The music on this anthology has been derived from several notable albums of field recordings by ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax gathered in the South during the early 20th century. The primary components include the long-players Sounds of the South (1960), Blue Ridge Mountain Music (1960), Roots of the Blues (1960), Blues Roll On (1960), Negro Church Music (1960), White Spirituals (1960), and American Folk Songs for Children (1960). In Lomax's 1993 written introduction, he reveals that the four and a half hours housed in the package were "culled out of eight hours of field tapes" documented during a two-month tour in the summer of 1959 that began in Virginia and progressed into the Ozarks, the Mississippi Delta, and then the Georgia Sea Islands. While he goes on to explain the significance of his research, the authenticity of the living aural history really speaks for itself. Artists and songs of possible familiarity to enthusiasts of folk and blues are scattered throughout. Mississippi Fred McDowell's "Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning," "Shake 'Em on Down," and "Drop Down Mama," the Mountain Ramblers' "Cotton-Eyed Joe" and "Shady Grove," and Estil C. Ball & Orna Ball's "Jenny Jenkins" are taken from the Sounds of the South and Blue Ridge Mountain Music entries. The trio of Boy Blue (vocal/harmonica), Willie Jones (guitar), and Joe Lee (drums) provides a seminal reading of "Boogie Children," while Lonnie Young (vocal/bass drum), Ed Young (cane fife), and Lonnie Young, Jr. (snare drum) unleash a variation of "Sittin' on Top of the World" from Roots of the Blues and Blues Roll On. Negro Church Music and White Spirituals' sacred selections are highlighted by a "Sermon Fragment" from the Reverend G.I. Townsel as well as a "Sermon and Lining Hymn" featuring Reverend I.D. Back with his congregation and a stirring solo rendition of "Poor Wayfaring Stranger" by the previously mentioned Estil C. Ball. Perhaps most fascinating are the American Folk Songs for Children, as they transcend race or religious creed. Almeda Riddle's "Froggie Went A-Courtin'," Bessie Jones' "Hambone," Hobart Smith's "The Arkansas Traveler," the Mountain Ramblers' "Liza Jane," Mississippi Fred McDowell's "Freight Train Blues," James Shorty/Viola James & Congregation's inspired "This Little Light of Mine," and a rare confab between Felix Dukes and Mississippi Fred McDowell on "Motherless Children" all surpassed their era.
Disc 1 – Blue Ridge Mountain Music
1 The Banks of the Arkansas/Wave the Ocean – Neil Morris – 1:59
2 Hen Duck – Ed Young – 3:05
3 The Farmer’s Curst Wife – Ball, Estil C. – 2:59
4 Bollweevil Holler – Vera Hall – 2:03
5 Jesse James – Mountain Ramblers – 2:16
6 Jesse James – Neil Morris – 4:54
7 Kenny Wagner – Bob Carpenter – 2:35
8 Trouble So Hard – Vera Hall – 1:38
9 Baptizing Scene – Donaldson, Reverend W.A. – 1:36
10 Is There Anybody Here That Loves My Jesus – Donaldson, Reverend W.A. – 3:02
11 Windham – Alabama Sacred Harp Singers – 2:00
12 Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning – Mississippi Fred McDowell – 2:45
13 Come On, Boys, Let’s Go to the Ball – Sidney Hemphill, Lucius Smith – 2:04
14 Join the Band – John Davis – 1:03
15 Lucky Holler – Ed Lewis – 2:21
16 I Be So Glad When the Sun Goes Down – Ed Lewis – 2:36
17 Cotton Eyed Joe – Mountain Ramblers – 2:32
18 Big Tilda – Mountain Ramblers – 2:14
19 Jennie Jenkins – Ball, Estil C., Orna Ball – 2:42
20 John Henry – Mountain Ramblers, Cullen Galyen – 3:46
21 Rosewood Casket – Mountain Ramblers, Eldridge Montgomery – 3:01
22 Silly Bill – Mountain Ramblers – 2:27
23 Big Ball in Boston – Mountain Ramblers – 2:20
24 Chilly Winds – Wade Ward – 2:12
25 The Old Hickory Cane – Mountain Ramblers – 4:31
26 John Brown – Hobart Smith – 1:52
27 Poor Ellen Smith – Hobart Smith – 2:01
28 Shady Grove – Mountain Ramblers – 2:18
