Name: The Friendly Brothers: Where Shall I Be When the First Trumpet Sounds (1978) @AlanLomaxArchive
Uploaded: 2024-10-19T08:17:00-05:00
Duration: 8 min 17 s
Description: The Friendly Brothers: Where Shall I Be When the First Trumpet Sounds (1978)

The Friendly Brothers: Where Shall I Be When the First Trumpet Sounds (1978)

Alan Lomax Archive 2024-10-19 | The Friendly Brothers: Where Shall I Be When the First Trumpet Sounds (1978)

24 - Shouts on the Threshing Floor: Work Songs

23 - MIX: Alan Lomax in Carriacou, 1962

Alan Lomax Archive 2024-07-11 | Been All Around This World has a new co-host! ACE Program Coordinator and Been All Around This World producer Michael Cormier-O'Leary joins Curator Nathan Salsburg in bringing you new episodes of this podcast. We are expanding the show's format to include episodes like today's, which is a continuous mix of music, mixed in with our deeper dives. This will allow us to release content more frequently while still developing longer form explorations of material within the collection.

In the wake of the devastation recently wrought by Hurricane Beryl, today's mix is a survey of recordings Alan Lomax made on the Grenadian island of Carriacou in 1962. If you'd like to help with relief efforts, consider making a donation to support the rebuilding efforts on the island: facebook.com/share/QgA2Zg2Aph6iWFNr

Tracklist:

1. "Demba-o" (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/la-resource-862/demba-o)
2. "Meet Me On The Road" (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/la-resource-862/meet-me-road)
3. "It's Time For A Man To Go Home" (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/la-resource-862/its-time-man-go-home)
4. "I Want To Hear Somebody Pray" (La%20Resource,%20Carriacou,%20Carriacou%20and%20Petite%20Martinique,%20Grenada)
5. "Wila-wila-mena (I)" (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/six-roads-862/wila-wila-mena-i)
6. "O The Angels Send Me For You" (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/la-resource-762/o-angels-send-me-you)
7. "Hi Lo Boys" (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/lesterre-762/hi-lo-boys)
8. "Rosibella (I)" (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/lesterre-762/rosibella-i)
9. "Aunty-o, Coro, Coro" (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/bellevue-762/aunty-o-coro-coro)
10. "Breakaway (II)" (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/lesterre-762/breakaway-ii)
11. " (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/bellevue-762/khaki-o-we-yo-diamonds) Khaki-o, Wé Yo Diamonds" (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/bellevue-762/khaki-o-we-yo-diamonds)
12. "C‘est Mwe, Nani Moko" (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/lesterre-862/cest-mwe-nani-moko)

Holly Springs Sacred Harp singing: Calvary, #300 (1982)

Alan Lomax Archive 2024-05-29 | "Calvary" (#300), led by Terry Wootten. Shot by Alan Lomax and crew at Holly Springs Baptist Church, Holly Springs, Georgia, June 1982. For more information about the American Patchwork filmwork, Alan Lomax, and his collections, visit http://culturalequity.org. [03.09.56]

21 - Songs of Christmas, Midwinter, and New Year

20 - Inspiration: Instrumentalists from the 1939 Texas recordings

Alan Lomax Archive 2023-11-28 | Fiddlers, harp blowers, and guitarists recorded by John A. and Ruby T. Lomax during their 1939 Texas field-trip.

1) Frank Goodwyn & Manuel Salinas: Chinese Breakdown (Falfurrias, Brooks County, Texas, April 29, 1939) (archive.culturalequity.org/node/63265)

2) Lake Porter: The Lost Girl (Falfurrias, Brooks County, Texas, April 29, 1939) (archive.culturalequity.org/node/63273)

3) Lake Porter: Drunken Hiccups (Falfurrias, Brooks County, Texas, April 29, 1939) (archive.culturalequity.org/node/63268)

4) Elmo Newcomer: Rye Whiskey (The home of Elmo Newcomer, Pipe Creek, Bandera County, Texas, May 3, 1939) (archive.culturalequity.org/node/63345)

[see here for Newcomer's later Cro-Mart release (youtube.com/watch?v=fcPRwNw18d4) of "Rye Whiskey."]

5) Elmo Newcomer: The Old Grey Mare (The home of Elmo Newcomer, Pipe Creek, Bandera County, Texas, May 3, 1939) (archive.culturalequity.org/node/63339)

6) Clinton Saathoff, and Otis Evans: Eeph Caught A Rabbit (Pipe Creek, Bandera County, Texas, May 4, 1939) (archive.culturalequity.org/node/63349)

7) Pop Warner: Inspiration (State Penitentiary [The Walls], Huntsville, Walker County, Texas, May 11, 1939) (archive.culturalequity.org/node/63404)

[see here (themarshallproject.org/2016/05/16/a-peek-at-the-golden-age-of-prison-radio#:~:text=In%201938%2C%20as%20the%20Great,strumming%2C%20dancing%2C%20and%20acting) for the fine Marshall Project piece on prison radio, which includes a discussion of "Thirty Minutes Behind the Walls" and the Ace Johnson photo discussed in the episode.]

8) Ace Johnson: Rabbit in the Garden (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas, April 16, 1939) (archive.culturalequity.org/node/63164)

9) Ace Johnson: Train song (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas, April 16, 1939) (archive.culturalequity.org/node/63178)

10) Smith Casey: East Texas Rag, (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas, April 16, 1939) (archive.culturalequity.org/node/63450)

11) L.W. Gooden: Clemens Rag (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas, April 16, 1939) (archive.culturalequity.org/node/63452)

Bed Music:

Wilbert Gilliam: Long Freight Train Blues (State Penitentiary [The Walls], Huntsville, Walker County, Texas, May 11, 1939) (archive.culturalequity.org/node/63393)

19 - Go to Sleepy Little Baby: Lullabies from the Alan Lomax Collection

Alan Lomax Archive 2023-11-02 | The Lomax Collection reflects a variety of human experience—from the sacred to the profane, from the rural to the urban, and from the public square to the domestic scene. The Lomaxes recorded lullabies all over the world, creating a record of the universality of these particularly intimate moments between parents and children. This episode gathers some of our favorite lullabies from the archive, and is part of a larger project on the subject, which includes an exhibit on the Lomax Digital Archive and a compilation pairing archival recordings with new interpretations by contemporary artists.

For information on the performers, old and new, and the songs, visit the accompanying exhibit on the Lomax Digital Archive: archive.culturalequity.org/go-to-sleepy. The compilation is available via our Bandcamp page: alanlomaxarchive.bandcamp.com/album/hush-the-waves-are-rolling-in-lullabies-from-the-alan-lomax-collection. This project was made possible with support from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Council and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Show Notes:

1) Elizabeth Cronin - Dance To Your Daddy (The home of Elizabeth Cronin, Ballymakeery, County Cork, Ireland, January 24, 1951) (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/ireland-1951-and-1953/macroom-i-151/dance-your-daddy-o)

2) Jean Ritchie - Dance To Your Daddy/Hush Little Baby (Alan Lomax's apartment, 3rd street, New York City, May 14, 1949) (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/jean-ritchie-1949-and-1950/jean-ritchie-ii-549/dance-your-daddy-hush-little-baby)

3) Carmen Martínez - Durme meu filliño (Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain, November 23, 1952) (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/spain-1952-1953/soutoxuste-1152/durme-meu-fillino)

4) María Escrihuela - Nana Nanita Tavernes de Valldigna ,Valencia, )Valencia, Spain , August 5, 1952) (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/spain-1952-1953/tavernes-de-la-valldigna-852/nana-naneta)

5) Unidentified women - Iavnana (Republic of Georga, August 1, 1964) (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/soviet-union-1964/georgian-864/iovnana)

6) Vera Ward Hall - Come Up, Horsey (Alan Lomax's apartment, 3rd St, New York City, New York, May 1, 1948) (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/vera-hall-1948/new-york-city-548/come-horsey)

7) Bessie Jones - Go To Sleepy Little Baby (Glynn County, Georgia , October 12, 1959) (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/southern-us-1959-and-1960/st-simons-island-i-1059/go-sleepy-little-baby-ii)

8) Bruna Bazil - Night, Night, Night (Massacre, Saint Paul Parish, Dominica, June 24, 1962) (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/massacre-662/night-night-night)

