The nonprofit Smithsonian Folkways label is a true godsend. Not only does the imprint make available the valuable field recordings of the Smithsonian Institute but also the back catalogs of several other small independent labels specializing in world, folk and roots recordings like
Moses Asch's famed Folkways Records, as well as the Cook, Paredon, Dyer-Bennet, Fast Folk and Monitor imprints, among others. In all, Smithsonian Folkways keeps continually in print some 3000 on-demand CD titles and also offers individual downloads of over 40,000 tracks at their website, all of which makes the label the largest source for traditional music on the planet. This fun 15-song set, compiled and annotated by archivist
Jeff Place, is essentially a sampler of some of the kinds of music the label offers, ranging from bluegrass, blues, boogie woogie, country, Cajun, and zydeco, to Texas swing and conjunto, with all of the tracks geared toward the kind of joyous, raucous and celebratory music one might hear at house parties, local dance halls and country store jam sessions throughout America on a typical Saturday night. Among the highlights from this digital fais do-do are
John Sebastian and
Geoff Muldaur's delightful rendition of "Minglewood Blues," a song originally done as a 78 by
Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers,
Mingo Saldivar's conjunto romp "El Sinaleone," and retired Maryland truck driver
Warner Williams' hilarious "Hey Bartender, There's a Big Bug in My Beer," a version of
Merrill Moore's "Big Bug Boogie." Joyous, upbeat and full of good spirit and élan,
Down Home Saturday Night makes a rollicking introduction to the many treasures that Smithsonian Folkways has to offer, and like all of the label's official releases, it comes with lengthy and informative liner notes for each track.