A survey of work songs from around the world, recorded by Alan and John A. Lomax. We narrow the definition of work song to mean specifically those sung to assist in or accompany actual jobs of work.

Visit our brand new work song exhibit here.

Playlist (links to catalog records in the Lomax Digital Archive when available):

1a Alla Boara

1b A Mezzononte en Punto

2 Walter Brown on Privileged Penitentiary

https://archive.culturalequity.org/film-and-video/american-patchwork/greenville-levee-1978

3 Levee Camp Hollers

https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/mississippi-delta-survey-1941-1942/lake-cormorant-941/levee-camp-hollers

4a Track Lining Song and Talk https://archive.culturalequity.org/node/1689

4b Dogging Steel https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/southern-us-1959-and-1960/williamson-959/dogging-steel-part-1

4c Sis Joe https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/mississippi-1933-1940/parchman-farm-833/sis-joe

5 Houston Bacon Sinking and Joining Iron https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/mississippi-delta-survey-1941-1942/clarksdale-842/sinking-rails-and-joining-iron

6a Di Yo Pa Hele https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/la-plaine-ii-662/di-yo-pa-hele-pou-nou

6b Naje Kanot-la https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/scotts-head-662/naje-kanot-la

7a Dekouwe bwa-la https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/la-plaine-ii-662/dekouwe-bwa-la

7b Clyde Maxwell wood chopping https://archive.culturalequity.org/film-and-video/american-patchwork/clyde-maxwells-wood-chopping-holler-1-1978

7c John Bray Cypress Logging

8 Winnowing songs

https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/morocco-1967/tazzarine-967/winnowing-song-i & https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/morocco-1967/tazzarine-967/winnowing-song-ii

8b Shouts on the threshing floor https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/morocco-1967/tazzarine-967/shouts-threshing-floor

8c Unidentified Threshing Song

https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/spain-1952-1953/valldemossa-752/unidentified-threshing-song-i

9a I Like Picking Olives https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/spain-1952-1953/valldemossa-752/magrada-collir-oliva

9b Bentara Noa https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/spain-1952-1953/uitzi-1252/bentara-noa

9c Larre Berrian https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/spain-1952-1953/uitzi-1252/larre-berrian-i

10a Warning Cry 

https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/spain-1952-1953/alan-lomax-inspecting-recording-machine-marble-quarry

11b O’s Toils https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/scotland-1951-1958/garrygall-851/o-s-toil-s-ro-thoil-liom-i-i-very-much-desire

12a O’s Fhada https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/scotland-1951-1958/garrygall-651/o-s-fhada-bhuainn-anna-far-away-us-anna

12b Oganach https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/scotland-1951-1958/balivanich-651/oganach-gun-toir-na-dheaghaidh-young-man-whom-no-one-0

12c An Cuala https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/scotland-1951-1958/balivanich-651/cuala-sibh-man-mhaighdean-cheutach-have-you-heard

Been All Around This World has a new co-host! ACE Program Coordinator and Been All Around This World producer Michael Cormier-O'Leary joins Curator Nathan Salsburg in bringing you new episodes of this podcast. We are expanding the show's format to include episodes like today's, which is a continuous mix of music, mixed in with our deeper dives. This will allow us to release content more frequently while still developing longer form explorations of material within the collection.

In the wake of the devastation recently wrought by Hurricane Beryl, today's mix is a survey of recordings Alan Lomax made on the Grenadian island of Carriacou in 1962. If you'd like to help with relief efforts, consider making a donation to support the rebuilding efforts on the island: https://www.facebook.com/share/QgA2Zg2Aph6iWFNr/

Tracklist:

1. "Demba-o"
2. "Meet Me On The Road"
3. "It's Time For A Man To Go Home"
4. "I Want To Hear Somebody Pray"
5. "Wila-wila-mena (I)"
6. "O The Angels Send Me For You"
7. "Hi Lo Boys"
8. "Rosibella (I)"
9. "Aunty-o, Coro, Coro"
10. "Breakaway (II)"
11. "Khaki-o, Wé Yo Diamonds"
12. "C‘est Mwe, Nani Moko"

The last episode of our survey of John A. and Ruby T. Lomax's 1939 Texas recordings features highlights of sacred performances in the collection.

