From the Cold Jaws of Prison

Soul Rock from the Rock

"What you will hear on this recording is a cry of a people for justice and human dignity. You don’t know what freedom is unless you’ve experienced the chains from which to break free." The poems and music presented on this album were written and compiled by incarcerated and formerly incarcerated African Americans held in three prisons in the New York system—Attica, Rikers Island, and the Tombs. Their work speaks not only of the conditions faced in prison but to the broader African American experience outside prison walls.

*Content Advisory: The liner notes to this album include language that dehumanizes incarcerated musicians. Smithsonian Folkways has updated our descriptions of albums recorded in prisons to avoid frameworks that wholly attach artists’ identities to their experience in prison. This album is a historical document of not only the stories of its performers, but of the racism of the prison system and the music industry at that moment.

For our policy on controversial recordings, please see our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Track Listing

101	Cathedral	Soul Rock from the Rock	03:09
102	The Junkie	Soul Rock from the Rock, Obawayo	02:45
103	A Word to the Hip*	Soul Rock from the Rock, Obawayo	03:37
104	Daddy, Daddy Come Dig Me	Soul Rock from the Rock, Obawayo	06:51
105	Lord I Want to Be a Christian	Soul Rock from the Rock, Obawayo, Ronnie Reed	03:22
201	An Open Letter	Soul Rock from the Rock, Ronnie Reed	08:04
202	I'm a Dreamer	Soul Rock from the Rock, Russell Mayberry, Jesse Mayberry	04:10
203	Screaming	Soul Rock from the Rock	04:37
204	He Arose	Soul Rock from the Rock	03:47

Catalog

From the Cold Jaws of Prison

Track Listing

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