9) Bruna Bazil - Little Baby I Want You to Sleep (Massacre, Saint Paul Parish, Dominica, June 24, 1962) (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/massacre-662/little-baby-i-want-you-sleep)

10) Unidentified women - Cântec De Leagan (I) (Drăguș, Brașov, Transylvania, Romania, August 1, 1964) (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/romania-1964/dragus-864/cantec-de-leagan-berceuse)

11) Unidentified women - Cântec De Leagan (II) (Drăguș, Brașov, Transylvania, Romania, August 1, 1964) (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/romania-1964/dragus-864/cantec-de-leagan-berceuse-0)

12) Unidentified woman - Ninna Nanna (Baiardo, Imperia, October 9. 1954)

13) Natale Rotella - Ninna Nanna (Feroleto Antico, Calabria, August 5, 1954)

14) Francesca Chilona - Che Bera Sta Figghiola (Cardeto, Calabria, July 27, 1954)

15) Sidney Hemphill Carter - Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby (Probably the home of Sidney Hemphill Carter, Senatobia, Tate County, Mississippi, September 26, 1959) (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/southern-us-1959-and-1960/senatobia-ii-959/didnt-leave-nobody-baby)

Bailey, Brady, Cobbs, and Ellison: So Soon I’ll Be At Home (1941)

Alan Lomax Archive 2023-08-29 | A quartet composed of Ivory Lee Bailey, Eddie C. Brady, James Odell Cobbs, and Robert Lee Ellison, recorded by Alan and Elizabeth Lomax and Lewis Jones at the Maple Springs Baptist Church, Medon, Tennessee, August 26, 1941 (not, as the card says, 1942). (The quartet presumably had a name but it was not notated.) Visit the Lomax Digital Archive at archive.culturalequity.org for more. [AFS 4761B1]

Blind Jim Howard: The Old Fish Song (1933)

Alan Lomax Archive 2023-08-01 | Blind Jim Howard, voice and fiddle, performs “The Old Fish Song,” his comic-epic telling of the story of Jonah and the whale, recorded by John A. and Alan Lomax in Harlan, Kentucky, August 1, 1933.

James P. (“Blind Jim”) Howard, was born in Harlan County on June 22, 1888, in the settlement of Dressen. The fiddler and singer performed for school programs, dances, community gatherings and, in the early 1940s, over Harlan, Kentucky, radio station WHLN. In October 1928, he traveled with guitarist Charles Peak to Bristol, Virginia, to audition for Victor Records—billed as “The Blind Musicians,” the duo cut two sides for the label, which were issued in 1930. But his most lasting contribution is his “Old Fish Song.”

John Lomax remembered Howard as being “kindly, keenly intelligent, without formal education” and singing “blood-stirring ballads of love and life in the mountains.” Alan Lomax made additional recordings of his singing and playing in 1937, all of which are available via the Lomax Digital Archive.

Brendan Behan: Joe Brady (The Fenian Blade) (1951)

Alan Lomax Archive 2023-07-26 | On an unknown date in 1951, Irish playwright, essayist, and raconteur Brendan Behan sat down with Alan Lomax for an informal recording session, presumably at Radio Eireann in Dublin, where he sang bawdy material and Republican and Fenian songs, including the ballad of Joe Brady, alternately known as “The Fenian Blade,” presented in its entirety here (although the very last phrase somehow wasn’t recorded). Visit the Lomax Digital Archive (archive.culturalequity.org) to hear all the recordings from the session. Photo of Behan outside the High Court, Dublin, from the Irish Photo Archive.

On the evening of May 6, 1882, Lord Frederick Cavendish, recently appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland and just off the boat from England, was walking through Dublin’s Phoenix Park with the Irish Office’s Permanent Under Secretary Thomas Henry Burke when they were attacked and stabbed to death with surgical knives. The killers belonged to an underground militant organization known as the Irish National Invincibles (or simply the Invincibles), and they were ultimately identified to the police by the group’s leader, James Carey. Joe Brady was hanged at Kilmainham Gaol in Kilmainham, Dublin, on May 14, 1883, for the murder of Cavendish.

I am a bold undaunted youth, Joe Brady is my name,
From the chapel of North Anne Street one Sunday as I came,
All to my surprise who should I espy but Moreno and Cockade;
Says one unto the other: "Here comes our Fenian blade.”

I did not know the reason why they ordered me to stand,
I did not know the reason why they gave me such a command.
But when I saw James Carey there, I knew I was betrayed.
I'll face death before dishonour and die a Fenian blade.

They marched me up North Anne Street without the least delay,
The people passed me on the path, it filled them with dismay.
My sister cried, “I’ll see you, Joe, if old Mallon gives me lave,
Keep up your heart for Ireland like a true-born Fenian Blade.”

It happened in the Phoenix Park all in the month of May,
Lord Cavendish and Burke came out for to see the polo play.
James Carey gave the signal and his handkerchief he waved,
Then he gave full information against our Fenian blades.

It was in Kilmainham Prison the Invincibles were hung.
Mrs Kelly she stood there all in mourning for her son.
She threw back her shawl and said to all: "Though he fills a lime-pit grave,
My son was no informer, boys [and he died a Fenian blade]“

Rev. E.M. Martin: Hold the Wind (1942)

Alan Lomax Archive 2023-07-24 | Rev. E.M. Martin sings "Hold the Wind" in the back room of Nelson's Funeral Home, Clarksdale, Mississippi. Recorded by Alan Lomax and Lewis Jones on July 23, 1942. The "Christian Springs" on the catalog card was almost certainly a mishearing and Rev. Martin was in fact from Crystal Springs, Miss.

From the Alan Lomax Collection at the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. For more, visit http://archive.culturalequity.org. [6621B2]

Hodge family: Oh Lady, Youre Mashing Me Toe

Alan Lomax Archive 2023-07-05 | Joseph, Lizbeth, James, Ernest, and Cyril Hodge and friends perform "Oh Lady, You're Mashing Me Toe" at Copse Eastern, Anguilla, July 5, 1962. (Lead singers and accordion player unidentified.) Recorded by Alan Lomax, J.D. Elder, and Antoinette Marchand. For more from the Lomax collections, visit http://archive.culturalequity.org. [1147R03]

16 - Sing Christmas and the Turn of the Year

Alan Lomax Archive 2022-12-22 | An expansion of our Christmas and New Year episode of a few years back with extra tracks and more all-around cheer. Links are to tracks' records in the Lomax Digital Archive. Those without them are either not Lomax recordings, or not yet included in the LDA. (If you'd like to assist in digitization/cataloging efforts to preserve and make available some of the early Lomax collections currently offline, please consider making a donation at culturalequity.org/donate, or drop us a line!) Happy Winter solstice and assorted holidays to everybody.

1. Villagers of Lagartera, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain: Ronda de Nochebuena (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/spain-1952-1953/lagartera-1252/fandango-plowing), Christmas Eve 1952.

2. Merritt Boddie and the Marigolds Band: Christmas Machete / Noel (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/gingerland-i-762/noel), Gingerland, Nevis, July 1962.

3. Georgia Sea Island Singers: Yonder Come Day (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/central-park-concert-1965/new-york-city-865/o-day), Central Park, NYC, July 1965.

4. Sophie Loman Wing and group: All Night Long, St. Simons Island, Georgia, June 1935.

5. Norman Edmonds and the Old-Timers: Breaking Up Christmas (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/southern-us-1959-and-1960/hillsville-i-859/breaking-christmas), Hillsville, Virginia, August 1959.

6. Kelly Pace and group: Holy Babe, Cumins State Farm, near Gould, Arkansas, May 1939.

7. Vera Ward Hall: No Room At the Inn (song & story) / Last Month of the Year (song), Livingston, Alabama, October 1959 (archive.culturalequity.org/solr-search/content/grid?search_api_fulltext=livingston&f%5B0%5D=member_of%3A873).

8. Phil Tanner: The Gower Wassail (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/england-and-wales-1951-1958/bbc-disc-dubs-1951/gower-wassail-song), Columbia 372-M, 1937.

9. Jean Ritchie: Wassail song (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/jean-ritchie-1949-and-1950/jean-ritchie-349/wassail-song), NYC, March 1949.