1) Eulalia Martinez, Paola Lopez, Genoveva Lopez: Gloria a Diós en las alturas (Sugarland, Fort Bend County, Texas, April 23, 1939)

2) Gonzalo Lopez, Cleofe Lopez: Vela por tu amante (Sugarland, Fort Bend County, Texas, April 23, 1939)

3) Iron Head Baker: This Heart of Mine (Camp #4, Ramsey State Farm, Otey, Brazoria County, Texas, April 23, 1939)

4) Columbus Christopher, Wallace Chains, W.S. Harrison (Jaybird), Sylvester Jones (Texas Stavin’ Chain), Wade Bolden (Monkey): Jesus Getting Us Ready for that Great Day (Camp #4, Ramsey State Farm, Otey, Brazoria County, Texas, April 23, 1939)

5) Smith Casey & Unidentified man: When I Get Home (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas, April 16, 1939)

6) Unidentified women: It's A Blessing Just to Call My Savior's Name (Goree State Farm for Women, Huntsville, Walker County, Texas, May 14, 1939)

7) Alvin Brown, William Brown, Terrell Conley, and Eugene Blacker: Ride on King Jesus (State Penitentiary (The Walls), Huntsville, Walker County, Texas, May 13, 1939)

8) Henry Truvillion: Ride on Mighty Rider (The Mighty Rider) (The home of Henry Truvillion, Burkeville, Newton County, Texas, May 16, 1939)

An admittedly cursory holiday mix presenting performances from our new digital release, "Songs of Christmas, New Year, and Midwinter from the Lomax Collection," available now on the Lomax Archive's Bandcamp page as well as the streaming services.

We invite you to pair this mix with our older holiday-themed episode, which features other related material (if some occasional overlap) and the complete "Sing Christmas" program. This ambitious radio broadcast was produced by Alan for the BBC on Christmas Day 1951, and featured regional Yuletide traditions transmitted via live hook-ups all across Britain. 

1) Vera Ward Hall: No Room at the Inn story / song (The home of Vera Ward Hall, Livingston, Sumter County, Alabama, October 10, 1959).

2) United Sacred Harp Musical Association: Sherburne (56th Annual United Sacred Harp Musical Association Convention, Corinth Baptist Church, Fyffe, Dekalb County, Alabama, September 12, 1959)

3) Steven Wright: Jingle Bells (New York City, New York, 1950)

4) Group from Sangonera la Verde, Murcia: Rondalla (En tu puerta está la Virgen) (Monteagudo, Murcia, Región de Murcia, Spain, December 14, 1952)

5) Alice Gibbs and group: Today, Today is Christmas Day (Sint Eustatius, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, 1967)

6) Kate Nicholson and group: Tàladh Chrìosda (Christ's lullaby) (A cΘilidh at the home of Dr. MacLean, Daliburgh, Eilean Siar, Scotland, United Kingdom, June 21, 1951)

7) Miquel Bonet and group -  Caramelles (The Seven Joys of Mary, part 1) (Village church patio, Sant Josep, Ibiza, Illes Balears, Islas Baleares, Comunidad Autónoma de las, Spain, July 18, 1952)

8) Norman Edmonds and the Old-Timers -  Breaking Up Christmas (Probably the home of George Stoneman, Hillsville, Carroll County, Virginia, August 28, 1959)

9) Bartolomeo Angelitti -  Venite Adoremus

10) Joy Bells -  Jingle Bells (Gingerland, Saint George Gingerland, Nevis, Saint Kitts and Nevis, July 11, 1962)

11) Group from Positano, Campania -  Capo d'anno > Tammuriata

12) Vera Ward Hall -  Last Month of the Year (Alan Lomax's apartment, 3rd Street, New York City, New York, May 1, 1948)

Fiddlers, harp blowers, and guitarists recorded by John A. and Ruby T. Lomax during their 1939 Texas field-trip.

1) Frank Goodwyn & Manuel Salinas: Chinese Breakdown (Falfurrias, Brooks County, Texas, April 29, 1939)

2) Lake Porter: The Lost Girl (Falfurrias, Brooks County, Texas, April 29, 1939)

3) Lake Porter: Drunken Hiccups (Falfurrias, Brooks County, Texas, April 29, 1939)

4) Elmo Newcomer: Rye Whiskey (The home of Elmo Newcomer, Pipe Creek, Bandera County, Texas, May 3, 1939)

[see here for Newcomer's later Cro-Mart release of "Rye Whiskey."]

5) Elmo Newcomer: The Old Grey Mare (The home of Elmo Newcomer, Pipe Creek, Bandera County, Texas, May 3, 1939)

6) Clinton Saathoff, and Otis Evans: Eeph Caught A Rabbit (Pipe Creek, Bandera County, Texas, May 4, 1939)

7) Pop Warner: Inspiration (State Penitentiary [The Walls], Huntsville, Walker County, Texas, May 11, 1939)

[see here for the fine Marshall Project piece on prison radio, which includes a discussion of "Thirty Minutes Behind the Walls" and the Ace Johnson photo discussed in the episode.]

