Harry was one of the great unsung geniuses of the 20th century. Not just as a multitalented artist and folk archivist, but in his role as a formidable magician and trickster. He used to frequent the occult bookshop I worked at in nyc and his presence invariably brought a mix of excitement, hilarity and incorrigible naughtiness. I feel blessed to have met him. Thnx for this peek into his work and life.

he was a friend and one of the two biggest influences in my young life. He taught me so many things,

fascinating - thanks for the primer. I'm gonna explore this creative a lot more now.

Definitely interesting material in the world of Harry SMITH. You might be also interested to know that Smith engineered the first Blue note recording sessions for radical pianist composer Thelonious MONK.

A huge influence

A good general summary of the man's most known work. I knew Harry very well and spent a lot of time with him. To call him a handful is an understatement, he was relentless, and did not suffer fools whatsoever- but being a trickster, he was quite adept at playing the fool. A couple corrections and additions: The monocord is generally credited to Pythagoras. You missed his final great work Film #18 Mahagonny (1980) (but it is not on KZfaq). Harry made his first film in 1947, not 1939 (but in interviews Harry gave various dates, so an easy mistake to make). Calling him a hoarder is not accurate- he was a consummate collector. You should have seen his room at the Hotel Breslin, it was immaculately organized. He knew where everything was among 4000+ books and 2200 records among much other stuff. Lastly he was a mystic, but as well a dedicated student of science, he showed me how the origin and evolution of science emerged from the 'occult' (meaning 'the hidden'), and that most occultists were early scientifical thinkers investigating outside a viciously enforced Church doctrine. Harry was an enlightened thinker, as he put it '...living in a dark age...' of excessive materialism. In a certain way I set him aside James Lovelock as trying to provide an early warning that the human race is facing the wrong direction.

Thank you! So rad to hear about a massive hero!

Thanks much for sharing! Not enough info out there on this fascinating fellow. Looking forward very much to more in your series on these and channel overall.

"In a world that feels like it doesn't exist anymore" how true. Rents amd cost of living everywhere is sky high and there are no more places where artists who don't have much money can congregate and work like that. That New York City is gone, and there's no replacement.

I just had to share this anecdote from a Bob Dylan bio called Down the Highway by Howard Sounes. Early in his career, when he was on the lookout for new material, Dylan had a habit of "borrowing" his friends' records. One of the collections he stole was the Anthology of American Folk Music. His ripped-off friend "discovered his record collection had been raided when he returned home from his trip. He quickly found out Bob had taken the records. Late at night, accompanied by two friends, he went to confront him. 'He denied everything,' he says. 'I just put him up against the wall and said that I knew he had them for a fact.' He hit Bob and Bob confessed. He returned some of the records immediately, and said he would return the rest in the morning." He didn't, and his friend assumed that once he had absorbed the material on them, he sold them for approximately $100.00. As his biographer points out, "It was not the last time he took without asking." I never heard of anyone being worked over for record theft!

The uptalk, dude.

Good one J

Now we know how "original" Terry Gilliam really was.

Great report. Cosmic Scholar by John Szwed just came out and it is fantastic. Joe Bob says check it out.

I'm the 100th like. Awesome.