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"These songs belong to the musical tradition which Africans brought to the New World, but they are also as American as the Mississippi River. They were born out of the very rock and earth of this country, as black hands broke the soil, moved, reformed it, and rivers of stinging sweat poured upon the land under the blazing heat of Southern skies, and are mounted upon the passion that this struggle with nature brought forth. They tell us the story of the slave gang, the sharecropper system, the lawless work camp, the chain gang, the pen." --Alan Lomax
Mississippi State Penitentiary (MSP), also known as Parchman Farm, is a maximum-security prison farm located in unincorporated Sunflower County, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta region. Occupying about 28 square miles (73 km2) of land, Parchman is the only maximum security prison for men in the state of Mississippi, and is the state's oldest prison.
Volume 1: Murderous Home
1. The Murderer's Home - Jimpson/Group
2. No More, My Lord - Jimpson/Axe Gang
3. Old Alabama - B.B. & Group
4. Black Woman - B.B. & Group
5. Jumpin' Judy - Tangle Eye/Fuzzy Red/Hard Hair/Group
6. Whoa Buck - C.B.
7. Prettiest Train - 22
8. Old Dollar Mamie - 22 & Group
9. It Makes A Long Time Man Feel Bad - '22'/Group
10. Rosie - C.B./Axe Gang
11. Levee Camp Holler - Bama
12. What Makes A Work Song Leader? - (interview with Bama)
13. Early In The Mornin' - 22/Little Red/Tangle Eye/Hard Hair
14. How I Got In The Penitentiary - (interview with Bama)
15. Tangle Eye Blues - Tangle Eye
16. Stackerlee - Bama
17. Prison Blues - Alex
Volume 2: Don'tcha Hear Poor Mother Calling?
These were recorded during the same field trips to Parchman Farm that yielded the material heard on Rounder's Prison Songs Vol. 1. Unlike that set, everything here is previously unreleased; what's more, most of the singers on this collection were not heard on the other volume. It's quite similar to Vol. 1, however, in that most of the material is a cappella, much of it recorded while the men were at work. Perhaps it's a bit starker and rawer, although exactly what made some selections suitable for release while others remain unissued is not obvious, other than the intrinsic lack of commercial potential for several discs' worth of projects of this nature. These performances, like those on the previous volume, project great spiritual fortitude, with a dignity and force that evokes more admiration than pity.
1. Don'tcha Hear Poor Mother Calling? - Hollie Dew, Bull & group (3:36)
2. John Henry - '22' & group (0:31)
3. Strongest Man I Ever Saw - Tall tale by Bama - Bama (3:15)
4. Well, I Wonder - Dobie Red & group (0:38)
5. Lies - Bama, Dobie & Red (3:20)
6. I'm Goin' Home - Bama (2:05)
7. More Lies - Bama, '22' & Bull (2:07)
8. O 'Berta - Bull & group (2:03)
9. Disability Boogie Woogie - Curry Childress (4:05)
10. O Rosie - '22' & group (2:09)
11. Hollers - Dobie, Red, Foots (3:43)
12. Stewball - '22' & group with axes (1:30)
13. Fox Chase - Curry Childress, C.B. Banks (2:46)
14. Katy Left Memphis - Percy Wilson (1:33)
15. About Prison Singers-Interview with Dobie Red - Dobie Red (2:30)
16. Rosie - '88' & group (1:48)
17. High Rollin' Sergeant - Tangle Eye (4:12)
18. Garbage Man-Toast - George Johnson (3:49)
19. When I Went To Leland - '22' & group (0:46)
20. Prodigal Son - George Johnson (3:06)
21. I'm Goin' To Memphis - Percy Wilson & group (1:59)
22. Untitled (1:38)