8) Ace Johnson: Rabbit in the Garden (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas, April 16, 1939)

9) Ace Johnson: Train song (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas, April 16, 1939)

10) Smith Casey: East Texas Rag, (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas, April 16, 1939)

11) L.W. Gooden: Clemens Rag (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas, April 16, 1939)

Bed Music:

Wilbert Gilliam: Long Freight Train Blues (State Penitentiary [The Walls], Huntsville, Walker County, Texas, May 11, 1939)

The Lomax Collection reflects a variety of human experience—from the sacred to the profane, from the rural to the urban, and from the public square to the domestic scene. The Lomaxes recorded lullabies all over the world, creating a record of the universality of these particularly intimate moments between parents and children. This episode gathers some of our favorite lullabies from the archive, and is part of a larger project on the subject, which includes an exhibit on the Lomax Digital Archive and a compilation pairing archival recordings with new interpretations by contemporary artists.

For information on the performers, old and new, and the songs, visit the accompanying exhibit on the Lomax Digital Archive: archive.culturalequity.org/go-to-sleepy. The compilation is available via our Bandcamp page: https://alanlomaxarchive.bandcamp.com/album/hush-the-waves-are-rolling-in-lullabies-from-the-alan-lomax-collection. This project was made possible with support from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Council and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Show Notes:

1) Elizabeth Cronin - Dance To Your Daddy (The home of Elizabeth Cronin, Ballymakeery, County Cork, Ireland, January 24, 1951)

2) Jean Ritchie - Dance To Your Daddy/Hush Little Baby (Alan Lomax's apartment, 3rd street, New York City, May 14, 1949)

3) Carmen Martínez - Durme meu filliño (Soutoxuste, Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain, November 23, 1952)

4) María Escrihuela - Nana Nanita (Tavernes de Valldigna, Valencia, Valencia, Spain, August 5, 1952)

5) Unidentified women - Iavnana (Republic of Georga, August 1, 1964)

6) Vera Ward Hall - Come Up, Horsey (Alan Lomax's apartment, 3rd St, New York City, New York, May 1, 1948)

7) Bessie Jones - Go To Sleepy Little Baby (Saint Simons, Glynn County, Georgia, October 12, 1959)

8) Bruna Bazil - Night, Night, Night (Massacre, Saint Paul Parish, Dominica, June 24, 1962)

9) Bruna Bazil - Little Baby I Want You to Sleep (Massacre, Saint Paul Parish, Dominica, June 24, 1962)

10) Unidentified women - Cântec De Leagan (I) (Drăguș, Brașov, Transylvania, Romania, August 1, 1964)

11) Unidentified women - Cântec De Leagan (II) (Drăguș, Brașov, Transylvania, Romania, August 1, 1964)

12) Unidentified woman - Ninna Nanna (Baiardo, Imperia, October 9. 1954)

13) Natale Rotella - Ninna Nanna (Feroleto Antico, Calabria, August 5, 1954)

14) Francesca Chilona - Che Bera Sta Figghiola (Cardeto, Calabria, July 27, 1954)

15) Sidney Hemphill Carter - Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby (Probably the home of Sidney Hemphill Carter, Senatobia, Tate County, Mississippi, September 26, 1959)

Bed Music:

K.B. Singh, Harry Naran, Bully Naran, Mrs. Afrose Mohammed - Lullaby (Pasea Village, Tunapuna/Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago, May 7, 1962)

Niña de la Puebla - Alborada de villancicos (Andalucía, Spain, September 20, 1952)

W.D. Stewart (Bama), Robert Sanders (Yancey) - Bye Bye Baby (Lambert Camp, Parchman Farm (Mississippi State Penitentiary) Sunflower County, Mississippi, November 1, 1947)

This second episode exploring the 1939 Texas recordings of John A. and Ruby T. Lomax focuses on work songs: selections of "river songs" sung by Black men incarcerated in the prison-farms of the Texas Department of Corrections, as well as pieces from free-world agricultural settings and the railroad section gang. 

