John A and Alan Lomax

 

In the 1930s and 40s, a father-and-son team of folklorists hit the highways, byways and rural routes of the United States, traveling in a battered pickup truck laden with primitive recording equipment. John A. Lomax and his son Alan covered thousands of miles, stopping off at tarpaper shacks, juke joints, prison yards and other out-of-the-way places to listen to native singers and to record them for the Library of Congress Archives. The Lomaxes made over 10,000 field recordings, and from this vast collection they compiled a hugely successful series of anthologies, beginning with the widely acclaimed American Ballads and Folk Songs in 1934.

 

The results are firsthand versions of music and lyrics for over 200 railroad songs, chain-gang songs, songs of childhood and a host of others. An excellent introduction, notes on each song, a bibliography and an index round out this extensive and valuable collection.

 

Musicians, musicologists, folklorists, singers - anyone interested in American folk music - will welcome this treasury of timeless song gathered in one handy, inexpensive volume.