It's almost fifty years since Folkways released the three volumes of Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music, and thousands of words have been written about the thousands of lives it supposedly changed. But even the thunderous publicity given the 1997 CD reissue didn't reveal that we were only given three-quarters of the story. The original three volumes were colored green, red and blue, which, in Smith's highly personal alchemical system, were meant to symbolize water, fire, and air. Smith intended to complete the series with a fourth volume, colored yellow and symbolizing earth. He assembled a track list and began work on his notes, but the release was derailed by an argument with a Folkways representative, who insisted that he include a Delmore Brothers song celebrating the reelection of FDR. Now Revenant has reverentially stepped in and released the 28 items on Smith's list, on 2 CDs tucked into a beautiful 96 page hardcover book featuring essays and descriptions by Ed Sanders, Greil Marcus, John Fahey, John Cohen, and Dick Spottswood. Nothing can replace Smith's lost notes, though, so the correlations he intended to make between his selections will remain a mystery. And, ironically, the excitement which Smith's efforts first engendered might even make this volume a bit superfluous for some collectors, as other reissues have rendered the works of performers such as the Carter Family, Uncle Dave Macon, Leadbelly, Robert Johnson, and others considerably less esoteric than they once were. Nevertheless, there are rarities here, by the likes of the Arthur Smith Trio, Sister Clara Hudmon, Al Hopkins and His Buckle Busters, and more, and every selection is worth owning. Dark, haunting, an elegant work of American backyard surrealism, this set comes as close as anything probably ever will to completing a seminal work of recorded popular music. [AL]