1) Alan Lomax interview with Charles Kuralt, 1991 (watch the complete interview here)

2) Tommy Woods & group: Go Down Old Hannah (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas, April 16, 1939) 

3) Clyde Hill & group: Long Hot Summer Days (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas, April 16, 1939)

4) Charles Eckhardt: Calling the animals, (Pipe Creek, Bandera County, Texas, May 4, 1939)

5) Henry Truvillion: calling track (Truvillion’s home, between Newton and Burkeville, Texas, May 16, 1939)

6) Jose Suarez: Cotton-pickers corrido (The home of J.K. Wells, Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas, April 26, 1939)

7) John Lowey Goree, Who Curled Your Hair, Who Combed Your Bangs (At Goree's home, 2908 Jackson St, Houston, Harris County, Texas, April 12, 1939)

8) Mose “Clear Rock” (or “Wyandotte”) Platt: Ain’t No More Cane on the Brazos (Hotel Blazilmar, 107 Porter Street, Taylor, Williamson County, Texas, May 10, 1939)

9) Unidentified men: Hammer Ring (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas, April 16, 1939)

Bed Music

Smith Casey: East Texas Rag (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas, April 16, 1939)

Elmo Newcomer: Unfortunate Puppy (The home of Elmo Newcomer, Pipe Creek, Bandera County, Texas, May 13, 1939)

L.W. Gooden, Ace Johnson: Mama Don't Allow (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas, April 16, 1939)

Between 1933 and 1946, John A. Lomax made some 80 hours of recordings in the state of Texas, his home state. (John was born in Mississippi in 1867, but his family moved to rural Bosque County, Texas, near Waco, just after his second birthday.) It’s a massive amount of material, reflecting an extraordinary diversity of vernacular traditions, and featuring the first and last recordings that John made. We’ve labored for quite a few years to secure the funding to digitize, catalog, and make available the collection in its entirety, but have to date come up short. In 2020 our colleagues at the Library of Congress’ American Folklife Center kindly provided us with the transfers they’d done some years earlier of the ten hours of Texas recordings that John and his second wife Ruby Terrill Lomax (“Miss Terrill,” as he always called her) made in the spring of 1939—our idea being that this discrete collection could function as a representative sample of all the Lomax Texas material while we continue our efforts to digitally preserve and make the entirety available. With the support of the National Endowment for the Arts, we digitally cataloged all of the ‘39 recordings and prepared the catalog for inclusion in the Lomax Digital Archive, where they are now available for your exploration and enjoyment (here).

1. Charles Eckhardt, Otis Evans, and Clinton Saathoff: The Fox and the Hounds (Pipe Creek, Bandera County, May 4, 1939)

2. Gonzalo and Cleofe Lopez: La vida de los arrieros (The life of the muleteers) (The home of Gonzalo Lopez, Sugarland, Fort Bend County, April 23, 1939)

3. Lake Porter: Black Jack Grove (The home of Lake Porter, Falfurrias, Brooks County, April 29, 1939)

4. Elmo Newcomer: Glory to the Meetinghouse (Mabel) (The home of Elmo Newcomer, Pipe Creek, Bandera County, May 3, 1939)

5. Shirley Duggan Lomax: Crows in the Garden (Calloway Ranch, the home of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Calloway, Comanche, Comanche County, May 7, 1939)

6. Sylvester Jones (Texas Stavin’ Chain) and Wallace Chains: My Mother Keeps On Praying for Me (Camp #4, Ramsey State Farm, Otey, Brazoria County, April 23, 1939)

7. Smith Casey: Shorty George (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, April 16, 1939)

8. Hattie Ellis w/ Cowboy Jack Ramsey: Desert Blues (Goree State Farm For Women, Huntsville, Walker County, May 14, 1939)

9. Francisco Leal & Agapito Salinas: La Potranquita (The Little Filly) (At the home of Rev. William A. Moye and his wife Carmen Taffinder Moye, Kingsville, May 2, 1939)

10. E.A. Briggs: Sam Sherman’s Barroom (The home of Beal D. Taylor, Medina, Bandera County, May 5, 1939)

11. Frank Goodwyn: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie (Falfurrias, Brooks County, April 29, 1939)

12. Manuela Longoria: Love Song (El Sentimiento) (The home of Manuela Longoria, Brownsville, Cameron County, April 24, 1939)

Bed music:

Ace Johnson and L.W. Gooden: Mama Don’t Allow (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County)

Clinton Saathoff and J. Otis Evans: Eeph Caught A Rabbit, (Pipe Creek, Bandera County) 2635B2

Smith Casey: Grey Horse Blues (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County) 2597B2

An expansion of our Christmas and New Year episode of a few years back with extra tracks and more all around cheer. Links are to tracks' records in the Lomax Digital Archive. Those without them are either not Lomax recordings, or not yet included in the LDA. (If you'd like to assist in digitization/cataloging efforts to preserve and make available some of the early Lomax collections currently offline, please consider making a donation at culturalequity.org/donate, or drop us a line!) Happy Winter solstice and assorted holidays to everybody.

