Folkways Records
Labels / Record Companies
Folkways Records was founded in New York City in 1948 by Moses Asch and Marian Distler to document "people's music" from around the world. By Asch's death in 1986 it had issued 2,168 albums, including the landmark Anthology of American Folk Music. It also championed Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Lead Belly, and issued old-time and bluegrass-related recordings by Dock Boggs, Clarence Ashley, the New Lost City Ramblers, and Mike Seeger. In 1987 the Smithsonian Institution acquired the catalog, a deal initiated by folklorist Ralph Rinzler, and pledged to keep every title in print as Smithsonian Folkways.
In the newsletter
- No. 19 Spring 1999