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  1. Film and Video
  2. American Patchwork
  3. On the Greenville Levee (1978)
  4. Part 1 of 4: Roustabout reminiscences on the Greenville levee (1978)

Date recorded: August 22, 1978
Contributor(s): Recordist: Bishop, John; Recordist: Long, Worth; Recordist: Lomax, Alan; Performer: Brown, Walter
Description: Ex-roustabout and levee-camp laborer Walter Brown recalls his work roustabouting on the Katy Adams and the Tennessee Belle steamboats and "rocking" his load. Shot by Alan Lomax, John Bishop, and Worth Long on the levee in Greenville, Mississippi, August 22, 1978.
Subject(s): roustabouting
Genre: interview/commentary
Location: Greenville, Washington County, Mississippi, United States
Track Number: 161
Archive ID: Acz2152Om7g
Transcript:
Belongs to: On the Greenville Levee (1978)
About the session: In the summer of 1978, Alan Lomax, John Bishop, and Worth Long spent two days on the levee in Greenville, Mississippi, interviewing Walter Brown, Joe Savage, Bill Gordon, and William S. Hart -- former levee-camp laborers, river roustabouts, and Parchman Farm inmates. The result was a remarkable collection of reminiscences, tall tales, field hollers, and oral history preserved on two hours of video tape, presented in its original order here. (This footage is part of the 1978 Mississippi collection but in order to maintain the conversation's original running order, it's also presented separately here.)
Rights: The rights to the audio, photographic, and video materials contained within the Lomax Digital Archive are administered by various publishers, record labels, collectors, estates, and other rights holders. Any uses, commercial or not, must be cleared by the specific rights holders. For questions regarding the use of any material on the LDA, please contact Permissions.
Do you have something to add, or do you see an error in this record? We'd love to hear from you.

More from the session

Joe Savage & Walter Brown: Levee-camp hollers (1978)
Greenville levee-camp conversation (part 1 of 12) (1978)
Greenville levee-camp conversation (part 8 of 12) / Payday holler (1978)
Greenville levee-camp conversation (part 12 of 12) (1978)
Greenville levee-camp conversation (part 10 of 12) (1978)
Greenville levee-camp conversation (part 11 of 12) (1978)
William S. Hart: Levee-camp holler (1978)
Greenville levee-camp conversation (part 2 of 12) (1978)

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