10. 1959 United Sacred Harp Musical Association: Sherburne (#186) (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/southern-us-1959-and-1960/fyffe-959/sherburne-186-0), Fyffe, Alabama, September 1959

11. Alice Gibbs and friends: Today, Today Is Christmas Day (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/dominican-republic-and-sint-eustatius-1967/sint-eustatius-1967/today-today-christmas-0), St. Eustatius, January 1967.

12. “Special group” from the 1959 United Sacred Harp Musical Association: Christmas Anthem (#225) (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/southern-us-1959-and-1960/fyffe-959/christmas-anthem-225)

13. Shirley and Dolly Collins: The Moon Shines Bright, from “For As Many As Will,” Topic Records, 1978.

14. Villagers of Hío, Aragon: Buenas Entradas de Reyes (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/spain-1952-1953/hio-1152/buenas-entradas-de-reyes), Hío, Galicia, November 1952

15. Ottavio Dogali, Giuseppe Napoli, and Giuseppe Ascani: Alla Pastorale, Cinquefrondi, Reggio Calabria, August 1, 1954.

16. Iaconelli and Arcari: La Novena di Natale, Columbia 14490, NYC, September 1929.

17. Edward King: Le Jour De L'an (New Year's Day), Baraga, Michigan, October 1938.

18: Georgia Sea Island Singers with Ed Young, Hobart Smith, and Nat Rahmings: Yonder Come Day (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/southern-us-1959-and-1960/st-simons-island-iii-460/o-day), St. Simons Island, April 1960.

19 and beyond: “Sing Christmas and the Turn of the Year,” BBC Radio, 1957. For artists and titles see here (discogs.com/Various-Sing-Christmas-And-The-Turn-Of-The-Year/release/6156619).

15 - Trials, Troubles, Tribulations

Alan Lomax Archive 2022-11-29 | Our eschatological episode of the program. Songs on final things: the end of the world, the end of time, judgement day, "when the stars begin to fall," etc.

Playlist (links to catalog records in the Lomax Digital Archive):

[Bed music] Fred McDowell: Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/southern-us-1959-and-1960/como-iii-959/keep-your-lamps-trimmed-and-burning-ii)

1. E.C. Ball & Lacey Richardson: Tribulations (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/southern-us-1959-and-1960/rugby-859/trials-troubles-tribulations-i) (Rugby, Virginia, August 1959) [Your host credited Orna Ball rather than her brother Lacey Richardson as E.C.'s accompanist.]

2. James Moore and friends: World Is Goin' To Destruction (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/mississippi-delta-survey-1941-1942/sadie-beck-plantation-742/world-goin-destruction) (At the home of Dave Roland, Sadie Beck Plantation, Arkansas, July 1942)

3. Holly Springs Sacred Harp singing: New Georgia (#534) (youtu.be/Jrxdl9KeHYI) (Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church, H.S., Georgia, June 1982)

4. Taylor-Griggs' Louisiana Melody Makers: When the Moon Drips Into the Blood (youtube.com/watch?v=GKb5L83UtcY)(Victor Records, V-40083, Memphis, Tennessee, September 1928)

[bonus: Sampson Caldwell and J.F. "Farmer" Collett: Jesus Getting Us Ready For That Great Day (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/kentucky-1937/gardner-937/jesus-getting-us-ready-great-day) (At the home of John Sizemore, Gardner, Clay Co. - not Leslie Co. as announced - Kentucky, September 1937)]

5. Hobart Smith, Preston Smith, and Texas Gladden: When the Stars Begin To Fall (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/southern-us-1959-and-1960/bluefield-i-859/when-stars-begin-fall)(Bluefield, Virginia, August 1959)

6. Belleville A Cappella Choir: My Lord, What A Morning (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/southern-us-1959-and-1960/belleville-460/when-stars-begin-fall) (Church of God and Saints in Christ, Belleville, Virginia, April 1960)

7. Group of six men: An-nar (The Hellfire) (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/morocco-1967/fes-iii-967/nar-hellfire) (Fes, Morocco, September 1967)

8. Mrs. Ross, Rev. Cyphers, and the congregation of True Light Baptist Church: That Awful Day Will Surely Come (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/morocco-1967/fes-iii-967/nar-hellfire) (Dallas, Texas, February 1948)

9. (Sensational?) Friendly Brothers of Tallulah, Louisiana: Where Shall I Be When the First Trumpet Sounds (youtube.com/watch?v=-sbmkj3hklc) (St. James Baptist Church, Canton, Mississippi, August 1978)

10. Lillie & Thelma Knox: Where Shall I Be When the First Trumpet Sounds (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/england-and-wales-1951-1958/murrells-inlet-737/when-first-trumpet-sounds) (Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, July 1937)

11. Rev. Dickson, Ebenezer Elliott, and congregation of Indian Walk London Baptist Church: Want To Go To the Happy Land (archive.culturalequity.org/solr-search/content/list?search_api_fulltext=happy%20land) (Indian Walk, Princes Town, Trinidad, May 1962)

12. St. Vincent Spiritual Baptist congregation: On That Great Day (uploaded to YouTube by The Admiral Quow, November 2010)

13. Georgia Sea Island Singers: One of These Days (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/southern-us-1959-and-1960/st-simons-island-i-1059/one-these-days) (St. Simons Island, Georgia, October 1959)

Holly Springs Sacred Harp singing: New Georgia, #534 (1982)

Alan Lomax Archive 2022-11-29 | "New Georgia" (#534), led by Grady Albright. Shot by Alan Lomax and crew at the Holly Springs Baptist Church, Holly Springs, Georgia, June 1982. For more Lomax field recordings, 1933–1991, visit archive.culturalequity.org. [03.09.117]

Yoeme/Yaqui string band: Pascola dance tune (1983)

Alan Lomax Archive 2022-10-10 | This (as of posting time) unidentified string band performing a tune for a Pascola dance was filmed by Alan Lomax and crew near Tucson, Arizona, in May 1983 for a film entitled “Desert Folk.” The film was to be an episode in the “American Patchwork” series on PBS and feature dancers and musicians from Yo'eme/Yaqui, White Mountain Apache, and Tohono O’odham communities, as well as Mexican American and Anglo cowboy traditions, but it was never completed. The tape logs have yet to be transcribed and the footage has yet to be cataloged; we hope to make more available someday, as well as to determine the names of these musicians. For more videos from the American Patchwork fieldwork and information about Alan Lomax and his collections, visit: http://archive.culturalequity.org.

Unidentified quartet: Lord, Dont Turn Your Child Away (1939)

Alan Lomax Archive 2022-08-31 | Quartet of unidentified incarcerated men at Cummins State Farm (now Cummins Unit), Gould, Arkansas, recorded by John A. Lomax on May 21, 1939, under the auspices of the Archive of Folk Song, Library of Congress. Photo of baptism at Cummins, 1953, from the University of Arkansas-Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture. For more from the Lomax collections, visit http://archive.culturalequity.org. [2591B3]

Susan Shepherd: The [1927] Kentucky Flood (1937)

Alan Lomax Archive 2022-07-29 | *In the wake of the devastating flooding that struck Eastern Kentucky on July 27-28, 2022, please considering donating to relief efforts: appalshop.org/news/appalachian-flood-support-resources *

A ballad performed (and presumably composed) by Susan Shepherd concerning the May 29-30, 1927 flood in Letcher Co., Kentucky. Recorded by Alan and Elizabeth Lomax at Cumberland, Harlan Co., Kentucky, September 27, 1937. For more from the Lomaxes' Kentucky recordings and Alan's fieldwork collections in general, visit archive.culturalequity.org. [AFS 1433A & B1]

Bill Tatnall: Looking for the Bully of the Town (1935)

Alan Lomax Archive 2022-07-13 | Bill Tatnall, vocal and guitar, and friends perform "Looking for the Bully of the Town." Recorded by Alan Lomax and Zora Neale Hurston at Frederica, Georgia, June 1935. Photo by Lomax. For more information about Alan and John Lomax and their collections, visit http://archive.culturalequity.org.

Julia Griffin and group: Power Now (1936)

Alan Lomax Archive 2022-07-11 | Julia Griffin and a group of female prisoners at the Raiford State Prison in Raiford, Florida, recorded by John A. Lomax, May 4, 1936. [702A1] Photo of women's camp inmates making shirts (1928) from the State Archives of Florida, accessed via Florida Memory. For more information about Alan and John Lomax and their collections, visit http://archive.culturalequity.org.

