Alan Lomax - Deep River of Song, Big Brazos, Texas Prison Record

Alan Lomax - Deep River of Song, Big Brazos, Texas Prison Recordings (1933-34) [FLAC]

eac with cue log and artwork

Ain't No More Cane On The Brazos - Ernest Williams and Group
Black Betty - James "Iron Head" Baker and Group
Old Rattler - Moses "Clear Rock" Platt & James "Iron Head" Baker
Stewball - Lightnin' Wahington and Group
Long John - Lightnin' Wahington and Group
Go 'Way, Eadie - Dave Tippin & Lightnin' Washington
Black Gal - Lightnin' Washington and Group
Gonna Be A Witness For My Lord - Lightnin' Washington, Dave Tippin and Group
Hammer Ring - Lightnin' Washington and Group
I Wonder What's The Matter - Lightnin' Washington and Group
Great God A'Mighty (Long Hot Summer Days) - Lightnin' Washington and Group
Go Down, Old Hannah - Ernest Williams and Group
Johnny Won'cha Ramble - Dave Tippin & Lightnin' Washington
Go On, Old 'Gator - Augustus "Track Horse" Haggerty and Group
Old Rattler - Augustus "Track Horse" Haggerty and Group
God A'Mighty Drag - Augustus "Track Horse" Haggerty
Mama, Mama - Augustus "Track Horse" Haggerty
Drop, Old Diamond - Jesse Bradley and Group
Waco Ida - Jesse Bradley and Group
Hammer Ring - Jesse Bradley and Group

Big Brazos Prisons were the last home for the work song tradition that African slaves had used to keep themselves alive in the brutal plantation economy of the American South. The Texas prisoners recorded here used work songs in the same way and for the same reasons. These songs have a variety of subjects, but what they're really about is staying alive in hell. Deep River of Song African-American field recordings made for the Library of Congress from 1933 to 1946, a transformative period when black singers of the South and the Caribbean created a new musical language and thousands of brilliant songs that would captivate people throughout the world. The Alan Lomax Collection The Alan Lomax Collection gathers together the American, European, and Caribbean field recordings, world music compilations, and ballad operas of writer, folklorist, and ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax.