Folk Music U.S.A.: Vol. 1
Various Artists

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 | 4:10 | |
102
|
Grizzly Bear: Negro Prison Camp Worksong | n/a | 3:31 | |
103
|
Blowing the Train | Percy Randolph | 2:52 | |
104
|
Six Thousand Miles from Nowhere | Snooks Eaglin | 3:06 | |
105
|
Dark Was the Night | Blind Willie Johnson | 3:24 | |
106
|
Amasee: Children's Ring Game Song | n/a | 1:34 | |
201
|
Spooky Drums | Baby Dodds | 2:19 | |
202
|
Black Jack Davy | Mary Jo Davis | 3:09 | |
203
|
Drunken Sailor: Dulcimer Medley | n/a | 1:19 | |
204
|
Ellen Smith | Pete Steele | 1:38 | |
205
|
Run, Run | Elizabeth Cotten | 0:57 | |
206
|
Mole in the Ground | Bascom Lamar Lunsford | 2:49 | |
207
|
Rolling River: Country Dance | Murph Gribble, John Lusk, and Albert York | 2:45 | |
301
|
Allons Danser Colinda: Cajun Dance | Roy Brulé | 1:51 | |
302
|
Sourwood Mountain: Square Dance Tune | Hobart Smith | 1:22 | |
303
|
Diamond Joe: Cowboy Song | Cisco Houston | 2:24 | |
304
|
Siete Leguas: Corrido | Peter Hurd | 2:24 | |
305
|
Matachines Dance | n/a | 1:33 | |
306
|
Moonlight Song: Taos Indian Serenade | n/a | 2:08 | |
401
|
War Dance Song | n/a | 1:28 | |
402
|
Esta Navidad: Puerto Rican Christmas Song | n/a | 3:06 | |
403
|
Aguinaldo Cagueño: Puerto Rican Song | The Trobador De La Montana and the Puerto Rican Quartet | 4:17 | |
404
|
Rocky Road: Shape-Note Singing | Alabama Sacred Harp Singers | 2:43 | |
405
|
If We Never Meet Again | n/a | 0:55 | |
406
|
Inviting-In Dance Song | Otis Ahkivigak | 1:05 |