Post Description

Recorded between 1934-1940 by folklorist John Lomax, this offers an interesting cross-section of songs sung by "real" people in Alabama. And a cross-section it really is, from blues to spirituals to lullabies to work songs. It's a collection that introduces a voice that should have become well-known -- Vera Ward Hall, who opens the set with a startlingly pure "Another Man Done Gone" and keeps cropping up throughout. While the emphasis is on song, there's also some wonderful harmonica playing on "Train on a Hill" by Richard Amerson (who also reminisces about his days on steamboats), and Tom Bell accompanies himself on guitar on "Worried Blues." Perhaps the most intriguing piece is "Billy Goat Latin" from Joe F. Williams & Booker T. Williams, a bizarre field holler. All the way through, material that's become quite familiar over the years pops up in its folk roots -- "Honey, Take a Whiff on Me," "Hush Little Baby," "Alabama Bound," and "Go to Sleep (Little Baby)" -- all of which have become part of the national consciousness. Lomax proves to be as able as his son in finding great performers (although you have to wonder when he asks one to take a song into double time, obviously a first-time occurrence for the subject of this particular recording). By its very nature -- field recordings from the 1930s -- the sound quality is sometimes far from perfect, but overall the remastering is little short of miraculous, and the sleeve notes are thorough and extremely informative.

   1. Another Man Done Gone  
   2. Railroad Bill  
   3. Poor Lazarus  
   4. Been In The Jailhouse (Sun Gonna Shine In My Door Someday) 
   5. I Been Drinking  
   6. Honey, Take a Whiff on Me  
   7. Train on a Hill  
   8. Alabama Bound  
   9. Moaning (I'll Soon Be Gone) 
 10. Job, Job  
 11. Didn't That Hammer Ring? (I Can't Hold Out No Longer)  
 12. What is the Soul of Man?   
 13. Knock John Booker (to the Low Ground)  
 14. Wake, Sally Baker  
 15. Go to Sleep (Little Baby)  
 16. Hush, Little Baby 
 17. Come Up Horsey  
 18. Little Bitty Man  
 19. Titty, Give Me Some Titty  
 20. Hopali  
 21. Ain't Gonna Rain No More  
 22. Jack, Can I Ride  
 23. Billy Goat Latin  
 24. Hog Hunt  
 25. I'm Choppin' Cotton 
 26. Gin the Cotton  
 27. Boll Weevil Blues  
 28. Worried Blues  
 29. Steamboat Days  
 30. Carrie, Carrie  
 31. Eighteen Hundred And Ninety-One (Ain't Working Song)  
 32. Captain, I'm Getting Tired

RELEASE DATE May 15, 2001
DURATION 64:28
GENRE Blues/Folk/Pop/Rock/Children's/Country
STYLES:
Field Recordings
Folk-Rock
Political Folk
Pre-War Country Blues
Psychedelic/Garage
Traditional Folk
Lullabies
Old-Timey
Pre-War Blues
Work Songs

heel veel plezier ermee.