The Old Weird America: Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music (2007)

Directed by: Rani Singh | 90 minutes | documentary | Starring: Harry Smith, Greil Marcus, Elvis Costello

Harry Smith: many music lovers get a blissful smile on their face when they hear this name. Smith is seen by many as the prime example of where love for music can lead. In 1952, the then 29-year-old artist released a collection of 84 songs: songs from his own gigantic collection of 78 rpm records. There was no clear criterion for the collection, except that the songs themselves were striking and at the same time typical of what he valued about American music culture. Completely different singers and groups had in common that their songs were about real life. Love, lust, death, murder, faith, passion: whether the music style was blues, country or folk and whether they were white or black, Harry Smith thought it was worth it. In doing so, he was perhaps the first to break through the categorization of music styles and racial origin, and let the music speak for itself. In 1952, even before rock ‘n roll, Smith returned to the classics and traditionals of the 1920s and 1930s. And with success: the ‘Anthology’ caused a real revival of folk music, and artists like Clarence Ashley and Dock Boggs experienced a second childhood. However, the influence of Smith’s ‘Anthology’ goes much further, as this documentary also makes clear: after all, rock ‘n roll was created by the mix of white and black music: country and blues. A mix to which the ‘Anthology’ made a contribution that should not be underestimated.

This influence is also apparent from the procession of contemporary music, which time and again harks back to the canon that has become the ‘Anthology’. ‘The Old Weird America’ shows images of a series of ‘tribute’ concerts that were organized in 1997 for the by then already deceased Smith. Artists such as Nick Cave, Elvis Costello and Beck, as well as less obvious names (Lou Reed, David Thomas, Sonic Youth), gave their rendition of the old ‘evergreens’: sometimes strikingly faithful to the original, sometimes a completely different version than the seventy-year-old recordings. ‘The Old Weird America’ provides an informative picture of the importance of Harry Smith and his ‘Anthology’. It is nice that Smith’s much broader orientation is also emphasized: he was not only a music lover, but also an artist who, for example, already worked with animations in the 1940s. The downside is that not a single song can be heard or seen from A to Z, whether it be the old recordings or the contemporary covers. Fragments alternate quickly and not always subtly due to the sometimes too rigorous editing.

Musicians’ comments on Harry Smith’s significance are usually interesting enough to read. The sometimes too weighty interpretations of other ‘experts’ (particularly the renowned music journalist Greil Marcus) do come across as a bit pretentious, which at a certain point becomes irritating. Stop chatting and play some more music, the music lover thinks… You don’t get the impression that Smith himself was such a theorist: he was above all an avid collector eager to share his passion with anyone. wanted to hear. These are minor blemishes that make it clear that the makers of the documentary are primarily concerned with the subject, and less with the medium of film or documentary. Anyone expecting a beautifully made documentary will be disappointed. If you would like to know more about Harry Smith and the importance of his ‘Anthology’ for contemporary music, ‘The Old Weird America’ is a good starting point to dive into the world of American music.