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100 Songs, 100 Years: Alan Lomax Centenary Tribute
04 February 2016

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2015 marked the centennial of Alan Lomax's birth. Born in Austin, Texas, on January 31, 1915, Lomax would become the foremost folklorist of the twentieth century, documenting the world's traditional music and lore over the course of seven decades. Here's a 1947 documentary Alan did on the history of folk music in America featuring Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Brownie McGhee, and Sonny Terry.




To commemorate his centennial, the Alan Lomax Archive of the Association for Cultural Equity has collaborated with Mississippi Records to compile Root Hog Or Die: 100 Songs, 100 Years - An Alan Lomax Centennial Tribute, a limited 6-LP box-set that surveys Lomax's career through 100 songs gathered from fifty years of his field recordings, 1933 to 1983; this was just released this month. Root Hog Or Die combines the famous (Jelly Roll Morton, Big Bill Broonzy, a young Bob Dylan) with the unheard (Brother Alec Stamps and the congregation of Rose Hill Missionary Baptist of Greenville, Mississippi; the women's league of the South Hill Methodist Church in South Hill Village, Anguilla; an adolescent hambone performer in Harlem named Steven Wright) and is the most geographically and stylistically diverse compilation of Lomax's recordings to date, including artists from India, Ireland, Italy, Morocco, Romania, Spain, and across Britain, the Caribbean, and the United States. More than half of the tracks are previously unreleased, and are accompanied in the box by photographs (many previously unpublished) and an introductory essay and recording chronology by the Archive's curator and the set's compiler Nathan Salsburg. Complete song list below. For more on Alan Lomax, his collections, and his centennial, visit

The American Folklife Center





SIDE 1A
1. Alan Lomax: I'm A Rambler, I'm A Gambler
Lomax, vocal and guitar. 1959.

2. Sonny Boy Williamson, Memphis Slim, and Big Bill Broonzy: I Could Hear My Name A Ringin'
Williamson, vocal and harmonica; Slim, piano; Broonzy, bass. Decca Studios, New York City. March 2, 1947.

3. Anita Wilkins and group: One, Two, Three
Wilkins and unidentified schoolchildren, vocals. Brick Kiln Village, Nevis. July 10, 1962.

4. Celeste Cappelli and group: Ol Carneàl El Va El Vé (Carnival Comes and Goes)
Celeste Cappelli, Pace Cominelli, Gina Bonetti, Romolo Cappelli, and Guido Botti, vocals. Parre, Bergamo, Lombardia, Italy. September 23, 1954.

5. Edward King: Le Jour De L'an (New Year's Day)
King, vocal and podorhythmie. Baraga, Michigan. October 12, 1938.

6. Steven Wright: Hambone*
Wright, vocal and body percussion. Harlem, New York City. 1950.

7. Sheila Kay Adams: Dinah*
Adams, vocal and banjo. Burton Cove, Sodom Laurel, Madison Co., North Carolina. September 6 or 7, 1982.

8. Rev. R.C. Crenshaw & Greater Harvest M.B. Church congregation: Steal Away / Didn't Hear Nobody Pray*
Crenshaw and congregation, vocals. Greater Harvest Missionary Baptist Church, Memphis, Tennessee. October 4, 1959.


SIDE 1B
1. Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton: Alabama Bound
Morton, vocal and piano. Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, Washington D.C. May 23, 1938.

2. Clark Kessinger and group: Sally Ann Johnson
Kessinger, fiddle; Gene Meade, guitar; Wayne Hauser, banjo.
Newport Folk Festival, Newport, Rhode Island. July 21-24, 1966.

3. Frederick McQueen and group: Sand Gone In My Cuckoo Eye
McQueen, lead vocal, with unidentified men, vocals. Sponge dock, Nassau, Bahamas. July 1935.

4. United Sacred Harp Musical Association: New Prospect
56th Annual United Sacred Harp Musical Association Convention, vocals.
Corinth Baptist Church, Fyffe, Alabama. September 12, 1959.

5. Abraham "Aapo" Juhani: Finnish Waltz*
Juhani, vocal and accordion. Calumet, Michigan. September 27, 1938.

6. Rosa Lee Hill: Faro*
Hill, vocal and guitar. Como, Mississippi, September 25, 1959.

7. Jasimuddin: banshi instrumental*
Jasimuddin, banshi (bamboo flute)
Probably London, England. Circa 1951.

8. Alphonse Picou and Paul Dominguez, Jr.: High Society
Picou, clarinet; Dominguez, guitar. At the home of Alphonse Picou, New Orleans, Louisiana. April 3, 1949.

