Commentary on recording with John A. Lomax

Title: Commentary on recording with John A. Lomax
Date recorded: April 19, 1969
Contributor(s): Performer: Lomax, Alan; Recordist: Lomax, Alan
Genre: interview/commentary
Instruments: voice
Culture: Anglo-American, Southern U.S.
Language: English

Subject(s):

Note: Alan Lomax first went song hunting with his father on summer when he was 17, in 1933, at Smathers Plantation, on the Trinity River near Huntsville, Texas. They went to collect black folk music. The plantation manager got some 40 sharecroppers, mostly barefoot and in rags, together in an old school house. They had a crank-up cylinder dictaphone and cylinders were expensive. The man, called "Blue" who was chosen to sing refused to sing a them a sample tryout and said he would only sing while being recorded. He thought he would be talking directly to the White House. With his overseer sitting in the back, he began a complaint about the way they were being treated: "Hey, Mr. President … ."
Setting: The home of Fred McDowell

Location: Texas City, Galveston County, Texas, United States

Archive ID: T9000R07

Original format: Reel to Reel
Tape number: T9000
Track: 7

Part of: Texas City 1969

About the session: A lecture and performance given by Alan Lomax in Texas City, Texas, on April 19, 1969. Lomax illustrates the development of American folk music through New England hymns to Black spirituals and bad-man ballads. The recording was given to Lomax by Robert P. Shinn.

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.

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