The Folkways Collection, Episode 3

I really liked this installment of the Folkways Collection. Though I've only listened to the third and fourth installments thusfar, I liked a lot of aspects, particularily Moses Asche's sense of history and preservation.

In stark contrast with almost all record executives today (including the ones I've had the chance to meet), Asche seemed to really actually just be about the music and not the money. When he described how he always wanted to keep records in print whether they "sold five copies or five hundred," that speaks greatly of his character and dedication.

He also seemed to have a very strong sense of maintaining the music as a means of writing history. He always wanted to keep everything around to provide what he described as an "encyclopedia" of sorts, keeping every letter in line and available.

All in all this episode showed a side of the music industry that is fairly lacking today, which is how this episode ties into the class; roots music as a whole was a different ball game than modern music (a relative term). Not only were musicians employees of the record company, they were also family who were looked out for by the company (the show described how a friend/relative of Asche always made sure several of his musicians had enough to eat).