SIDE 2A
1. Neal Morris: Sing Anything
Morris, vocal and guitar. Timbo, Arkansas. October 6, 1959.

2. Banda de Castelló de la Ribera: Como Las Propias Rosas
Members unidentified. Valencia City, Spain. August 7, 1952.

3. Church of God In Christ congregation: Amen, Amen, Amen*
Unidentified vocals, guitar, and hand-clapping. Mohead Plantation, Moon Lake, near Lula, Mississippi. July 1941.

4. Dennis McGee: Madame Young / Mon Chère Bébé Créole*
McGee, vocal and fiddle. Eunice, Louisiana, August 9, 1983.

5. Margaret Barry: Her Mantle So Green
Barry, vocal and banjo. At a song swap in Lomax's flat, Camden Town, London. November 1, 1953.

6. Beatrice Dick and group: Meet Me On the Road (Carriacou 1962)
Dick, lead vocal, with mixed group, vocals and hand-clapping. La Resource, Carriacou, Grenada. August 2, 1962.

7. Luigino Scollo and Pietro Guarrasi: Nnuena (Christmas novena)
Scollo, vocal; Guarrasi, cane flute; unidentified guitar, snare drum, and tamborine. Modica, Sicily. July 12, 1954.

8. Hobart Smith: Cindy
Smith, piano. At the home of Preston Smith, Bluefield, Virginia. August 24, 1959.

9. Isla Cameron: Pu'in Bracken (Pulling Bracken)
Cameron, vocal. Glasgow, Scotland. August 1951.

SIDE 2B
1. Skip James: Cherry Ball Blues
James, vocal and guitar. Newport Folk Festival, Newport, Rhode Island. July 21-24, 1966.

2. Son House: Downhearted Blues*
House, vocal and guitar. Newport Folk Festival, Newport, Rhode Island. July 21-24, 1966.

3. Unidentified: Baile de Ibio (Warrior Dance)*
Unidentified bigaro (conch) and drums. Zaragoza, Aragón, October 13 or 14, 1952.

4. John Steven: Big Kilmarnock Bonnet
Steven, lead vocal with Jimmy MacBeath, John Strachan, and others unidentified, vocals. The Commercial Hotel, Turriff, Scotland. July 17, 1951.

5. La Roux Chayopye: Chèz-O, Prete M Yon Chèz-O (Chair, Oh! Let Me Have A Chair)
Unidentified vaksin-s (single-note trumpet); tchatcha (rattle); graj (scraper); sifle (whistle). Pont Beudet, Haiti. January 1937.

6. Wade Ward: Train On the Island*
Wade, banjo. Galax, Virginia, August 31, 1959.

7. Elmer Barton: Arkansas Traveler*
Barton, fiddle. Quebec, Vermont. November 1937.

8. Bobby Jean Hemphill, Ruby Hemphill, Lucille Rice: Cornbread Rough, Biscuit Tough*
Hemphill, Hemphill, and Rice, vocals. Senatobia, Mississippi. September 26, 1959.

SIDE 3A
1. Almeda Riddle: Down In Arkansas
Riddle, vocal. Greers Ferry, Arkansas. October 6 or 7, 1959.

2. Paddy Breen & Michael Coleman: Jolly Tinker / The Pretty Girls of Mayo*
Breen, whistle; Gorman, fiddle. Camden Town, London. 1952.

3. McKinley Peebles and Bessie Jones: You Got To Reap What You Sow / A Little Talk With Jesus Makes It Right
Peebles, vocal and guitar; Jones, vocal. New York City. November 11, 1961.

4. Harvey Porter: Since You Have Disdained Me I'll Cross the Deep Blue Sea*
Porter, vocal. Salyersville, Kentucky. October 23, 1937.

5. Canray Fontenot, Bois Sec Ardoin, and Freeman Fontenot: Bonsoir Moreau *
Fontenot, vocal and fiddle; Freeman Fontenot, accordion; Ardoin, triangle. Newport Folk Festival, Newport, Rhode Island. July 21-24, 1966.

6. Bill Broonzy: In A Shanty In Old Shanty Town*
Broonzy, vocal and guitar. Paris, France. March 13, 1952.

7. Jimmy MacBeath: Tramps and Hawkers*
MacBeath, vocal. At the Edinburgh People's Festival Ceilidh, Edinburgh, Scotland. August 30, 1951.

