Smithsonian Folkways

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The Folkways Records and Service Corporation was founded in 1948 by Moses Asch, who was encouraged by Albert Einstein to document the “sounds of the world.” Between 1949 and 1987, before its acquisition by Smithsonian, the label released more than 2,000 records of jazz, folk, avant-garde, nature sounds, spoken word poetry, speeches and more.The company stood (and still stands) head and shoulders above all other “world music” record labels in its depth of representation and its understanding of the nature of sound itself. Much of the success of Folkways’ unique yet cohesive identity is owed to Ronald Clyne, the primary designer at the record label. He gave Folkways record covers both an incredibly stylish look and an underlying seriousness of intent and vision. Dedicated to both Folkways itself and its design achievements, this book features hundreds of visually stunning record sleeve artworks from a plethora of voices and sounds, from albums by Duke Ellington, John Cage and Allen Ginsberg to The Music of Equatorial New Guinea, Sea Shanties and Loggers Songs and The Voices of the Civil Rights Movement. Show more