"Here is the music I grew up with and that I go back to. Stephen Wade's wonderfulTreasury shares the Delta's sounds and other great traditions with all Americans." -- B. B. King

Since 1928, Library of Congress fieldworkers have gathered thousands of American folksongs in farmhouses, prison barracks, and schoolrooms across the nation. Researchers traveled the back roads of the Delta, the Appalachians, and the Great Plains using battery-powered disc-cutting machines as they ventured beyond the grid of rural electricity. Here are 30 of the greatest performances from the legendary Library of Congress recording series. This treasury is an extraordinary collection of America's folk voices -- a State of the Union circa 1941. With E.C. Ball, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Sonny Terry, Wade Ward, Woody Guthrie and many others. Selected, annotated and produced by Stephen Wade. Performers: W.H. Stepp, fiddle / Kelly Pace, vocals / Charlie Porter, vocals / L.T. Edwards, vocals / Willie Hubbard, vocals / Luther Williams, vocals / Napoleon Cooper, vocals / Albert Pate, vocals / Willie Lee Jones, vocals / E.C. Ball, vocals, guitar / Ora Dell Graham, vocals / Christine Shipp, vocals / Katherine Shipp, vocals / James Kelly, banjo, mandolin / Theopolis Stokes, washboard / Thomas Carrol, tin-can bull fiddle / Frank Dalton, guitar / Vera Hall, vocals / Paine Denson, leader / Turner Junior

30 tracks on this CD include:

Bonaparte's Retreat ( W.H. Stepp ); Rock Island Line ( Kelly Pace with Charlie Porter, L.T. Edwards, Willie Hubbard, Luther Williams, Napoleon Cooper, Albert Pate, Willie Lee Jones ); Pretty Polly ( E.C. Ball ); Pullin' the Skiff ( Ora Dell Graham ); Shortenin' Bread ( Ora Dell Graham ); Sea Lion Woman ( Christine & Katherine Shipp ); Soldier's Joy ( Nashville Washboard Band ); Another Man Done Gone ( Vera Hall ); Northfield ( Paine Denson ); When I Lay My Burden Down ( Turner Junior Johnson ); Grub Springs ( W.E. Claunch ); Ain't No Grave Can Hold My Body Down ( Bozie Sturdivant ); Iron Merrimac ( Judge Learned Hand ); Creek Lullaby ( Margaret ); Coal Creek March ( Pete Steele ); Worried Life Blues ( David "Honeyboy" Edwards ); One Morning in May ( Texas Gladden ); Blood-Strained Banders ( Jimmie Strothers ); Goodbye, Old Paint ( Jess Morris ); Lead Me to the Rock ( Wash Dennis & Charlie Sims ); Glory in the Meetinghouse ( Luther Strong ); The Avondale Mine Disaster ( John J. Quinn ); Roll on the Ground ( Thaddeus C. Willingham, Jr. ); Diamond Joe ( Charlie Butler ); Lost John ( Sonny Terry ); Sept ans sur mer ( Elita, Mary & Ella Hoffpauir ); East Texas Rag ( Smith Casey ); Old Joe Clark ( Wade Ward ); The Gypsy Davy ( Woody Guthrie ); Kiowa Story of the Flute ( Belo Cozad )

Price: $17.00

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Product #: 21202053