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This set picks up where Harry Smith’s “Anthology Of American Folk Music” left off, then takes a hard left fork. Forty-nine of its 50 tracks were culled from blues, country, and novelty records made between the world wars; the odd one out is a banjo-propelled gospel performance from 1897. Due either to their singularity, eccentricity or sheer force of personality, these performers didn’t sell particularly well and only waxed a few sides apiece. But their romantic come-ons, mortal laments, fantastical tales, and sales pitches cast a spell that cannot be denied.
