Sea Island Folk Festival: Moving Star Hall Singers and Alan Lomax

In 1964, after five winters living and working with the people of the Sea Islands of South Carolina (helping with adult literacy programs and recording singing traditions), musician and musicologist Guy Carawan organized a folk festival. He aspired to encourage a folk song revival and to provide support to performers such as the Moving Star Hall Singers, who kept the folkways of the Sea Islands alive in spite of poverty and a lack of interest from younger generations.

In a rousing speech recorded at the festival, ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax (1915–2002) refers to the islands as "one of the heartlands of American music." Vigorous performances of spirituals, Gullah folk tales, and improvised blues attest to his assessment. Liner notes include notes on the songs, photographs, and articles about the living folk heritage of the Sea Islands by Carawan and Lomax.

Track Listing

101	Remember Me	Moving Star Hall Singers	02:19
102	Meet Me in Galilee	Moving Star Hall Singers	02:10
103	Ask the Watchman How Long - New Year's Eve Song	Moving Star Hall Singers	02:24
104	See God's Ark A-Moving	Moving Star Hall Singers	03:05
105	Talk about the Sea Island Folk Festival, Texas Folk Tale: Having a Hard Time, Texas Hide and Seek Song: All Hid	Moving Star Hall Singers	10:20
201	Ezekial in the Valley	Moving Star Hall Singers	02:17
202	Gullah Folk Tale: Barney McCabe	Moving Star Hall Singers	05:58
203	Somebody Stole My Henhouse Key	Moving Star Hall Singers	01:43
204	Blues	Moving Star Hall Singers	01:24
205	Ezekial in the Valley	Moving Star Hall Singers	02:05
206	Mary Rolled the Stone Away	Moving Star Hall Singers	01:51
207	Moonlight in Glory	Moving Star Hall Singers	02:32
208	You Got To Move	Moving Star Hall Singers	01:42