Benjamin Bligen and Wesley United Methodist Church congregation: At the Cross (1983)

Alan Lomax Archive 2022-06-14 | Benjamin "Benjy" Bligen and the Wesley United Methodist Church congregation sing "At the Cross." Shot by Alan Lomax and crew at Johns Island, South Carolina, late July 1983. For more from Johns Island, the American Patchwork filmwork, Alan Lomax, and his collections, visit http://archive.culturalequity.org. [afc2004004_mv0727]

Peoples Burial Aid Society Choir of Columbia, S.C.: Twelve Gates To the City (1940)

Alan Lomax Archive 2022-05-19 | The People's Burial Aid Society Choir, led by D.H. White, recorded by John A. Lomax at Pearson's Funeral Home, 1325 Park St., Columbia, South Carolina, November 1940, under the auspices of the Library of Congress' Archive of Folk Song. Image via historiccolumbia.org. Lomax's complete South Carolina recordings, 1934-1940, are available through archive.culturalequity.org. [AFS 4080A1]

14 - When Im Gone, Gone: South Carolina, 1934–1940

Alan Lomax Archive 2022-05-06 | This episode provides an introduction to the singers and sites visited by John A. Lomax in the Palmetto State between 1934 and 1940, on the occasion of the entirety of John A. Lomax's historic South Carolina recordings—made between 1934 and 1940 under the aegis of the Library of Congress' Archive of Folk Song—being now freely available online via the Lomax Digital Archive. [Access the collection here (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/south-carolina-1934-1940/field-work/south-carolina-1934-1940).] This collaboratively produced catalog provides free access to more than 12 hours of historic audio, accompanied by extensive descriptive metadata, documenting a diversity of Black and white folk and vernacular music in the Palmetto State: spirituals, hymns, blues, lullabies, ballads, children's game songs, work songs, as well as stories and personal narratives.

John A. Lomax made several trips to South Carolina as a guest of folklorist Genevieve W. Chandler in coastal Murrells Inlet, who introduced him to some of the renowned singers in the Gullah community there: among them Zackie Knox, Lillie Knox, and "Mom" Hagar Brown. Also representing Gullah traditions of the region in these recordings are Caesar Roper and the Wadmalaw Island singers who participated in Rosa Warren Wilson's "Plantation Echoes" program, which Lomax recorded in Columbia in 1937. White singers also contributed to the sessions at Chandler's home with children's songs, contemporary hillbilly numbers, and ballads. Lomax recorded incarcerated men and women—at the Reid Farm in rural Kershaw County; at the state penitentiary in Columbia; and in a "convict camp" in Anderson County—singing group work songs, sacred pieces, and the occasional blues. Two WPA ditch-digging crews appear in these recordings, one from the Murrells Inlet area and the other from Clemson; this latter group Lomax recorded at the home of South Carolina journalist and memoirist Ben Robertson. Only a fraction of these recordings have ever been published or otherwise made available publicly.

(The Murrells Inlet and Wadmalaw Island material was processed with the support of a National Historic Publications and Records Commission grant with Coastal Carolina University.)

Playlist (links to catalog records in the Lomax Digital Archive):

*Zackie Knox: When I’m Gone, Gone, Gone (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/south-carolina-1934-1940/murrells-inlet-737/when-im-gone-gone-gone)

*Lillie Knox: I Know My Time Ain't Long (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/south-carolina-1934-1940/murrells-inlet-737/i-know-my-time-aint-long)

*Hagar Brown: Stay In the Field (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/south-carolina-1934-1940/columbia-1140/ill-be-standing-station)

*Jonesie Mack, James Mack and Nick Robison: Corrine, Corrina (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/south-carolina-1934-1940/charleston-737/corrine-corrina)

*Capitol City Laundry Quartet: Ezekiel Saw the Wheel (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/south-carolina-1934-1940/columbia-536/ezekiel-saw-wheel)

*Minnie Floyd: Time Enough Yet (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/south-carolina-1934-1940/murrells-inlet-737/time-enough-yet)

*Mike Maybank and group: See John the Writer (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/south-carolina-1934-1940/murrells-inlet-737/time-enough-yet)

*Cleve "Dynamite" Wright & Slick Owens: Ain’t No Heaven On the County Road (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/south-carolina-1934-1940/anderson-county-639/aint-no-heaven-county-road)

*D.W. White & People’s Burial Aid Choir: I’ll Be Standing at the Station (archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/south-carolina-1934-1940/columbia-1140/ill-be-standing-station)

Works cited:
*Coming Through: Voices of a South Carolina Gullah Community from WPA Oral Histories. U. of South Carolina Press, 2008.

*Alan Lomax's 1983 Johns Island recordings. (Perhaps strangely, Alan didn’t visit South Carolina on his 1959 and 1960 trips through the American South, although he does appear as an announcer on a Folkways LP documenting the 1964 folk festival on Johns Island that featured the singers of the Moving Star Hall - like Benjy Bligen, Bertha Pinckney, and Janie Hunter - who appear in the '83 footage. That festival was organized by Guy and Candie Carawan, who also compiled the gorgeous book “Ain't You Got A Right to the Tree of Life," consisting of narrative segments by Johns Islanders and photographs by Bob Yellin.)

*The Oxford American piece about Rosa Warren Wilson and “Plantation Echoes” has gone missing from their online archives between the recording of this episode and compiling these notes. If anyone turns up a link, please let us know!

Holly Springs Sacred Harp singing: Easter Anthem, #236 (1982)

Alan Lomax Archive 2022-04-18 | "Easter Anthem" (#236), led by Susan Harcrow. Shot by Alan Lomax and crew at Holly Springs Baptist Church, Holly Springs, Georgia, June 1982. For more information about the American Patchwork filmwork, Alan Lomax, and his collections, visit http://archive.culturalequity.org. [03.09.29]

Syne Village Spiritual Baptists: Go to Dark Gethsemane (1962)

Alan Lomax Archive 2022-03-30 | Led by Rev. Olsie Cowan with Shouter/Spiritual Baptist congregation in Syne Village, Penal-Debe, Trinidad, May 6, 1962. For more on Alan Lomax, his Caribbean recordings, and his collections in general, visit http://archive.culturalequity.org. [1073R07]

Xiquet de Benaguasil and rondalla: Te Canto Con Mil Amores (1952)

Alan Lomax Archive 2022-02-14 | (Photo of the Xiquet de Benaguasil from http://enclaudelluna.blogspot.com.)

José Maria Calaforra Romero (Xiquet de Benaguasil), vocals; José Puig Sirera, clarinet; Agustín Picazo, trombone; Salvador Salvador Segura, trumpet; Juan Fenollosa (El Chufa), guitar. Recorded by Alan Lomax and Pip Bell in Villanueva de Castellón, Valencia, Spain, on August 7, 1952. Visit archive.culturalequity.org/node/1179 for more recordings from this session.

Alan Lomax: Jack the Rabbit (track-lining song) (1969)

Alan Lomax Archive 2022-01-31 | Posted in honor of Alan Lomax's 107th birthday, January 31, 2022. In April 1969, he gave a lecture and performance in Texas City, Texas, which included this spirited "Jack the Rabbit," a song based on track-lining chants by A.B. Hicks and others which he had recorded with Zora Neale Hurston in her hometown of Eatonville, Florida, in 1935.

The whole Texas City presentation is here: archive.culturalequity.org/node/1071

Rich Amerson and Joe Fred Williams: Billy Goat Latin (1937)

Alan Lomax Archive 2022-01-26 | Two examples of "Billy Goat Latin," performed by Rich Amerson (pictured, with John A. Lomax) and Joe Fred Williams, respectively. Recorded by Lomax at the home of Ruby Pickens Tartt, Livingston, Alabama, July 19, 1937. Photo by Ruby T. Lomax, Livingston, 1940. [AFS 1305A1&2]

Joe Savage: Tree-cutting holler (1978)

Alan Lomax Archive 2022-01-11 | Joe Savage, former muleskinner and Parchman Farm inmate, sings a holler while felling a tree for the film "The Land Where the Blues Began" in Greenville, Mississippi, August 24, 1978. Arranged by Worth Long, shot by John Bishop, directed by Alan Lomax. For more videos from the American Patchwork fieldwork and information about Alan Lomax and his collections, visit: http://archive.culturalequity.org. [CM 503 2059]

Roland Zachary and Paul Sylvester: You Long-Time Old Rounders (1934)

Alan Lomax Archive 2022-01-06 | One of two recordings made of singers Zachary and Sylvester by John A. Lomax at the Georgia State Farm, Milledgeville, Georgia, December 15, 1934.