Disc 2 – Roots Of The Blues / The Blues Roll On
1 Jim and John – Lonnie Young, Ed Young – 3:06
2 The Wild Ox Moan – Vera Hall – 1:03
3 Been Drinkin’ Water Out of a Hollow Log – Mississippi Fred McDowell – 2:55
4 All Night Long – Miles Pratcher & Bob Pratcher – 3:33
5 Shake ‘Em On Down – Mississippi Fred McDowell – 3:19
6 Levee Camp Reminiscence – Forrest City Joe – 5:16
7 Chevrolet – Lonnie Young, Ed Young – 4:04
8 Levee Camp Holler – Moore, Johnny Lee – 2:46
9 Eighteen Hammers – Moore, Johnny Lee – 2:38
10 Drink on Little Girl – Forrest City Joe – 2:51
11 Drop Down Mama – Mississippi Fred McDowell – 2:49
12 Boogie Chillen – Boy Blue – 2:54
13 She Lived Her Life Too Fast – Forrest City Joe – 3:20
14 Sitting On Top of the World – Lonnie Young – 2:40
15 Cool Water Blues – John Dudley – 3:02
16 She Don’t Love Me That Way – Forrest City Joe – 3:21
17 Stop Breaking Down – Forest City Joe – 2:50
18 Joe Lee’s Rock – Boy Blue – 3:36
19 Bullyin’ Well – Hill, Rosa Lee – 3:22
20 When You Get Home, Write Me a Few Little Lines – Mississippi Fred McDowell – 3:24
21 Red Cross Store – Forrest City Joe – 3:37
22 Forrest City Jump – Forrest City Joe – 2:55
Disc 3 – Negro Church Music / White Spirituals
1 Death Have Mercy – Vera Hall – 1:50
2 I Want Jesus to Walk with Me – James Shorty – 3:43
3 Jesus Is Real to Me – Mary Lee – 3:14
4 I Love the Lord – R.C. Crenshaw – 2:47
5 A Sermon Fragment – G.I. Townsel – 3:02
6 I’m Goin Home on the Mornin’ Train – R.C. Crenshaw – 2:48
7 Power – Mattie Wigley – 2:34
8 On That Rock – Viola James – 2:56
9 Jesus on the Mainline – James Shorty, Viola James – 3:37
10 I’m Gonna Sail Like a Ship on the Ocean – Henry Morrison & Saint Simon’s Island Singers – 2:39
11 Blow Gabriel – John Davis, Bessie Jones, Henry Morrison – 2:24
12 What Do You Think About Jesus (He’s All Right) – Bernice McClellan – 2:58
13 Tribulations- Ball, Estil C. & Blair Reedy – 2:48
14 When I Get Home – Ball, Estil C. & Blair Reedy – 2:55
15 The Poor Wayfaring Stranger – Ball, Estil C. – 3:14
16 Baptizing Down by the Creek – Mountain Ramblers – 2:49
17 Sermon and Lining Hymn – I.D. Back – 3:32
18 Antioch – Alabama Sacred Harp Singers – 1:35
19 Calvary – Alabama Sacred Harp Singers – 1:39
20 Please Let Me Stay a Little Longer – Ball, Estil C. & Lacey Richardson – 2:41
21 Father, Jesus Loves You – Ball, Estil C. – 2:09
22 Lonesome Valley – Ball, Estil C. – 2:45
23 Father Adieu – Ball, Estil C. – 2:09
24 The Old Country Church – Mountain Ramblers – 2:29
25 The Cabin on the Hill – Ball, Estil C. & Lacey Richardson – 3:06
Disc 4 – American Folk Songs For Children
1 Johnson’s Old Gray Mule – Mainer Band – 2:14
2 My Little Rooster – Almeda Riddle – 1:49
3 Whoa Mule – Mainer Band – 1:29
4 Froggie Went A-Courtin’ – Almeda Riddle – 2:48
5 Glenn’s Chimes – Mainer Band – 1:53
6 Chick-A-Li-Lee-Lo – Almeda Riddle – 1:17
7 Old Joe Clark – Mountain Ramblers – :52
8 Go Tell Aunt Nancy – Almeda Riddle – 4:02
9 Train III – Mainer Band – 3:00
10 Johnny Cuckoo – Bessie Jones – 3:02
11 Mama Buy Me a Chiney Doll – Almeda Riddle – 2:27
12 Soldier, Soldier – Hobart Smith – 1:43
13 Mary Mack – Pratcher, Jesse Lee & Mattie Garder – :45
14 Hambone – Bessie Jones – 1:06
15 Banging Breakdown – Hobart Smith – 1:35
16 Green Sally, Up – Pratcher, Jesse Lee & Mattie Garder – :43
17 Sometimes – Bessie Jones – :54
18 The Arkansas Traveler – Hobart Smith – 1:48
19 Paper of Pins – Ball, Estil C. – 2:15
20 The Little Dappled Cow – Texas Gladden – 1:38
21 Go to Sleep Little Baby – Bessie Jones – 1:14
22 Paddy on the Turnpike – Wade Ward – 1:46
23 Jimmy Sutton – Spencer Moore – 2:34
24 Liza Jane – Mountain Ramblers – 3:08
25 Oree – Lonnie Young, Ed Young – 2:37
26 Train Time – Forrest City Joe – 4:31
27 Freight Train Blues – Mississippi Fred McDowell – 3:03
28 This Little Light of Mine – James Shorty, Viola James – 2:39
29 Motherless Children – Felix Dukes – 2:49
30 Little Moses – Neil Morris – 3:24
