In the 1930s, John Lomax and his son Alan made field recordings of numerous black Texan folk musicians, often in penitentiaries or on farms. This has 29 performances from 1933-1940, most of them previously unreleased. It reflects various aspects of black Texas repertoire, particularly cowboy songs (Texas had a higher percentage of black cowboys than other regions did), but also some blues, work songs, and tunes identified with the songster and minstrel traditions, performed a cappella or with guitar and harmonica ...
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In the 1930s, John Lomax and his son Alan made field recordings of numerous black Texan folk musicians, often in penitentiaries or on farms. This has 29 performances from 1933-1940, most of them previously unreleased. It reflects various aspects of black Texas repertoire, particularly cowboy songs (Texas had a higher percentage of black cowboys than other regions did), but also some blues, work songs, and tunes identified with the songster and minstrel traditions, performed a cappella or with guitar and harmonica accompaniment. Leadbelly is the only famous name here (with just one track, "Western Cowboy"), and several of the selections are well-known staples of American folk music, like "Jack of Diamonds," "Pick a Bale of Cotton," "Boll Weevil," and "Little Liza Jane." There's a little blues here, notably by Pete Harris, who plays good slide guitar on "Little Liza Jane." But as a whole it, like numerous other pre-World War II recordings, provides evidence that there were fewer boundaries between black and white repertoires than is often supposed. Some of the highlights on this interesting anthology of a sector of vintage American folk music include the a cappella rendition of "My Pretty Little Yellow Gal" (by Lightnin' Washington and group), with its laughing choruses; Butter Boy's "Old Aunt Dinah," a nasal chant that is a distant antecedent of rap; and Ace Johnson's vigorous harmonica on "Rabbit in the Garden." ~ Richie Unterberger penitentiaries, Rovi
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Add this copy of Deep River of Song: Black Texicans: Balladeers and to cart. $54.73, like new condition, Sold by First Coast Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Eatonton, GA, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Rounder Select.
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