VA - Sounds of the South: A Musical Journey from the Georgia Sea Islands to the Mississippi Delta [1993] (4 x CD's)

SOUNDS OF THE SOUTH

VA - Sounds of the South: A Musical Journey from the Georgia Sea Islands to the Mississippi Delta [1993] (4 x CD's)

Alan Lomax received funding from Atlantic Records in 1959 to head into the Southeast with the latest in stereo field recording technology, and this set collects the original eight records issued as a result of that trek in 1961. The sound quality is brilliant, the performances uncompromisingly raw, vibrant, plaintive, and real--everything the Greenwich Village folk movement tried to be is encapsulated on these slices of rural sound. Because of its high fidelity and the immense character found within the performances, this is the Lomax document to own if you absolutely have to pick a single one. Deep delta slide blues, enthusiastic shape-note singing from the Sacred Harp song book, lined-out hymnody, children's songs, mountain bluegrass music, juke-joint barrel-house blues--it's all here and much more. This is vibrant, pure American music at its finest. (Amazon)

This set is worth having for many reasons, but the primary one is Forest City Joe. A very obscure artist, Joe apparently found his way (presumably from Forest City) to Chicago in the late 1940s and had at least one record released on the Chess label, TRIBUTE TO SONNY BOY (the recently murdered Sonny Boy Williamson I). The side is spoiled by an unknown guitar player who has no idea how to accompany a down-home blues singer and harp player, but Joe's vocal and harp licks nevertheless make an impression.  Louis Meyers, who played guitar for Little Walter and was himself a considerable harp player, was once asked in an interview with BLUES UNLIMITED who he thought was the greatest blues harmonica artist. Meyers answer, to the interview's bafflement, was Forest City Joe. Meyers had heard him and all the other great Chicago harpists live and that was his answer. It was Joe's tone that made him outstanding. The down-home cuts on this album confirm Meyers' judgment. Why Forest City Joe left Chicago is unknown, but if he had stayed there longer and hooked up eventually with Muddy Waters, it's likely the history of Chicago blues would be not only different but tremendously more exciting. (Amazon)

This CD's series gives an authentic view of what music was like at the turn of the century. This truly is a historical treasure as it relates to music.

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Track lists

CD 1

01.     Neil Morris & Charlie Everidge - The Banks Of The Arkansas / Wave The Ocean     1:59    
02.     Lonnie Young, Ed Young & Lonnie Young Jr. -- Hen Duck     3:05    
03.     Estil C. Ball - The Farmer’s Curst Wife     2:59    
04.     Vera Hall - Boll Weevil Holler     2:03    
05.     The Mountain Ramblers -Jesse James     2:16    
06.     Neil Morris - Jesse James     4:54    
07.     Bob Carpenter - Kenny Wagner     2:35    
08.     Vera Hall - Trouble So Hard     1:38    
09.     Rev. W. A. Donaldson - Baptizing Scene     1:36    
10.     Viola James & Congregation - Is There Anybody Here That Love My Jesus     3:02    
11.     Alabama Sacred Harp Singers - Windham     2:00    
12.     Mississippi Fred McDowell - Keep Your Lamps Trimmed And Burning     2:45    
13.     Sid Hemphill & Lucius Smith - Come On, Boys, Let’s Go To The Ball     2:04    
14.     John Davis & St. Simon’s Island Singers - Join The Band     1:03    
15.     Ed Lewis - Lucky Holler     2:21    
16.     Ed Lewis & Group - I Be So Glad When The Sun Goes Down     2:36    
17.     The Mountain Ramblers - Cotton Eyed Joe     2:32    
18.     The Mountain Ramblers - Big Tilda     2:14    
19.     Estil C. Ball & Orna Ball - Jennie Jenkins     2:42    
20.     The Mountain Ramblers - John Henry     3:46    
21.     The Mountain Ramblers - Rosewood Casket     3:01    
22.     The Mountain Ramblers - Silly Bill     2:27    
23.     The Mountain Ramblers - Big Ball In Boston     2:22    
24.     Wade Ward -- Chilly Winds     2:12    
25.     The Mountain Ramblers - The Old Hickory Cane     4:31    
26.     Hobart Smith - John Brown     1:52    
27.     Hobart Smith - Poor Ellen Smith     2:01    
28.     The Mountain Ramblers - Shady Grove     2:18    

CD 2

1.     Lonnie Young, Ed Young & Lonnie Young Jr. - Jim And John     3:06    
2.     Vera Hall - The Wild Ox Moan     1:03    
3.     Mississippi Fred McDowell - Been Drinkin’ Water Out Of A Hollow Log     2:55    
4.     Miles Pratcher & Bob Pratcher - All Night Long     3:33    
5.     Mississippi Fred McDowell, Miles Pratcher & Fannie Davis - Shake ‘Em On Down     3:19    
6.     Forrest City Joe - Levee Camp Reminiscence     5:16    
7.     Lonnie Young, Ed Young & Lonnie Young Jr. - Chevrolet     4:04    
8.     Johnny Lee Moore - Levee Camp Holler     2:46    
9.     Johnny Lee Moore & 12 Mississippi Penitentiary Convicts - Eighteen Hammers     2:38    
10.     Forrest City Joe, Sonny Boy Rogers & Thomas Morgan - Drink On Little Girl     2:51    
11.     Mississippi Fred McDowell - Drop Down Mama     2:49    
12.     Boy Blue, Willie Jones & Joe Lee -- Boogie Children     2:54    
13.     Forrest City Joe, Sonny Boy Rogers & Thomas Morgan - She Lived Her Life Too Fast     3:20  
14.     Lonnie Young, Ed Young & Lonnie Young Jr. - Sittin' On Top Of The World     2:40    
15.     John Dudley -- Cool Water Blues     3:02    
16.     Forrest City Joe, Sonny Boy Rogers & Thomas Martin - She Don't Love Me That Way   3:21    
17.     Forrest City Joe, Sonny Boy Rogers & Thomas Martin - Stop Breaking Down     2:50    
18.     Boy Blue, Willie Jones & Joe Lee - Joe Lee's Rock     3:36    
19.     Rosalie Hill - Bullyin' Well     3:22    
20.     Mississippi Fred McDowell - When You Get Home, Write Me A Few Little Lines     3:24    
21.     Forrest City Joe - Red Cross Store     3:37    
22.     Forrest City Joe, Sonny Boy Rogers & Thomas Martin - Forrest City Jump     2:55
   