8. Charles Barnett: Remember Jesus Died When He Was Young*
Barnett, vocal and percussion. Weems, Virginia, May 5, 1960.

9. Venturina Marandella: Ninna Nanna
Marandella, vocal. Positano, Campania, Italy. December 1954.

SIDE 3B
1. John Davis and the Georgia Sea Island Singers: Read 'Em John*
Davis, lead vocal, with Mable Hillery, Bessie Jones, and Emma Lee Ramsey, vocals. Central Park, New York City. August 1965.

2. Unidentified men: strigaturi*
Unidentified, vocal and trumpet. Dragus, Brasov, Southern Transylvania. August 1964.

3. Unidentified women: Flirtation Dance*
Unidentified, vocals, with Christopher Conner, guitar.
Women's League of the South Hill Methodist Church, South Hill Village, Anguilla. July 4, 1962.

4. Brendan Behan: Zoological Gardens*
Behan, vocal. Possibly at Radio Eireann, Dublin. Circa 1951.

5. Pretty White Eagles Mardi Gras Indians: Indian Red*
Gerald "Big Chief Jake" Millon, lead vocal, with unidentified Pretty White Eagles, vocals and percussion. Darryl's (perhaps Darrell's) Lounge, 7th Ward, New Orleans, Louisiana. May 1982.

6. Compagna Sacco: Lenga Serpentina (Serpent Tongue)
Members of the Compagna Sacco: Giacomo Onda "Giá Brüjú," Ninì Lupi "Susena," Pì Terralibera (d'Adriana), Mirandino Crespi, "Bertì du Paramü," and Redentore Rebaudo, vocals. Ceriana, Liguria, Italy. October 11 or 12, 1954.

7. Emma Hammond: Laura Lee*
Hammond, vocal and banjo. Lexington, Alabama. November 9-11, 1959.

8. Elizabeth Austin and group: Sailing In the Boat When the Tide Run Strong
Austin and unidentified women, vocals and hand-clapping. Old Bight, Cat Island, Bahamas. July 1935.

9. Brother Alec Stamps & Rose Hill M.B. Church congregation: When I Reach That Other Shore*
Stamps, lead vocal, with unidentified congregants, vocals. Rose Hill Missionary Baptist Church, Greenville, Mississippi. February 7, 1948.

10. Fred McDowell: Lord Have Mercy
McDowell, vocal and guitar. Como, Mississippi. September 25, 1959.


SIDE 4A
1. Vera Ward Hall: When I Can Read My Titles Clear*
Hall, vocal. At Alan Lomax's apartment, Greenwich Village, New York City. May 23, 1948.

2. Fiddlin' Joe Martin and group: Going to Fishing
Martin, vocal and washboard; Willie Brown, guitar; Leroy Williams, harmonica. At Clack's store, Lake Cormorant, Mississippi. August 24-31, 1941.

3. Harry Cox: Cruising Round Yarmouth
Cox, vocal. At Alan Lomax's flat, London, December 2, 1953.
[Previously unreleased in its entirety [

4. Shirley Collins: Rambleaway*
Collins, vocal and banjo. Likely at Alan Lomax's apartment, Greenwich Village, New York City. Likely Summer 1959.

5. Dawson "Little Daugh (or Daw)" Henson: Fare You Well My Little Annie Darling*


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Henson, vocal and guitar. Botto on Billy's Branch, near Manchester, Clay Co., Kentucky. October 11, 1937.

6. Herth Colaire and group: Join This Food Campaign*
Colaire with Ursula Landa, Ruthrie Phelbert, Bertina Vigilant, and Boniface Vigilant, vocals. La Plaine, Dominica, June 25, 1962.

7. Cedar Place children: My Gal's A Corker
Unidentified among the following: Jack Mearns, Kathleen Mearns, Pat Cushnie, Jennifer Cushnie, Jim Hunter, Willie Hunter, Norma Watt, Tom Watt, Arthur Ronald, Christopher Ronald, and/or Gwen Ronald, vocals. At the home of John Mearns, 5 Cedar Place, Aberdeen, Scotland. July 15, 1951.

8. Alice Gibbs: Jerusalem Cuckoo*
Gibbs, lead vocal and (presumably) guitar, with unidentified chorus vocals. Sint Eustatius. 1967.


SIDE 4B
1. Uncle Alec (Eck) Dunford: Memories of the 1940 National Folk Festival / Fisher's Hornpipe*
Dunford, vocal and fiddle, with Uncle Charlie Higgins, fiddle. At the Seventh Annual Old Fiddler's Convention, Felts Park, Galax, Virginia. July or August 1941.