Union Jubilee Quartet: The Holy Baby (1942)

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-12-23 | A cumulative Christmas song requested by Lomax and described by Quartet leader Booker T. Garner as "the hardest song that ever was, nearly." The Union Jubilee Quartet was Garner, lead tenor; John Skipper, baritone; Leroy Jefferson, bass; J. Marshall, pitch not specified. Bozie Sturdivant was identified as second tenor but he is not heard here. Recorded by Alan Lomax and Lewis Jones at the Silent Grove Baptist Church, Clarksdale, Mississippi, July 25, 1942.

Boyd Asher: Old Christmas (1937)

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-12-21 | Boyd Asher on fiddle, recorded by Alan and Elizabeth Lomax at McKinley Asher's store in Hyden, Kentucky, October 15, 1937. For more recordings from these East Kentucky sessions and beyond, visit archive.culturalequity.org.

13 - Songs and stories for Halloween

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-10-25 | Sid Hemphill and band: The Death March (Quitman Co., Mississippi, August 1942 (archive.culturalequity.org/node/1300)).

Mr. & Mrs. Boyd Hoskins: Ah, Lovely Appearance of Death (Horse Creek, Clay Co., Kentucky, October 1942 (archive.culturalequity.org/node/1269))

Bessie Jones: Oh Death (St. Simons Island, Georgia, October 1959 (archive.culturalequity.org/node/878))

Nimrod Workman: O Death (Mascot, Tennessee, July 1983 (archive.culturalequity.org/taxonomy/term/7842))

Bessie Jones tells a story of a woman enduring a night’s worth of ghostly trials (NYC, October 1961 (archive.culturalequity.org/node/1050))

Sheila Kay Adams: Little Margaret (Burton Cove, Sodom Laurel, Madison Co., North Carolina, September 1982 (archive.culturalequity.org/taxonomy/term/7706))

Unidentified woman: funeral lament (Santo Stefano di Sessanio, Abruzzo, Italy, December 1954)

Liborio Garanfa (guitar) and Giuseppe Gavita (violin and vocal) (Scanno, Abruzzo, Italy, December 1954)

Almeda Riddle: The House Carpenter (Heber Springs, Arkansas, October 1959 (archive.culturalequity.org/node/912))

Jeannie Robertson: Bonny Annie and Andrew Lammie, followed by a story of her own encounter with a spirit (London, November 1953 (archive.culturalequity.org/node/57797))

Texas Gladden tells a story of her grandfather’s experience in haunted house during the Civil War (Decca Studios, NYC, 1946 (archive.culturalequity.org/node/803))

12 - The Edinburgh Peoples Festival Ceilidh, 70 years later

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-09-03 | August 30, 2021, is the 70-year anniversary of the 1951 Edinburgh People’s Festival Ceilidh, the seminal event that heralded and generated the Scottish Folk Revival of the 1960s. Alan Lomax was on hand to record it in the Oddfellows Hall, and thus able to preserve a document of a legendary concert that alerted the astonished urban audience to the continuing vitality of Scotland’s rich heritage of traditional song. People in the rich folk culture of the Gaelic-speaking West, or speaking the Doric accent of the North East, still held and sang their vibrant old ballads and songs of work, but the Central Belt city folk thought the songs entombed in old books. Until the Ceilidh.

This podcast presents the (near) entirety* of Alan Lomax's recordings of the event. This audio is considerably inconsistent volume-wise, as quiet singers were typically received with thunderous applause (for which Lomax kept his finger on the fader of his recording machine). And it is presented here raw (unmastered), so headphone-users, be warned! The episode functions as an audio accompaniment to the Lomax Digital Archive's new exhibit (archive.culturalequity.org/1951ceilidh), curated by folklorist Ewan McVicar, which annotates the Ceilidh program song-by-song, and pairs more recent interpretations of those songs by revival singers in Scotland and further afield. We're pleased to say that two new recordings have been provided exclusively for the exhibit, by the fine singers Christine Kidd and Alasdair Roberts (who is also a guitarist/composer extraordinaire).

*We omit the lengthy vote of thanks given in Gaelic by the Rev. Duncan. Also, note that some performances/commentaries were truncated by tape running out, and that Lomax missed recording the introductory piping by James Burgess.

Ervin Webb and group: Im Going Home + interview (1959)

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-05-14 | [Begins again after false start.] Composed and led by Ervin Webb with Willie Washington, bass; Bridges Lee Cole, tenor; and J.J. Sanburn, baritone. Webb was 39 years old and six years into a sentence of undisclosed duration. His home was Prichard, Alabama. Recorded by Alan Lomax at the Parchman Farm (Mississippi State Penitentiary) dairy, October 1959. [T919.10-12]

See more from and about Webb here:

archive.culturalequity.org/taxonomy/term/6175

Carriacou Shakespeare Mas combat (1991)

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-02-22 | Unidentified Shakespeare Mas combatants recite various speeches from Julius Caesar, Carriacou, Grenada, February 1991. In 1991 Alan Lomax visited Carriacou for the first time in nearly 30 years to attend the Stone Feast of Sugar Adams. Adams, one of the island's most revered musicians, had died ten years earlier and tradition necessitated a day of feasting, sacrifices, and music-making to accompany the raising of his head-stone. Lomax brought along a camcorder, a cassette deck, and copies of his 1962 Carriacou recordings (including those of Sugar Adams) to share with the participants - among them local musicologist Winston Fleary and drummer and painter Canute Caliste, who had also recorded for Alan in '62. While there, Alan was also able to shoot nearly two hours of the Shakespeare Mas' - the remarkable Carnival tradition in which men dressed in outlandish Pierrot-style outfits engage in "combats": aggressively reciting speeches from Julius Caesar and thrashing one another with switches when a recitation is deemed poor or incorrect. These several hours of video recordings constitute Alan Lomax's last field recording trip. [169b.03]

Winston Fleary: Marullus monologue from Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene 1 (1991)

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-02-22 | Folklorist and master drummer Winston Fleary recites Marullus' monologue from "Julius Caesar," Act 1, Scene 1. Shot by Alan Lomax during Shakespeare Mas, Carriacou, February 1991.

In 1991 Alan Lomax visited Carriacou, Grenada, for the first time in nearly 30 years to attend the Stone Feast of Sugar Adams. Adams, one of the island's most revered musicians, had died ten years earlier and tradition necessitated a day of feasting, sacrifices, and music-making to accompany the raising of his head-stone. Lomax brought along a camcorder, a cassette deck, and copies of his 1962 Carriacou recordings (including those of Sugar Adams) to share with the participants - among them local musicologist Winston Fleary and drummer and painter Canute Caliste, who had also recorded for Alan in '62. While there, Alan was also able to shoot nearly two hours of the Shakespeare Mas' — the remarkable Carnival tradition in which men dressed in outlandish Pierrot-style outfits engage in "combats": aggressively reciting speeches from Julius Caesar and thrashing one another with switches when a recitation is deemed poor or incorrect. These several hours of video recordings constitute Alan Lomax's last field recording trip. [169b.03]

Black Encyclopedia of the Air 31: I Am Not You (1969)

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-02-22 | "'I Am Not You' — modern African poet Roland Tombekai Dempster speaks for all his black brothers."

[We're presenting the entirety of the B.E.A. series here, conscious of the fact that some of the statements made and connections drawn have since been called into question, or outright disproved, as the spots remain fascinating documents.]