CD 3

01.     Vera Hall - Death, Have Mercy     1:50    
02.     James Shorty & Mississippi Fred McDowell - I Want Jesus To Walk With Me     3:43    
03.     Mrs. Mary Lee & Congregation - Jesus Is Real To Me     3:14    
04.     Rev. R. C. Crenshaw & Congregation - I Love The Lord     2:47    
05.     Rev. G. I. Townsel -- A Sermon Fragment     3:02    
06.     Rev. R. C. Crenshaw & Congregation - I’m Goin’ Home On The Mornin’ Train     2:48    
07.     Madam Mattie Wigley & Congregation - Power     2:48    
08.     Viola James, Lonnie Young & Ed Young - On That Rock     2:56    
09.     James Shorty, Viola James & Congregation - Jesus On The Main Line     3:37    
10.   Henry Morrison & St. Simon’s Island Singers - Gonna Sail Like A Ship On The Ocean   2:39    
11.     John Davis, Bessie Jones & St. Simon’s Island Singers - Blow Gabriel     2:24    
12.     Bernice McClellan & Congregation - What Do You Think About Jesus (He’s All Right) 2:58    
13.     Estil C. Ball, Lacey Richardson & Blair Reedy - Tribulations     2:48    
14.     Estil C. Ball & Blair Reedy - When I Get Home     2:55    
15.     Estil C. Ball - The Poor Wayfaring Stranger     3:14    
16.     The Mountain Ramblers -- Baptizing Down By The Creek     2:49    
17.     Rev. I. D. Back & Congregation -Sermon And Lining Hymn     3:32    
18.     Alabama Sacred Harp Singers - Antioch     1:35    
19.     Alabama Sacred Harp Singers - Calvary     1:39    
20.     Estil C. Ball & Lacey Richardson - Please Let Me Stay A Little Longer     2:41    
21.     Estil C. Ball - Father, Jesus Loves You     2:09    
22.     Estil C. Ball, Lacey Richardson, Orna Ball & Blair Reedy - Lonesome Valley     2:45    
23.     Estil C. Ball - Father Adieu     2:09    
24.     The Mountain Ramblers - The Old Country Church     2:29    
25.     Estil C. Ball, Lacey Richardson, Orna Ball & Blair Reedy - The Cabin On The Hill     3:06    

CD 4

01.     Mainer Band - Johnson's Old Gray Mule     2:14    
02.     Almeda Riddle - My Little Rooster     1:49    
03.     Mainer Band - Whoa Mule     1:29    
04.     Almeda Riddle - Frog Went A-Courtin'     2:48    
05.     Mainer Band - Glenn's Chimes     1:53    
06.     Almeda Riddle - Chick-A-Li-Lee-Lo     1:17    
07.     The Mountain Ramblers - Old Joe Clark     0:52    
08.     Almeda Riddle - Go Tell Aunt Nancy     4:02    
09.     Mainer Band - Train 111     3:00    
10.     Bessie Jones & Group - Johnny Cuckoo     3:02    
11.     Almeda Riddle - Mama Buy Me A Chiney Doll     2:27    
12.     Hobart Smith - Soldier, Soldier     1:43    
13.     Jessie Pratcher, Mattie Gardner & Mary Gardner - Mary Mack     0:45    
14.     Bessie Jones - Hambone     1:06    
15.     Hobart Smith - Banging Breakdown     1:35    
16.     Jessie Pratcher, Mattie Gardner & Mary Gardner - Green Sally, Up     0:43    
17.     Bessie Jones & Group - Sometimes     0:54    
18.     Hobart Smith - The Arkansas Traveler     1:00    
19.     Estil C. Ball & Orna Ball - Paper Of Pins     2:15    
20.     Texas Gladden - The Little Dappled Cow     1:38    
21.     Bessie Jones - Go To Sleep Little Baby     1:14    
22.     Wade Ward, Charley Higgins & Charley Poe - Paddy On The Turnpike     1:46    
23.     Spence Moore & Roy Birns - Jimmy Sutton     2:34    
24.     The Mountain Ramblers - Liza Jane     3:08    
25.     Lonnie Young, Ed Young & Lonnie Young Jr. - Oree     2:37    
26.     Forrest City Joe - Train Time     4:31    
27.     Mississippi Fred McDowell - Freight Train Blues     3:03    
28.     James Shorty, Viola James & Congregation - This Little Light Of Mine     2:39    
29.     Felix Dukes & Mississippi Fred McDowell - Motherless Children     2:49    
30.     Neil Morris - Little Moses     3:24    
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