2. Duke of Iron and group: Calypso Invasion
Duke of Iron (Cecil Anderson), vocal and cuatro, with Gerald Clark and His Invaders: Clark, leader and guitar; Victor Pacheco, fiddle; Gregory Felix, clarinet; Albert Morris, piano; "Hi" Clark, double bass; Simeon or DeLeon (full names unknown), percussion. "Calypso At Midnight" concert at Town Hall, New York City. December 21, 1946.

3. Waulking group: Mo nighean donn á Còrnaig*
Mrs. Peter MacCormick, Archie MacDonald, Fanny MacIsaac, Mrs. A.J. MacLellan, Catriona A. MacMillan, Effie Monk, Penny Morrison, and Kate Nicholson, vocals. At the Benbecula airport, Balivanich, Benbecula, Scotland. June 24, 1951.

4. Calvin Frazier and Sampson Pittman: This Old World's In A Tangle
Frazier, vocal and guitar; Pittman, guitar. Detroit, Michigan. October 15, 1938.

5. Unidentified fishermen: Tammuriata (drum rhythms)*
Unidentified vocal, snare drum, side drum, percussion, and jews harp. On the beach at Positano, Campania, Italy. December 1954.

6. Jeannie Robertson: Wi' My Rovin' Eye
Robertson, vocal. At a song swap in Lomax's flat, Camden Town, London. November 1, 1953.

7. Bessie Jones: Diamond Joe
Jones, vocal. At Lomax's apartment, Greenwich Village, New York City. October 6, 1961.

8. Sid Hemphill and group: So Soon I'll Be At Home
Hemphill, vocal and fiddle; Lucius Smith, banjo; Alec Askew, guitar; Will Head, bass drum. At a picnic at the Funky Fives (a.k.a. Po' Whore's Kingdom), near Sledge, Mississippi. August 15, 1942.


SIDE 5A
1. Texas Gladden: Cold Mountains
Gladden, vocal. At the home of Preston Smith, Bluefield, Virginia. August 25, 1959.

2. Bob Dylan: Masters of War*
Dylan, vocal and guitar. At Lomax's apartment, Greenwich Village, New York City. January 1963.

3. Ray Hicks: Reuben Train*
Hicks, vocal and harmonica. Banner Elk, Beech Mountain, North Carolina. September 8 or 9, 1982.

4. Davie Stewart: MacPherson's Rant
Stewart, vocal and accordion. At Lomax's flat, Camden Town, London. December 1957.

5. Bukka White: Hundredth Man Blues*
White, vocal and guitar; Howlin' Wolf, vocal asides. Newport Folk Festival, Newport, Rhode Island. July 21-24, 1966.

6. Emperor Mackenze: I Wonder Where My Mother Has Gone*
Mackenze, vocal. Long Cay, South Andros Island, Bahamas. October 30, 1979.

7. Unidentified street vendor: Coco rico de la Habana (Good coconuts from Havana)*
Unidentified man, vocal. At the San Agustín market, Grenada, Andalucía, Spain. September 8, 1952.


SIDE 5B
1. Babsy McQueen and group: Roll Roll Roll and Go
McQueen, lead vocal, with mixed group, vocals. La Fortune, Grenada. August 5, 1962.

2. Indian Bottom Association of Old Regular Baptists: The Day Is Past and Gone*
Jack Brown, lead vocal, with unidentified congregants, vocals. At Mount Olivet Old Regular Baptist Church, Blackey, Kentucky. September 5, 1959.

3. John Llewellyn Edwards and the Treorchy Male Choir: Cosher Bailey Had An Engine*
Edwards, lead vocal, with David John Goodridge, David Harris Jones, Harry Price, Thomas John Price, and William Thomas, vocals. Treorchy, Wales. December 8, 1953.

4. Cecil Augusta: Stop All the Buses
Augusta, vocal and guitar. Memphis, Tennessee. September 30, 1959.

5. Troupe of Monsieur Mohamed ben Abderrahmane: Ya Malikna (Oh, Our King)*
Tahar ben Larbi, lead vocal, with Abdelkader ben Abderrahmane, Mohamed ben Abderrahmane, Mohamed ben Lakhalifa, and Ahmed Benjilali, bendir, darbaka, nay, and hand-clapping (precise roles unspecified). At a wedding in Erfoud, Errachidia, Meknès-Tafilalet, Morocco. September 17, 1967.

6. Epifanio Capellán and group: Yo Sí La Quería*
Capellán, vocal and accordion, with unidentified güira, tambora, and vocals.
Dominican Republic. 1967.