1. Villagers of Lagartera, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain: Ronda de Nochebuena, Christmas Eve 1952.

2. Merritt Boddie and the Marigolds Band: Christmas Machete / Noel, Gingerland, Nevis, July 1962. 

3. Georgia Sea Island Singers: Yonder Come Day, Central Park, NYC, July 1965.

4. Sophie Loman Wing and group: All Night Long, St. Simons Island, Georgia, June 1935.

5. Norman Edmonds and the Old-Timers: Breaking Up Christmas, Hillsville, Virginia, August 1959.

6. Kelly Pace and group: Holy Babe, Cumins State Farm, near Gould, Arkansas, May 1939.

7. Vera Ward Hall: No Room At the Inn (song & story) / Last Month of the Year (song), Livingston, Alabama, October 1959. 

8. Phil Tanner: The Gower Wassail, Columbia 372-M, 1937.

9. Jean Ritchie: Wassail song, NYC, March 1949. 

10. 1959 United Sacred Harp Musical Association: Sherburne (#186), Fyffe, Alabama, September 1959

11. Alice Gibbs and friends: Today, Today Is Christmas Day, St. Eustatius, January 1967.

12. “Special group” from the 1959 United Sacred Harp Musical Association: Christmas Anthem (#225)

13. Shirley and Dolly Collins: The Moon Shines Bright, from “For As Many As Will,” Topic Records, 1978.

14. Villagers of Hío, Aragon: Buenas Entradas de Reyes, Hío, Galicia, November 1952

15. Ottavio Dogali, Giuseppe Napoli, and Giuseppe Ascani: Alla Pastorale, Cinquefrondi, Reggio Calabria, August 1, 1954. 

16. Iaconelli and Arcari: La Novena di Natale, Columbia 14490, NYC, September 1929. 

17. Edward King: Le Jour De L'an (New Year's Day), Baraga, Michigan, October 1938.

18: Georgia Sea Island Singers with Ed Young, Hobart Smith, and Nat Rahmings: Yonder Come Day, St. Simons Island, April 1960. 

19 and beyond: “Sing Christmas and the Turn of the Year,” BBC Radio, 1957. For artists and titles see here.

Our eschatological episode of the program. Songs on final things: the end of the world, the end of time, judgement day, "when the stars begin to fall," etc.

Playlist (links to catalog records in the Lomax Digital Archive):

[Bed music] Fred McDowell: Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning

1. E.C. Ball & Lacey Richardson: Tribulations (Rugby, Virginia, August 1959) [Your host credited Orna Ball rather than her brother Lacey Richardson as E.C.'s accompanist.]

2. James Moore and friends: World Is Goin' To Destruction (At the home of Dave Roland, Sadie Beck Plantation, Arkansas, July 1942)

3. Holly Springs Sacred Harp singing: New Georgia (#534) (Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church, H.S., Georgia, June 1982)

4. Taylor-Griggs' Louisiana Melody Makers: When the Moon Drips Into the Blood (Victor Records, V-40083, Memphis, Tennessee, September 1928)

[bonus: Sampson Caldwell and J.F. "Farmer" Collett: Jesus Getting Us Ready For That Great Day (At the home of John Sizemore, Gardner, Clay Co. - not Leslie Co. as announced - Kentucky, September 1937)]

5. Hobart Smith, Preston Smith, and Texas Gladden: When the Stars Begin To Fall (Bluefield, Virginia, August 1959)

6. Belleville A Cappella Choir: My Lord, What A Morning (Church of God and Saints in Christ, Belleville, Virginia, April 1960)

7. Group of six men: An-nar (The Hellfire) (Fes, Morocco, September 1967)

8. Mrs. Ross, Rev. Cyphers, and the congregation of True Light Baptist Church: That Awful Day Will Surely Come (Dallas, Texas, February 1948)

9. (Sensational?) Friendly Brothers of Tallulah, Louisiana: Where Shall I Be When the First Trumpet Sounds (St. James Baptist Church, Canton, Mississippi, August 1978)

10. Lillie & Thelma Knox: Where Shall I Be When the First Trumpet Sounds (Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, July 1937)

11. Rev. Dickson, Ebenezer Elliott, and congregation of Indian Walk London Baptist Church: Want To Go To the Happy Land (Indian Walk, Princes Town, Trinidad, May 1962)

12. St. Vincent Spiritual Baptist congregation: On That Great Day (uploaded to YouTube by The Admiral Quow, November 2010)

13. Georgia Sea Island Singers: One of These Days (St. Simons Island, Georgia, October 1959)