Frontiers

Various Artists

This album, created for the Scholastic Book Service, features songs and stories about the American frontier. The recording opens, in fact, with “The Frontier,” a 15-minute medley of songs from the Folkways recordings library. Among the songs is the children’s classic counting song “This Old Man” and original compositions sung by Keith Clark for his 1957 album Ballads of La Salle County, Illinois. The recording includes sounds made by various animals commonly found in frontier areas and soundtracks of various weather events such as thunderstorms and flash floods. Lyrics and background information for all tracks are included in the liner notes.

*Content Advisory: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings holds a large volume of sound recordings, some of which were recorded almost a century ago. This album reflects ideas that are discounted today, especially depictions of Indigenous people, but are a window into the discourse of its time. See more information on discussions of the American Frontier at the National Museum of American History, and an Indigenous perspective on the Frontier from the National Museum of the American Indian.

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

Track Listing

101	The Pioneer Bill Bonyun, Pete Seeger, Logan English, Keith Clark	15:07
102	The Indian Fort Wingate Indian School children, Keith Clark, Louie Nine Pipe, Ambrose Roanhorse, Chester Roanhorse, Tom Roanhorse	06:07
103	The Cowboy Frontier folk singers and a narrator	03:55
201	The Bent County Bachelor Sam Hinton	00:55
202	Buffalo Skinners Hermes Nye	02:03
203	Sacramento Logan English	01:30
204	Sioux Indians Pete Seeger	03:40
205	St. George Sam Hinton	01:21
206	The Tex-I-An Boys Pete Seeger	01:31
207	Wild Bill Hickock Keith Clark	03:15
208	Pilgrim and a Stranger Sam Hinton	02:32
209	Go 'Long L'il Dogies Robert Emmett	01:44

Catalog

Frontiers

Track Listing

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