7. Raphael Hurtault and group: Di Yo Pa Hele Pou Nou
Hurtault, lead vocal, with unidentified men, vocals. La Plaine, Dominica. June 25, 1962.

8. Sophie Loman Wing and group: I'll Be Waiting There*
Wing, lead vocal (although it has been argued that Zora Neale Hurston is the foremost lead), with mixed group, vocals. Frederica, St. Simons Island, Georgia. June 1935.


SIDE 6A
1. "22" and group: Early In the Morning
"22" (Benny Will Richardson), lead vocal and axe, with "Tangle Eye" (Walter Jackson), "Hard Hat" (Willie Lacey), and "Little Red," vocals and axes.
Camp B, Parchman Farm (Mississippi State Penitentiary), Mississippi. November or December 1947.

2. Rev. Olsie Cowan and Spiritual Baptist congregation: Prayer/Doption*
Cowan with John D. Smith (Priest), Medford Joshua (Priest), Bennette Baptist (Sexton), Percival Joshua (Treasurer), Florence Cowan (Mother Superior), Mary McSween (Mother Healer), Adris Matisse (Mother Assistant), Emelda Smith (Mother Assistant), Elena Paul (Nurse), and Sister Jacob (Nurse), vocals and hand-clapping. At the home of Louise St. Hill, Syne Village, Trinidad. May 1, 1962.

3. Jean Ritchie: Nottamun Town*
Ritchie, vocal. At Alan Lomax's apartment, Greenwich Village, New York City. May 5, 1949.

4. Inez Muñoz and Grupo de Cádiz: Fandango de Comares*
Muñoz, vocal and castanets; Antonio de Avila, guitar; unidentified, bandurria.
Palma Folk Festival, Palma de Mallorca, Spain. June 23, 1952.

5. Dennis McGee: Two Step de Eunice*
McGee, fiddle. Eunice, Louisiana. August 9, 1983.

6. Belton Sutherland: Blues #2*
Sutherland, vocal and guitar. At the home of Clyde Maxwell, near Canton, Madison Co., Mississippi. September 3, 1978.

7. Mark Anderson: High Force Agricultural Show*
Anderson, vocal.
Middleton-In-Teesdale, Durham, England. April 20, 1951.

8. Unidentified Amazigh man: Al-Hamdulillah (Thanks Be to God)*
Unidentified, vocal. Aguelmouss, Ouarzazate, Souss-Massa-Drâa, Morocco. September 1967.


SIDE 6B
1. Southern Fife & Drum Corps: Little and Low (Oree/Ida Reed)* (NYC 1965)
Ed Young, vocal and fife; Lonnie Young, Sr., snare drum; G.D. Young or Lonnie Young, Jr., bass drum. Central Park, New York City. August 1965.

2. Francilia: Mèt Kafou Men Djab-la (Master of the Crossroads, Here Is the Devil)
Francilia (surname unknown), vocal. At the Möses compound, Carrefour Dufort, Haiti. April 7-12, 1937.

3. Kitty Gallagher: Keen for a dead child
Gallagher, vocal. Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, Ireland. February 5, 1951.

4. Fred and Annie Mae McDowell: Jesus Gonna Make Up My Dying Bed
Fred, vocal and guitar; Annie Mae, vocal. Como, Mississippi. September 25, 1959.

5. Ballinakill Ceilidhe Band: Grace's Favorite*
Aggie Whyte, fiddle; Bridie Whyte, fiddle; John Dervan, fiddle; Thomas Rourke, accordion; Martin Grace, accordion; Eddie Moloney, flute; Jack Coughlan, flute. At the railroad hotel, Galway City, Co. Galway, Ireland. February 1, 1951.

6. Bascom Lamar Lunsford: Free A Little Bird*
Lunsford, vocal and banjo. At the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, Asheville, North Carolina. July or August 1941.

7. John Strachan: Mormond Braes
Strachan, vocal. At the Edinburgh People's Festival Ceilidh, Edinburgh, Scotland. August 30, 1951.

8. Bright Light Quartet: I'm Tired
Shedrick Cain, James Campbell, Arnold Fisher, and Lawrence Hodge, vocals; Robert Beane, guitar. Weems or White Stone, Virginia. April 6, 1960.

9. Dolores Fernández Geijo: Duérmete, niño angelito (Sleep, angel baby)*
Geijo, vocal. Val de San Lorenzo, León, Spain. November 3, 1952.

10. Unidentified men: I Bid You Goodnight
Unidentified, vocal. Andros Island, Bahamas. August 1935.

*Previously unreleased



  author: CHRISTOPHER NOSNIBOR 04 February 2016