Folk Music U.S.A., Vol. 1

This wide-ranging anthology of American folk music was compiled by noted folklorist Harold Courlander from recordings, many of them field recordings, made in the 1940s and ’50s. Almost all the performers on the collection—who include Cisco Houston, Elizabeth Cotten, and Snooks Eaglin—learned their music from oral tradition. Selections represent a broad spectrum of American folk music, from Puerto Rico to the north coast of Alaska.

Extensive liner notes, written by Charles Edward Smith, delve into the characteristics of American folk music and provide detailed information, with lyrics, for each of the 25 selections.

Track Listing

101	John Henry Virgil Perkins and Jack Sims	04:10
102	Grizzly Bear: Negro Prison Camp Worksong Prisoners at the Ramsey and Retrieve State Farms, Texas	03:31
103	Blowing the Train Percy Randolph	02:52
104	Six Thousand Miles from Nowhere Snooks Eaglin	03:06
105	Dark Was the Night Blind Willie Johnson	03:24
106	Amasee: Children's Ring Game Song Children of Brown's Chapel School, Livingston, Alabama	01:34
201	Spooky Drums Baby Dodds	02:19
202	Black Jack Davy Mary Jo Davis	03:09
203	Drunken Sailor: Dulcimer Medley Dulcimer player, West Virginia	01:19
204	Ellen Smith Pete Steele	01:38
205	Run, Run Elizabeth Cotten	00:57
206	Mole in the Ground Bascom Lamar Lunsford	02:49
207	Rolling River: Country Dance Murph Gribble, John Lusk, and Albert York	02:45
301	Allons Danser Colinda: Cajun Dance Roy Brulé	01:51
302	Sourwood Mountain: Square Dance Tune Hobart Smith	01:22
303	Diamond Joe: Cowboy Song Cisco Houston	02:24
304	Siete Leguas: Corrido Peter Hurd	02:24
305	Matachines Dance James Trujillo with Sam and Modesto Garcia	01:33
306	Moonlight Song: Taos Indian Serenade John Concha, Albino Lujan, Belmodo Lujan, Manuel Lujan	02:08
401	War Dance Song Louie Nine Pipe, Paul Finley, and five other singers from Flathead Indian Reservation, Montana	01:28
402	Esta Navidad: Puerto Rican Christmas Song Cuarteto Puerto Rico de Cayey	03:06
403	Aguinaldo Cagueño: Puerto Rican Song The Trobador De La Montana and the Puerto Rican Quartet	04:17
404	Rocky Road: Shape-Note Singing Alabama Sacred Harp Singers	02:43
405	If We Never Meet Again Children of Diamond Rural School, St. Croix, Virgin Islands	00:55
406	Inviting-In Dance Song Otis Ahkivigak	01:05