Deep River of Song: Alabama

Alabama - From Lullabies to Blues

( Rounder Records 2001 )
Part of the Deep River of Song Series
Available for purchase:
Amazon

Resplendent voices from Sumter County, including those of the great Vera Ward Hall and her cousin Dock Reed, capture the genius, vitality, and inventiveness of African Americans in song: historic recordings of blues, play party, sacred songs, and work songs recorded in the field between 1937 and 1940 by John A. and Ruby Terrill Lomax, assisted by Ruby Pickens Tart.

  1. ANOTHER MAN DONE GONE 1:21 Vera Ward Hall  
  2. RAILROAD BILL* 1:15 Vera Ward Hall
  3. POOR LAZARUS* 3:14 Vera Ward Hall 
  4. BEEN IN THE JAILHOUSE (Sun Gonna Shine In My Door Some Day)* 2:17 Blind Jessie Harris
  5. HONEY, TAKE A WHIFF ON ME* 2:41 Blind Jessie Harris
  6. I BEEN DRINKING* 3:07 Vera Ward Hall
  7. TRAIN ON A HILL* 4:41 Richard Amerson
  8. ALABAMA BOUND *1:43 Rich Brown
  9. MOANING (I’ll Soon Be Gone)*1:28 Vera Ward Hall, Dock Reed, and Henry Reed
  10. JOB, JOB 2:43 Dock Reed and Vera Ward Hall
  11. DIDN’T THAT HAMMER RING? (I Can’t Hold Out No Longer)* 2:51 Dock Reed and Vera Ward Hall
  12. WHAT IS THE SOUL OF MAN?* 1:19 Dock Reed, Henry Reed, and Vera Ward Hall
  13. KNOCK JOHN BOOKER (To the Low Ground)* 1:37 Mary McDonald
  14. WAKE, SALLY BAKER* 2:12 Joe and Mary McDonald
  15. GO TO SLEEP, LITTLE BABY 2:30 Harriet McClintock
  16. HUSH, LITTLE BABY* 0:40 Annie Brewer
  17. COME UP HORSEY* 2:04 Vera Ward Hall
  18. LITTLE BITTY MAN* 1:05 Mary McDonald
  19. TITTY, GIVE ME SOME TITTY* 1:01 Mary McDonald
  20. HOPALI * 1:43 eight unidentified girls
  21. AIN’T GONNA RAIN NO MORE* 0:32 eight unidentified girls
  22. JACK, CAN I RIDE?* 1:57 unidentified children
  23. BILLY GOAT LATIN* 1:36 Joe F. Williams and Booker T. Williams
  24. HOG HUNT* 2:22 Richard Amerson
  25. I’M CHOPPING COTTON* 1:21 Sim Tartt Group
  26. GIN THE COTTON* 0:49 Harriet McClintock
  27. BOLL WEEVIL BLUES 1:15 Vera Ward Hall
  28. WORRIED BLUES * 2:41 Tom Bell
  29. STEAMBOAT DAYS * 4:59 Richard Amerson
  30. CARRIE, CARRIE* 1:20 Thomas Langston, Judge Broadus, Albert Nicholson & Joe Millhouse
  31. EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND NINETY-ONE* (Ain’t Working Song) 1:34 Charley Campbell
  32. CAPTAIN, I’M GETTING TIRED* 1:29 Willie Carter, Albert Nicholson, Allen Gordon, and David Alexander

* Previously unreleased