Goodbye, Babylon

This is one of the most wide-ranging and wonderful collections of early roots music I've found. The performances range from gospel quartets and choirs through blues and jug bands, pulling together influences from gospel, bluegrass and country, jazz, and blues. And then there's an entire disc of sermons, with such gems (no pun intended) as "Black Diamond Express to Hell". Great stuff, and a wonderfully eclectic collection of early roots music, gospel or not.The sound quality is very good, especially given the age of many of the sources.There's not a ton of historical/biographical info in the 200+ page book, but the inclusion of all the lyrics of every song is a huge win. The packaging is as cool as it looks, but isn't terribly practical for day-to-day use. That wasn't a problem for me, as I ripped all six CDs and have primarily played them off my computers, but could be a nuisance for some.

i haven't a religious bone in my body, but this boxed set has provided me with one of the most moving listening experiences of my life. a good deal of this music is full of an intense yearning, coming from men and women who didn't have an easy lot in life. the sacred harp singing is a particular highlight for me. turn off whatever might provide a distraction and set aside an afternoon to listen. my budget prevents me from buying boxed sets such as these very often, but, to the best of my knowledge, there's no other collection of american religious music with this kind of scope and attention to detail - from mastering to liner notes (lyrics!) to packaging. i'm not usually one to care about packaging but the wooden box feels like a lovely personal touch - apparently the cotton comes from the label owners' farm. be forewarned that the discs can slide around in the box and out of their protective sleeves, though.

marvelous box, chock full of gems, some obscure some well known. Extremely intelligently sequenced, out of chronological order and with no regard to race or region, hence making a very strong point for the magnificence, color-blindness, and time-defying power of music. Sound quality is as good as any such collections comprised of old 78 transfer. The moron who left the only non 5-star review of this extraordinarily revelatory set, claiming this is atrocious sounding, has clearly never heard old recordings. Ignore his ignorance and buy this now. It is a must-own for all or any who cares about American music.

Masterpiece. If the music is to your taste you must have this set: 6 discs with very good sound, notwithstanding the vintage of the recordings; a first class book with great notes; and a wooden box to store the discs and the book. This is Harry Smith with bells on!This set does justice to the great music of so long ago. It never left us.

This a very valuable collection of gospel music. Be aware that is all gospel. Is is nearly all old time gospel, and it gives us a rich history of the passion that goes into this form of music. If you are a lover of folk music you should own this set.The performers are now saved for all time! The one drawback is the insanley stupid packaging-a wooden box that does not work! I threw mine away. What were they thinking??

The product was as expected. That means material from before the time I was born in 1950. It sounds like old time AM radio because the source media is in most cases at least that old and much of it is gramophone. If you want to know what music was like then go for it. Excuse me. It is rural music not New York City music. This is what my parents and grandparents listened to.

My experience was similar to the reviewer who found the cds would not play except some played at least a little. I too had to return the set. This is a shame because the music that did play was great. The book was also fine and the wood box the cds and book came is was a nice touch. All that said if the cds don't play what good is it I contacted the producer of this cd set to see if they could help but they never responded to me

Box arrived split and broken and 4 of the CDs didn't work in any of my CD players; I tried playing them in my car, my computer, another computer, a jogging CD player and my home audio system and those 4 CDs didn't work in any of them. I can't believe I paid as much as I did for a broken wooden box and a bunch of blank CDs. Ridiculous!

Quick delivery and great package. Excellent!

É un cofanetto che fará felice chi é un grande appassionato di Blues, l'ho regalato al mio compagno chitarrista e che ascolta tanto Blues, ha molto apprezzato perché ha una selezione di brani abbastanza rara.Il Cofanetto era bene imballato. E contiene un libretto per ogni cd.

J'ai été gâté par Harry Smith. Moi qui croyais que son anthologie (Anthology of American Folk Music, parue en 1952 chez Folkways) tirait sa force de la seule Amérique populaire, Goodbye Babylon, qui reprend une partie des enregistrements retenus par Smith, me détrompe : l'Amérique populaire est aussi bigote qu'elle est imaginative, aussi conformiste qu'étrange, etc. Ce qu'on voit bien dans cette traversée du gospel. On se surprend à penser, au fil des 6 CDs qui composent ce coffret, que le compilateur joue davantage la carte de la foi que celle de la musique. On trouvera bien quelques merveilles, mais pas de quoi rejeter la somme de Harry S., ou la très belle anthologie préparée par John Fahey pour son label Revenant Records, American Primitive vol.1 : Raw Pre-war Gospel.

One of my best orders ever. Great box full of great music and I think you'll love this even though you don't believe in God.

先般のグラミー賞のTV放映で、解説者のピーター･バラカン氏が絶賛しておられたのでとっても気になって買いました。パッケージもとても凝っていて、木箱をスライドさせると中にCD6枚（！）とオーガニックなコットンが鎮座しており、各CDのジャケットにも楽しい工夫がされています。そこら辺にこのCDの製作にたずさわった方たちの深い愛情が感じられます。CDの内容はまさにアメリカ音楽のルーツを探る旅に出るような感じです。まだまだ聞き込めてないですが、（なんせ6枚ですから・・・）特にブルースやゴスペル好きの方にはたまらんと思います。ただ1920年代に録音された曲等も収録されているので、結構『ザーザー』言ってますが、それもまた味があっていい感じです。大好きな憂歌団の『シカゴ　バウンド』に出てくる『○○○のレモン』の正体もこのCDを買って初めて分かって勉強になりました・・・。