In 1968, a diverse group of historians, anthropologists, and musicians at Columbia University created the Black Identity Project. Based on the work of pioneering Africanist John Henrik Clarke, founder of the African Heritage Studies Association, and funded by the Ford Foundation, the project aimed to acquaint younger audiences, in classrooms and over the radio, with Black history and heritage. One of the outcomes of the project was the 1969 Black Encyclopedia of the Air. Designed for broadcast over Black radio networks to what contributor Alan Lomax called “the rock-and-roll audience,” it consisted of 31 “one-minute-plus” educational spots, researched by Clarke and narrated by WLIB-Harlem DJ and radio personality Jack Walker, “the Pear-Shaped Talker," who was also chairman of the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers, the Black broadcast-professional organization. Lomax, along with historian and singer Raoul Abdul (with whom he'd compile the anthology 3000 Years of Black Poetry), devised scripts that drew heavily on Alan’s Cantometrics performance style analysis, covering topics such as the diversity of Black lullaby traditions; African male choruses and “overlap” singing; and a Black history of American pop music. Non-musical entries discussed Black contributors to medicine (heart surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams) and engineering (Lewis Latimer and his carbon light bulb filament). Teaching materials and reading lists were provided with the series, which Atlantic Records released on LP in 1969. John Henrik Clarke provided research for the spots, and trombonist, composer and Cantometric investigator Roswell Rudd served as musical advisor. Despite positive feedback from radio stations across the country, the Black Encyclopedia of the Air was discontinued after its first series.

Black Encyclopedia of the Air 30: Daniel Hale Williams, Pioneer Heart Surgeon (1969)

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-02-22 | "Pioneer Heart Surgeon — Daniel Hale Williams, the black Chicago doctor who performed the first successful heart surgery."

[We're presenting the entirety of the B.E.A. series here, conscious of the fact that some of the statements made and connections drawn have since been called into question, or outright disproved, as the spots remain fascinating documents.]

In 1968, a diverse group of historians, anthropologists, and musicians at Columbia University created the Black Identity Project. Based on the work of pioneering Africanist John Henrik Clarke, founder of the African Heritage Studies Association, and funded by the Ford Foundation, the project aimed to acquaint younger audiences, in classrooms and over the radio, with Black history and heritage. One of the outcomes of the project was the 1969 Black Encyclopedia of the Air. Designed for broadcast over Black radio networks to what contributor Alan Lomax called “the rock-and-roll audience,” it consisted of 31 “one-minute-plus” educational spots, researched by Clarke and narrated by WLIB-Harlem DJ and radio personality Jack Walker, “the Pear-Shaped Talker," who was also chairman of the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers, the Black broadcast-professional organization. Lomax, along with historian and singer Raoul Abdul (with whom he'd compile the anthology 3000 Years of Black Poetry), devised scripts that drew heavily on Alan’s Cantometrics performance style analysis, covering topics such as the diversity of Black lullaby traditions; African male choruses and “overlap” singing; and a Black history of American pop music. Non-musical entries discussed Black contributors to medicine (heart surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams) and engineering (Lewis Latimer and his carbon light bulb filament). Teaching materials and reading lists were provided with the series, which Atlantic Records released on LP in 1969. John Henrik Clarke provided research for the spots, and trombonist, composer and Cantometric investigator Roswell Rudd served as musical advisor. Despite positive feedback from radio stations across the country, the Black Encyclopedia of the Air was discontinued after its first series.

Black Encyclopedia of the Air 28: Crazy Horns (1969)

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-02-22 | "Crazy Horns — the American jazz horn style that goes back to Africa."

Music by the Imperial Army Band of Ethopia (recorded by Ayelework Abebe); Albert Ayler's "Ghosts"; a Babito clan orchestra of Gwere, Uganda (recorded by Klaus Wachsmann); and the Ibibio Orchestra of Jos, Nigeria.

[We're presenting the entirety of the B.E.A. series here, conscious of the fact that some of the statements made and connections drawn have since been called into question, or outright disproved, as the spots remain fascinating documents.]

In 1968, a diverse group of historians, anthropologists, and musicians at Columbia University created the Black Identity Project. Based on the work of pioneering Africanist John Henrik Clarke, founder of the African Heritage Studies Association, and funded by the Ford Foundation, the project aimed to acquaint younger audiences, in classrooms and over the radio, with Black history and heritage. One of the outcomes of the project was the 1969 Black Encyclopedia of the Air. Designed for broadcast over Black radio networks to what contributor Alan Lomax called “the rock-and-roll audience,” it consisted of 31 “one-minute-plus” educational spots, researched by Clarke and narrated by WLIB-Harlem DJ and radio personality Jack Walker, “the Pear-Shaped Talker," who was also chairman of the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers, the Black broadcast-professional organization. Lomax, along with historian and singer Raoul Abdul (with whom he'd compile the anthology 3000 Years of Black Poetry), devised scripts that drew heavily on Alan’s Cantometrics performance style analysis, covering topics such as the diversity of Black lullaby traditions; African male choruses and “overlap” singing; and a Black history of American pop music. Non-musical entries discussed Black contributors to medicine (heart surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams) and engineering (Lewis Latimer and his carbon light bulb filament). Teaching materials and reading lists were provided with the series, which Atlantic Records released on LP in 1969. John Henrik Clarke provided research for the spots, and trombonist, composer and Cantometric investigator Roswell Rudd served as musical advisor. Despite positive feedback from radio stations across the country, the Black Encyclopedia of the Air was discontinued after its first series.

Black Encyclopedia of the Air 29: Lewis Latimer, Edison’s Black Collaborator (1969)

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-02-22 | "Edison’s Black Collaborator — Lewis Latimer, who found the filament for the electric light."

[We're presenting the entirety of the B.E.A. series here, conscious of the fact that some of the statements made and connections drawn have since been called into question, or outright disproved, as the spots remain fascinating documents.]

In 1968, a diverse group of historians, anthropologists, and musicians at Columbia University created the Black Identity Project. Based on the work of pioneering Africanist John Henrik Clarke, founder of the African Heritage Studies Association, and funded by the Ford Foundation, the project aimed to acquaint younger audiences, in classrooms and over the radio, with Black history and heritage. One of the outcomes of the project was the 1969 Black Encyclopedia of the Air. Designed for broadcast over Black radio networks to what contributor Alan Lomax called “the rock-and-roll audience,” it consisted of 31 “one-minute-plus” educational spots, researched by Clarke and narrated by WLIB-Harlem DJ and radio personality Jack Walker, “the Pear-Shaped Talker," who was also chairman of the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers, the Black broadcast-professional organization. Lomax, along with historian and singer Raoul Abdul (with whom he'd compile the anthology 3000 Years of Black Poetry), devised scripts that drew heavily on Alan’s Cantometrics performance style analysis, covering topics such as the diversity of Black lullaby traditions; African male choruses and “overlap” singing; and a Black history of American pop music. Non-musical entries discussed Black contributors to medicine (heart surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams) and engineering (Lewis Latimer and his carbon light bulb filament). Teaching materials and reading lists were provided with the series, which Atlantic Records released on LP in 1969. John Henrik Clarke provided research for the spots, and trombonist, composer and Cantometric investigator Roswell Rudd served as musical advisor. Despite positive feedback from radio stations across the country, the Black Encyclopedia of the Air was discontinued after its first series.

Black Encyclopedia of the Air 27: The Real McCoy (1969)

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-02-22 | "The Real McCoy — Elijah McCoy, the black inventor who kept America’s wheels turning."

[We're presenting the entirety of the B.E.A. series here, conscious of the fact that some of the statements made and connections drawn have since been called into question, or outright disproved, as the spots remain fascinating documents.]

In 1968, a diverse group of historians, anthropologists, and musicians at Columbia University created the Black Identity Project. Based on the work of pioneering Africanist John Henrik Clarke, founder of the African Heritage Studies Association, and funded by the Ford Foundation, the project aimed to acquaint younger audiences, in classrooms and over the radio, with Black history and heritage. One of the outcomes of the project was the 1969 Black Encyclopedia of the Air. Designed for broadcast over Black radio networks to what contributor Alan Lomax called “the rock-and-roll audience,” it consisted of 31 “one-minute-plus” educational spots, researched by Clarke and narrated by WLIB-Harlem DJ and radio personality Jack Walker, “the Pear-Shaped Talker," who was also chairman of the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers, the Black broadcast-professional organization. Lomax, along with historian and singer Raoul Abdul (with whom he'd compile the anthology 3000 Years of Black Poetry), devised scripts that drew heavily on Alan’s Cantometrics performance style analysis, covering topics such as the diversity of Black lullaby traditions; African male choruses and “overlap” singing; and a Black history of American pop music. Non-musical entries discussed Black contributors to medicine (heart surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams) and engineering (Lewis Latimer and his carbon light bulb filament). Teaching materials and reading lists were provided with the series, which Atlantic Records released on LP in 1969. John Henrik Clarke provided research for the spots, and trombonist, composer and Cantometric investigator Roswell Rudd served as musical advisor. Despite positive feedback from radio stations across the country, the Black Encyclopedia of the Air was discontinued after its first series.

