Vintage Musical Americana featuring The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection

November 27, 2007 11:49 PM

Here is Naomia Wise from The Max Hunter Folksong Collection. Folk songs, more or less, sung by real folks, collected in Arkansas by Max Hunter between 1956 and 1976. On a related tip, here is Historic Music--recorded popular music from the 1920s, with a large selection devoted to music from the First World War. And here, from Manufacturing Memory: American Popular Music in the 1930's, are the Popular Music Jukebox 1930-1934 and the Popular Music Jukebox 1935-1939 to complete this day's vintage musical Americana experience.
The Max Hunter songs are in RealAudio. Realplayer haters can use Real Alternative aka Media Player Classic.
posted by y2karl (9 comments total)

Good post. Really digging the Historic Music link.
posted by dhammond at 12:10 AM on November 28, 2007

wow, amazing stuff.
just fyi, the link I clicked to access the Max Hunter songs had the file in AIFF also.

thanks so much for posting this!!!
posted by ethel at 1:40 AM on November 28, 2007

fantastic post! -- amazing how quick & in so many places these sounds are being digitized! esp digging the Historic Music link -- my dTa! in overdrive snatching up the hundreds.

for other obsessives & archive stuffers : : you can sneak around the (wonderfully informative tho downloading unfriendly) 30s jukeboxes to the less-than-intuitively named parent .mov directories, here & here.
posted by j.henry at 3:07 AM on November 28, 2007

Awesome post. Great first link! Those Arkansas good old boys can't spell my name for shit, though.
posted by OmieWise at 6:31 AM on November 28, 2007

absolutely wonderful, thank you so much for that.
posted by pywacket at 7:25 AM on November 28, 2007

Dear y2Karl, you are DESTROYING productivity in our office.

Thank you.

einer
posted by einer at 7:41 AM on November 28, 2007

Actually, the songs were collected in the Ozarks, which includes southern Missouri as well as northern Arkansas. The most interesting books on the region's music and culture are by Vance Randolph. For example: Pissing in the Snow and Other Ozark Folktales.
posted by Bureau of Public Secrets at 9:21 AM on November 28, 2007

Great post. As a historian who grew up and still lives in the Missouri Ozarks, I'm glad to see this collection featured on MeFi.

As Bureau points out, Hunter collected in the Ozarks region, covering both Arkansas and Missouri. He was urged to do so by Vance Randolph, one of my favorite folklorists, and became important in his own right. Their relationship is recounted in a special issue of the Missouri Folklore Society Journal from 1982 should anyone want to know more.
posted by Coyote at the Dog Show at 4:34 PM on November 28, 2007

As Bureau points out, Hunter collected in the Ozarks region, covering both Arkansas and Missouri.

Yes, it was my error. I was unable to make a comment acknowledging so while I was at work and just now got home.
posted by y2karl at 5:44 PM on November 28, 2007