Folkways Records

Folkways Records on vinyl: the sounds of the world

In short: Moses Asch founded Folkways Records in New York in 1948 with Marian Distler with a big goal: to capture the sounds of the whole world on record. Alongside folk by Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger came folk music from every continent, spoken-word recordings, instructional records and nature sounds. Today the catalogue belongs to the Smithsonian Institution. The Vinyl Room currently has 9 records on Folkways Records.

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What makes Folkways Records special?

Folkways records are documents: “Indian Music Of The Canadian Plains” captures First Nations music documented by Ken Peacock, “Hawaiian Chant, Hula, And Music” traditional chants from Hawaii. Jerry Silverman’s “The Art Of The Folk-Blues Guitar” is an instructional record to play along with.

Plus Lucinda Williams with her early album “Happy Woman Blues”, actress Claire Luce with scenes from Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra”, Dixieland by The Original Memphis Five, The Montgomery Express and Roman Vlad’s music for a documentary film about Picasso.

FAQ

Who founded Folkways Records? Moses Asch and Marian Distler, in New York in 1948.

What is special about Folkways? The label set out to document the sounds of the whole world – from folk music to spoken-word and nature recordings.

What became of Folkways? In 1987 the Smithsonian Institution took over the catalogue; today the label is called Smithsonian Folkways.

What do you have on Folkways? Records from the fifties to the eighties – 9 records in all.