Black Encyclopedia of the Air 26: Bad Black Men (1969)

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-02-22 | "Bad Black Men — who rode the trails of the West."

[We're presenting the entirety of the B.E.A. series here, conscious of the fact that some of the statements made and connections drawn have since been called into question, or outright disproved, as the spots remain fascinating documents.]

In 1968, a diverse group of historians, anthropologists, and musicians at Columbia University created the Black Identity Project. Based on the work of pioneering Africanist John Henrik Clarke, founder of the African Heritage Studies Association, and funded by the Ford Foundation, the project aimed to acquaint younger audiences, in classrooms and over the radio, with Black history and heritage. One of the outcomes of the project was the 1969 Black Encyclopedia of the Air. Designed for broadcast over Black radio networks to what contributor Alan Lomax called “the rock-and-roll audience,” it consisted of 31 “one-minute-plus” educational spots, researched by Clarke and narrated by WLIB-Harlem DJ and radio personality Jack Walker, “the Pear-Shaped Talker," who was also chairman of the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers, the Black broadcast-professional organization. Lomax, along with historian and singer Raoul Abdul (with whom he'd compile the anthology 3000 Years of Black Poetry), devised scripts that drew heavily on Alan’s Cantometrics performance style analysis, covering topics such as the diversity of Black lullaby traditions; African male choruses and “overlap” singing; and a Black history of American pop music. Non-musical entries discussed Black contributors to medicine (heart surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams) and engineering (Lewis Latimer and his carbon light bulb filament). Teaching materials and reading lists were provided with the series, which Atlantic Records released on LP in 1969. John Henrik Clarke provided research for the spots, and trombonist, composer and Cantometric investigator Roswell Rudd served as musical advisor. Despite positive feedback from radio stations across the country, the Black Encyclopedia of the Air was discontinued after its first series.

Black Encyclopedia of the Air 25: Personal Song Signature (1969)

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-02-22 | "Personal Song Signature — the personally composed songs that lie back of the blues."

[We're presenting the entirety of the B.E.A. series here, conscious of the fact that some of the statements made and connections drawn have since been called into question, or outright disproved, as the spots remain fascinating documents.]

In 1968, a diverse group of historians, anthropologists, and musicians at Columbia University created the Black Identity Project. Based on the work of pioneering Africanist John Henrik Clarke, founder of the African Heritage Studies Association, and funded by the Ford Foundation, the project aimed to acquaint younger audiences, in classrooms and over the radio, with Black history and heritage. One of the outcomes of the project was the 1969 Black Encyclopedia of the Air. Designed for broadcast over Black radio networks to what contributor Alan Lomax called “the rock-and-roll audience,” it consisted of 31 “one-minute-plus” educational spots, researched by Clarke and narrated by WLIB-Harlem DJ and radio personality Jack Walker, “the Pear-Shaped Talker," who was also chairman of the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers, the Black broadcast-professional organization. Lomax, along with historian and singer Raoul Abdul (with whom he'd compile the anthology 3000 Years of Black Poetry), devised scripts that drew heavily on Alan’s Cantometrics performance style analysis, covering topics such as the diversity of Black lullaby traditions; African male choruses and “overlap” singing; and a Black history of American pop music. Non-musical entries discussed Black contributors to medicine (heart surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams) and engineering (Lewis Latimer and his carbon light bulb filament). Teaching materials and reading lists were provided with the series, which Atlantic Records released on LP in 1969. John Henrik Clarke provided research for the spots, and trombonist, composer and Cantometric investigator Roswell Rudd served as musical advisor. Despite positive feedback from radio stations across the country, the Black Encyclopedia of the Air was discontinued after its first series.

Black Encyclopedia of the Air 24: Black Liberator of Cuba (1969)

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-02-22 | "Black Liberator of Cuba — Antonio Maceo, the general who fought alongside Martí."

[We're presenting the entirety of the B.E.A. series here, conscious of the fact that some of the statements made and connections drawn have since been called into question, or outright disproved, as the spots remain fascinating documents.]

In 1968, a diverse group of historians, anthropologists, and musicians at Columbia University created the Black Identity Project. Based on the work of pioneering Africanist John Henrik Clarke, founder of the African Heritage Studies Association, and funded by the Ford Foundation, the project aimed to acquaint younger audiences, in classrooms and over the radio, with Black history and heritage. One of the outcomes of the project was the 1969 Black Encyclopedia of the Air. Designed for broadcast over Black radio networks to what contributor Alan Lomax called “the rock-and-roll audience,” it consisted of 31 “one-minute-plus” educational spots, researched by Clarke and narrated by WLIB-Harlem DJ and radio personality Jack Walker, “the Pear-Shaped Talker," who was also chairman of the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers, the Black broadcast-professional organization. Lomax, along with historian and singer Raoul Abdul (with whom he'd compile the anthology 3000 Years of Black Poetry), devised scripts that drew heavily on Alan’s Cantometrics performance style analysis, covering topics such as the diversity of Black lullaby traditions; African male choruses and “overlap” singing; and a Black history of American pop music. Non-musical entries discussed Black contributors to medicine (heart surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams) and engineering (Lewis Latimer and his carbon light bulb filament). Teaching materials and reading lists were provided with the series, which Atlantic Records released on LP in 1969. John Henrik Clarke provided research for the spots, and trombonist, composer and Cantometric investigator Roswell Rudd served as musical advisor. Despite positive feedback from radio stations across the country, the Black Encyclopedia of the Air was discontinued after its first series.

Black Encyclopedia of the Air 23: Argentinas First President (1969)

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-02-22 | [We're presenting the entirety of the B.E.A. series here, conscious of the fact that some of the statements made and connections drawn have since been called into question, or outright disproved, as the spots remain fascinating documents.]

In 1968, a diverse group of historians, anthropologists, and musicians at Columbia University created the Black Identity Project. Based on the work of pioneering Africanist John Henrik Clarke, founder of the African Heritage Studies Association, and funded by the Ford Foundation, the project aimed to acquaint younger audiences, in classrooms and over the radio, with Black history and heritage. One of the outcomes of the project was the 1969 Black Encyclopedia of the Air. Designed for broadcast over Black radio networks to what contributor Alan Lomax called “the rock-and-roll audience,” it consisted of 31 “one-minute-plus” educational spots, researched by Clarke and narrated by WLIB-Harlem DJ and radio personality Jack Walker, “the Pear-Shaped Talker," who was also chairman of the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers, the Black broadcast-professional organization. Lomax, along with historian and singer Raoul Abdul (with whom he'd compile the anthology 3000 Years of Black Poetry), devised scripts that drew heavily on Alan’s Cantometrics performance style analysis, covering topics such as the diversity of Black lullaby traditions; African male choruses and “overlap” singing; and a Black history of American pop music. Non-musical entries discussed Black contributors to medicine (heart surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams) and engineering (Lewis Latimer and his carbon light bulb filament). Teaching materials and reading lists were provided with the series, which Atlantic Records released on LP in 1969. John Henrik Clarke provided research for the spots, and trombonist, composer and Cantometric investigator Roswell Rudd served as musical advisor. Despite positive feedback from radio stations across the country, the Black Encyclopedia of the Air was discontinued after its first series.

Black Encyclopedia of the Air 22: Was Simón Bolívar Black? (1969)

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-02-22 | "Was Bolívar Black? — as some historians believe."

[We're presenting the entirety of the B.E.A. series here, conscious of the fact that some of the statements made and connections drawn have since been called into question, or outright disproved, as the spots remain fascinating documents.]

