| Music selections from the Library of Congress Folklife Center audio
recordings entitled Folk Music of the United States
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Slave Songs:
“Trouble So Hard”1
RealAudio Exhibition
28.8 kbps 56 kbps
Sung by Dock and Henry Reed and Vera Hall at Livingston, Alabama, 1937.
Recorded by John A. And Ruby T. Lomax & Ruby Dickens Tartt.
Transcript and Notes
“Arwhoolie” (Cornfield Holler)2
RealAudio Exhibition
28.8 kbps 56 kbps
Sung by Thomas J. Marshall at Edwards, Mississippi, 1939.
Recorded by Herbert Halpert.
Transcript and Notes
“Quittin’ Time Songs”2
RealAudio Exhibition
28.8 kbps 56 kbps
Sung by Samuel Brooks at Edwards, Mississippi, 1939.
Recorded by Herbert Halpert.
Transcript and Notes
“Mealtime Call”2
RealAudio Exhibition
28.8 kbps 56 kbps
Called by Thomas J. Marshall at Edwards, Mississippi, 1939.
Recorded by Herbert Halpert.
Transcript and Notes
Gospel:
“I’m a Soldier in the Army of the Lord”3
RealAudio Exhibition
28.8 kbps 56 kbps
Sung by the congregation of Silent Grove Baptist Church at Clarksdale, Mississippi, 1942.
Recorded by Alan Lomax, Lewis Jones, and John W. Work.
Transcript and Notes
“Ain’t No Grave Can Hold My Body Down”4
RealAudio Exhibition
28.8 kbps 56 kbps
Sung by Bozie Sturdivant at Silent Grove Baptist Church, Clarksdale, Mississippi, 1942.
Recorded by Alan Lomax and Lewis Jones.
Transcript and Notes
Blues:
“Mississippi Blues”5
RealAudio Exhibition
28.8 kbps 56 kbps
Sung by William Brown, with guitar, at Sadie Beck’s Plantation, Arkansas, 1942.
Recorded by Alan Lomax, Lewis Jones, and John W. Work.
Transcript and Notes
These selections were obtained from the Archive of Folk Culture at the Library
of Congress American Folklife Center.
A note about the sound quality of these recordings:
These recordings were originally issued in 1942 as 78-rpm albums pressed in black shellac.
During the years 1964 to 1966 they were remastered from the original field
recordings to LP format. A tape recording of these LPs was made and
these sounds were transferred to digital format so they could be streamed in
this exhibition on the Internet. In some cases the “scratchiness”
of the recording may make it difficult to understand the words so a transcript of each song has been provided.
1. From: Folk Music of the United States: Afro American Spirituals, Work Songs and Ballads
[LC Recording Laboratory AFS L3]
2. From: Folk Music of the United States: Negro Work Songs and Calls
[LC Recording Laboratory AFS L8] [album cuts A6-A9]
3. From: Folk Music of the United States: Negro Blues and Hollers
[LC Recording Laboratory AFS L59]
4. From: Folk Music of the United States: Negro Religious Songs and Services
5. From: Folk Music of the United States: Negro Blues and Hollers
[LC Recording Laboratory AFS L59]
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