Olympic Records

Authentic Greek Folk Songs and Dances
Olympic Records – The Atlas Series 6106
Olympic Records Corporation, New York

Records in the Atlas series from the Olympic label I usually pick up when I spot them in the 2nd hand bin of the record store or at thrift stores. The series come with a very handsomely designed cover that’s easily recognized and they’re fun to collect. Looking at each individual record you get the impression that they’re authentic field recordings from far away places but this may be deceiving, I’m not totally sure. The texts on the back look academic enough to go with real academic field work but I have the sneaking suspicion that some of the music was recorded in a studio in New York. Again, I can’t be totally sure. The record I have in front of me is called Authentic Greek Folk Songs and Dances that has a lot of text on the back but no recording data. At the very end there is a little note concerning the performers which are The Royal Greek Festival Company directed by Dora Stratou. The music on the record is divided up into several different regions of Greece, each with a set of their traditional music, played medley style. It is also noted that the Company made its American debut in 1954. All this information leads to a conclusion that, despite the title, is not as authentic as the customer is led to believe. Either which way it is, the records are enjoyable, some are great, some are terrific. This one, a home run for Olympic Records, is of the latter category. Dora Stratou (1903-1988) is a well known Greek folklorist who has her own Wikipedia page. On the records she sings a set of Moirologhia, which are funeral laments. I selected a number of songs from the album, enjoy.

In order of appearance:

• Psaropoula —a lyrical island song (Cyprus?)
• Moirologhia —funeral laments from Peloponnese and Epirus by Dora Stratou
• Yialo-Yialo —polyphonic song of Kephalonia
• Youria-Youria —a song of Thessaly
• Tora a Poulia —allegoric "klepthic" song (Roumeli?)