and early ‘60s. A wide-ranging oral biography, a chapbook of early biography, and a volume of selected interviews with Smith have also recently appeared."
https://www.raymondfoye.info/harry-smith...ical-image
"In the ten years since his death, Harry Smith’s (1923–1991) work and reputation have emerged from near obscurity to unforeseen cultural eminence. Painter, filmmaker, folklorist, anthropologist, and occult practitioner, Smith’s multi–faceted work has been the subject of two Getty Research Institute symposiums, in 2001 and 2002. In 1997 the Smithsonian/Folkways reissue of Smith’s seminal Anthology of American Folk Music (1952) (six CDs with extensive notes) became an unexpected best–seller, and reawakened an interest in the traditions of American folk music among young listeners and musicians that nearly equalled its initial impact in the 1950s and early ‘60s. A wide-ranging oral biography, a chapbook of early biography, and a volume of selected interviews with Smith have also recently appeared."
https://www.raymondfoye.info/harry-smith...ical-image