The hugely influential record label that unites Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan and Bernie Sanders lives on: Founded by Moses Asch, Folkways continues to be a repository for underappreciated voices

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The Forward

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An article about the founding of Folkways Records, which was co-founded by Moses Asch (son of playwright and novelist Sholem Asch) and folksinger, Pete Seeger. Epstein credits the roots of Folkways to a dinner meeting in 1939 between Moses Asch, his father and Albert Einstein, who was friends with the elder Asch. At the time of that meeting, Einstein and Sholem Asch were alarmed about the rise of the Third Reich in Germany, and encouraged the United States to accept Jewish refugees from Nazi-occupied countries.

Moses Asch, an audio engineer and his father, met with Einstein. The younger Asch recorded Einstein's message to European Jews and broadcasted them via short wave radio. He discussed with Einstein his dream of releasing recordings that "describe the human race, the sounds it makes, what it creates..." He was especially interested in American folk music, which was not recognized by major record labels. Folkways was founded in 1948 and became crucial to the folk music revival in the 1950s and 1960s. The label recorded such artists as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Lead Belly. He sought and released recordings of Jewish music, not only from Europe but the rest of the world as well. His son described his vision as "finding voices that were unrepresented and bringing them forward," believing that hearing the voices of others would make people get along better. Click on the link to read the article.

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Asch, Moses; Music; Folkways Records; Ash (Asch), Sholom (Sholem); Einstein, Albert; United States

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