Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review
(6 customer reviews) 98 of 99 people found the following review helpful
America singing,
June 3, 1999 Jerome Clark (Canby, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Treasury of Library of Congress Field Recordings (Audio CD)
Ever since 1928, the Library of Congress has been recording authentic folk musicians in the field. Eventually, a small number of these recordings were released commercially, first on 78s, then LPs and now CDs (on Rounder's Archive of Folk Culture series). On this disc, banjoist, playwright, and ethnomusicologist Stephen Wade has chosen 30 of the best of the publicly available performances, representing a broad range of styles. All are from the 1930s and '40s, before America's rich folk-song tradition began to collapse under the onslaught of radio and pop music on phonograph records. Every cut here is a small masterpiece, and every one stands up to repeated listening. Among my own favorites is cowboy fiddler Jess Morris's "Goodbye, Old Paint," the earliest known version of this famous frontier waltz; Morris learned it in 1884 from a black Texas cowhand, who in turn picked it up while driving cattle to Wyoming in the 1870s. Pennsylvanian John J. Quinn does a...Read more
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
A Treasury of Library of Congress Field Recordings,
March 28, 2000 By A Customer
This review is from: Treasury of Library of Congress Field Recordings (Audio CD)
I purchased this CD so I could listen to Sea Lion Woman, a song I heard during the final credits to The General's Daughter. The other 29 songs were an added bonus. Some of these songs, recorded in the 30's and 40's, are a real joy to listen to. Also included with the CD is a small booklet telling you about each song. To hear "Pullin' the Skif" and "Shortenin' Bread", only to learn that the young singer died in a hold-up she perpetrated before her twenty-first birthday just grabs the heart.
28 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Comfort food for the ears...,
August 7, 2000 Betty Boop "Boopster" (Lebanon, TN USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Treasury of Library of Congress Field Recordings (Audio CD)
Haunting ballads, stories and lively dance tunes sung by "regular people" (including Woody Guthrie) provide a musical history of rare breadth. If you are looking for slickness and glitz, this CD is not for you. If, on the other hand, you enjoy honest music, are interested in folk history, and perhaps are a closet (or shower) singer yourself, you will enjoy this glimpse into the souls of people whose spirits fill these songs.An added bonus is the booklet that is included. It provides background on the Library of Congress's Folk Archive and the field recordings done by John, Alan, and Elizabeth Lomax in the late 30's to mid-40's. It also gives a short song and artist history for each track. The fact that one child singer died before her 21st birthday makes her song especially haunting.Many of us live comfortably insulated, yuppified, sanitized lives. These recordings remind us where we came from. Most importantly, they demonstrate the power of music,...Read more