In 1968, a diverse group of historians, anthropologists, and musicians at Columbia University created the Black Identity Project. Based on the work of pioneering Africanist John Henrik Clarke, founder of the African Heritage Studies Association, and funded by the Ford Foundation, the project aimed to acquaint younger audiences, in classrooms and over the radio, with Black history and heritage. One of the outcomes of the project was the 1969 Black Encyclopedia of the Air. Designed for broadcast over Black radio networks to what contributor Alan Lomax called “the rock-and-roll audience,” it consisted of 31 “one-minute-plus” educational spots, researched by Clarke and narrated by WLIB-Harlem DJ and radio personality Jack Walker, “the Pear-Shaped Talker," who was also chairman of the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers, the Black broadcast-professional organization. Lomax, along with historian and singer Raoul Abdul (with whom he'd compile the anthology 3000 Years of Black Poetry), devised scripts that drew heavily on Alan’s Cantometrics performance style analysis, covering topics such as the diversity of Black lullaby traditions; African male choruses and “overlap” singing; and a Black history of American pop music. Non-musical entries discussed Black contributors to medicine (heart surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams) and engineering (Lewis Latimer and his carbon light bulb filament). Teaching materials and reading lists were provided with the series, which Atlantic Records released on LP in 1969. John Henrik Clarke provided research for the spots, and trombonist, composer and Cantometric investigator Roswell Rudd served as musical advisor. Despite positive feedback from radio stations across the country, the Black Encyclopedia of the Air was discontinued after its first series.

Black Encyclopedia of the Air 21: Toussaint Louverture and the Blacks Who Doomed Napoleon (1969)

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-02-22 | "The Blacks Who Doomed Napoleon — how a black slave revolt hastened Napoleon’s downfall."

[We’re presenting the entirety of the series here, conscious of the fact that some of the statements made and connections drawn have since been called into question, or outright disproven, as the spots remain fascinating documents.]

In 1968, a diverse group of historians, anthropologists, and musicians at Columbia University created the Black Identity Project. Based on the work of pioneering Africanist John Henrik Clarke, founder of the African Heritage Studies Association, and funded by the Ford Foundation, the project aimed to acquaint younger audiences, in classrooms and over the radio, with Black history and heritage. One of the outcomes of the project was the 1969 Black Encyclopedia of the Air. Designed for broadcast over Black radio networks to what contributor Alan Lomax called “the rock-and-roll audience,” it consisted of 31 “one-minute-plus” educational spots, researched by Clarke and narrated by WLIB-Harlem DJ and radio personality Jack Walker, “the Pear-Shaped Talker," who was also chairman of the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers, the Black broadcast-professional organization. Lomax, along with historian and singer Raoul Abdul (with whom he'd compile the anthology 3000 Years of Black Poetry), devised scripts that drew heavily on Alan’s Cantometrics performance style analysis, covering topics such as the diversity of Black lullaby traditions; African male choruses and “overlap” singing; and a Black history of American pop music. Non-musical entries discussed Black contributors to medicine (heart surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams) and engineering (Lewis Latimer and his carbon light bulb filament). Teaching materials and reading lists were provided with the series, which Atlantic Records released on LP in 1969. John Henrik Clarke provided research for the spots, and trombonist, composer and Cantometric investigator Roswell Rudd served as musical advisor. Despite positive feedback from radio stations across the country, the Black Encyclopedia of the Air was discontinued after its first series.

Black Encyclopedia of the Air 20: Black Liberator of Mexico (1969)

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-02-22 | "Black Liberator of Mexico — Vicente Guerrero, the black man after whom the state of Guerrero is named."

[We’re presenting the entirety of the series here, conscious of the fact that some of the statements made and connections drawn have since been called into question, or outright disproven, as the spots remain fascinating documents.]

In 1968, a diverse group of historians, anthropologists, and musicians at Columbia University created the Black Identity Project. Based on the work of pioneering Africanist John Henrik Clarke, founder of the African Heritage Studies Association, and funded by the Ford Foundation, the project aimed to acquaint younger audiences, in classrooms and over the radio, with Black history and heritage. One of the outcomes of the project was the 1969 Black Encyclopedia of the Air. Designed for broadcast over Black radio networks to what contributor Alan Lomax called “the rock-and-roll audience,” it consisted of 31 “one-minute-plus” educational spots, researched by Clarke and narrated by WLIB-Harlem DJ and radio personality Jack Walker, “the Pear-Shaped Talker," who was also chairman of the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers, the Black broadcast-professional organization. Lomax, along with historian and singer Raoul Abdul (with whom he'd compile the anthology 3000 Years of Black Poetry), devised scripts that drew heavily on Alan’s Cantometrics performance style analysis, covering topics such as the diversity of Black lullaby traditions; African male choruses and “overlap” singing; and a Black history of American pop music. Non-musical entries discussed Black contributors to medicine (heart surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams) and engineering (Lewis Latimer and his carbon light bulb filament). Teaching materials and reading lists were provided with the series, which Atlantic Records released on LP in 1969. John Henrik Clarke provided research for the spots, and trombonist, composer and Cantometric investigator Roswell Rudd served as musical advisor. Despite positive feedback from radio stations across the country, the Black Encyclopedia of the Air was discontinued after its first series.

Black Encyclopedia of the Air 19: Black Explorers (1969)

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-02-22 | "Black Explorers were among the first Westerners in America."

[We’re presenting the entirety of the series here, conscious of the fact that some of the statements made and connections drawn have since been called into question, or outright disproven, as the spots remain fascinating documents.]

In 1968, a diverse group of historians, anthropologists, and musicians at Columbia University created the Black Identity Project. Based on the work of pioneering Africanist John Henrik Clarke, founder of the African Heritage Studies Association, and funded by the Ford Foundation, the project aimed to acquaint younger audiences, in classrooms and over the radio, with Black history and heritage. One of the outcomes of the project was the 1969 Black Encyclopedia of the Air. Designed for broadcast over Black radio networks to what contributor Alan Lomax called “the rock-and-roll audience,” it consisted of 31 “one-minute-plus” educational spots, researched by Clarke and narrated by WLIB-Harlem DJ and radio personality Jack Walker, “the Pear-Shaped Talker," who was also chairman of the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers, the Black broadcast-professional organization. Lomax, along with historian and singer Raoul Abdul (with whom he'd compile the anthology 3000 Years of Black Poetry), devised scripts that drew heavily on Alan’s Cantometrics performance style analysis, covering topics such as the diversity of Black lullaby traditions; African male choruses and “overlap” singing; and a Black history of American pop music. Non-musical entries discussed Black contributors to medicine (heart surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams) and engineering (Lewis Latimer and his carbon light bulb filament). Teaching materials and reading lists were provided with the series, which Atlantic Records released on LP in 1969. John Henrik Clarke provided research for the spots, and trombonist, composer and Cantometric investigator Roswell Rudd served as musical advisor. Despite positive feedback from radio stations across the country, the Black Encyclopedia of the Air was discontinued after its first series.

Black Encyclopedia of the Air 15: The Brothers Are Calling (1969)

Alan Lomax Archive 2021-02-22 | "The Brothers Are Calling — great male choruses trace the path of black expansion from West Africa to Madagascar."

[We’re presenting the entirety of the series here, conscious of the fact that some of the statements made and connections drawn have since been called into question, or outright disproven, as the spots remain fascinating documents.]

In 1968, a diverse group of historians, anthropologists, and musicians at Columbia University created the Black Identity Project. Based on the work of pioneering Africanist John Henrik Clarke, founder of the African Heritage Studies Association, and funded by the Ford Foundation, the project aimed to acquaint younger audiences, in classrooms and over the radio, with Black history and heritage. One of the outcomes of the project was the 1969 Black Encyclopedia of the Air. Designed for broadcast over Black radio networks to what contributor Alan Lomax called “the rock-and-roll audience,” it consisted of 31 “one-minute-plus” educational spots, researched by Clarke and narrated by WLIB-Harlem DJ and radio personality Jack Walker, “the Pear-Shaped Talker," who was also chairman of the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers, the Black broadcast-professional organization. Lomax, along with historian and singer Raoul Abdul (with whom he'd compile the anthology 3000 Years of Black Poetry), devised scripts that drew heavily on Alan’s Cantometrics performance style analysis, covering topics such as the diversity of Black lullaby traditions; African male choruses and “overlap” singing; and a Black history of American pop music. Non-musical entries discussed Black contributors to medicine (heart surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams) and engineering (Lewis Latimer and his carbon light bulb filament). Teaching materials and reading lists were provided with the series, which Atlantic Records released on LP in 1969. John Henrik Clarke provided research for the spots, and trombonist, composer and Cantometric investigator Roswell Rudd served as musical advisor. Despite positive feedback from radio stations across the country, the Black Encyclopedia of the Air was discontinued after its first series.