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AMERICAN ROUTES ON INSTAGRAM
THE SONIC JOURNEY OF ALAN LOMAX: RECORDING AMERICA AND THE WORLD
American Routes follows the journeys made by folklorist Alan Lomax as he documented the diversity of the traditional music of America, in the face of what he felt was the increased threat by popular “monoculture.” We’ll look into Lomax’s work as a sound recordist, cultural theorist, radio host and above all, shaper of 20th century pop culture through his discoveries.
HOUR ONE
- Open Bed: "Wolverine Blues #1" Jelly Roll Morton
Jelly Roll Morton: The Complete Library of Congress Recordings by Alan Lomax, Rounder - "Rock Island Line" Lead Belly
Lead Belly Legacy Vol. 1: Where Did You Sleep Last Night?, Smithsonian Folkways - "Do Re Me" Woody Guthrie
Alan Lomax Popular Songbook, Rounder - excerpt: "Po' Lazarus" James Carter and the Prisoners
The Alan Lomax Collection: Southern Journey- Bad Man Ballads, Rounder - excerpt: "Old Chrisholm Trail" Moses "Clear Rock" Platt
Deep River of Song: Black Texicans, Rounder - excerpt: "I've Been Having Troubles" Heuston Earns
Prison Talk tape from Alan Lomax Archive, unreleased - "Midnight Special" Creedence Clearwater Revival
Hot Stuff, Fantasy - Instrumental: "John Henry" Glen Stoneman
Southern Journey Vol. 2: Ballads & Breakdowns, Rounder - excerpt: "I'll Be Rested (When the Roll is Called)" Roosevelt Graves and Brother
Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music, Revenant - excerpt: "Kind Hearted Woman Blues" Robert Johnson
King of the Delta Blues Singers, Columbia/Legacy - CLIP: Jelly Roll Morton interview at the Library of Congress
Jelly Roll Morton: the Complete Library of Congress Recordings by Alan Lomax, Rounder - excerpt: "King Porter Stomp" Jelly Roll Morton
Jelly Roll Morton: The Complete Libary of Congress Recordings by Alan Lomax, Rounder - "I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say" Jelly Roll Morton
I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say , RCA - excerpt: "How Long?" Lead Belly
Go Down Old Hannah, Rounder - "Bourgeois Blues" Taj Mahal
Folkways: A Vision Shared, Columbia - excerpt: "Talking Dust Bowl Blues" Woody Guthrie
Library of Congress, Rounder - CLIP: Woody Guthrie interview at the Library of Congress
Library of Congress, Rounder - "Pretty Boy Floyd" Woody Guthrie
Woody at 100, Smithsonian Folkways - Instrumental: "Sourwood Mountain" Hobart Smith
Southern Journey Vol. 2: Ballads & Breakdowns, Rounder - excerpt: "Corn Rigs" Jack Armstrong's Barnstormer's Band
World Library of Folk and Primitive Music: England, Rounder - excerpt: "Rock Island Line" Lonnie Donegan
Rock Island Line: The Singles Anthology, Sanctuary Records Group - excerpt: "New Year's Day Tarentella" Putipu Band of Capri
Songs of Christmas From the Alan Lomax Collection, Rounder - CLIP: Lomax talks "Folksong '59"
- "Rock Island Line" Little Richard and Fishbone
Folkways: A Vision Shared, Columbia - CLIP: Lomax Radio: Klezmer to Jazz Radio sign-off
- Instrumental: "Forest City Jump" Forrest City Joe, Sonny Boy Rogers & Thomas Martin
Sounds of the South, Atlantic
HOUR two
- Open Bed: "O Day" Georgia Sea Island Singers
The Alan Lomax Collections: Southern Journey-Georgia Sea Islands, Rounder - "Brown Girl in the Ring" Children at the San Juan Girls' Government School in San Juan, Trinidad
Caribbean Voyage: Brown Girl in the Ring, Rounder - excerpt: "Madriga Medley" Bann Madigra Kenscoff
Alan Lomax's Recordings in Haiti: 1936-1937, Estate of Alan Lomax/Harte Recordings - excerpt: "Mwen Tete (I'm Stubborn)" Rara Ste. Therese
Alan Lomax's Recordings in Haiti: 1936-1937, Estate of Alan Lomax/ Harte Recordings - "J'ai fiat tout le tour du pays" Jimmy Peters and Ring Dance Singers
Alan and John A. Lomax Cajun & Creole Music II 1934-37, Rounder - excerpt: "Wind Howlin' Blues" David "Honeyboy" Edwards
Deep River of Song: Mississippi- the Blues Lineage, Rounder - CLIP: Honeyboy Edwards interview from 1942 field trip
- "Walking Blues" Son House, Fiddlin' Joe Martin, Willie Brown, Leroy Williams
Deep River of Song: Mississippi- The Blues Lineage, Rounder - CLIP: Muddy Waters interview
The Complete Plantation Recordings, Chess - "I Be's Troubled" Muddy Waters
The Complete Plantation Recordings, Chess - "Hootchie Coochie Man" Muddy Waters
Alan Lomax Presents Folk Song Festival at Carnegie Hall, United Artists - Instrumental: "Arkansas Traveler" Hobart Smith
Blue Ridge Legacy, Rounder - CLIP: Ballads, Blues & Bluegrass film
- "Going Down South" Fred McDowell
from the Alan Lomax Archive, unreleased - "You Got to Move" The Rolling Stones
Sticky Fingers, Virgin - CLIP: Preston Smith welcoming Lomax
from the Alan Lomax Archive, unreleased - excerpt: "Drunken Hiccups" Hobart Smith
Southern Journey: Sheep Sheep Don'tcha Know the Road, Rounder - "The Farmer's Curst Wife" Estil C. Ball
Sounds of the South/Blue Ridge Mountain Music, Rounder - "Motorpsycho Nightmare" Bob Dylan
Another Side of Bob Dylan, Columbia - Instrumental: "Whoa Mule" Mainer Band
Sounds of the South, Atlantic - "Didn't Leave Nobody But the Baby" Mrs. Sidney Carter
The Alan Lomax Collection: Southern Journey 61 Highway, Rounder - "Didn't Leave Nobody But the Baby" Emmylou Harris, Allison Krauss, Gillian Welch
O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack, Mercury - "I'm Goin' Home" Ervin Webb and the Prisoners
The Alan Lomax Collection: Southern Journey 61 Highway, Rounder - SEGMENT: Como, MS
- End Bed: "Hen Duck" Lonnie Young, Ed Young, and Lonnie Young Jr.
Sounds of the South/Blue Ridge Mountain Music, Atlantic