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Historic AFC LP Liner Note Booklets

Cover of AFS L1 Anglo-American BalladsFrom the 1950s through the 1980s, the Library of Congress issued long-playing albums (LPs) of recordings from the collections of what was first called the Archive of Folk Song, later the Archive of Folk Culture, and finally the American Folklife Center.  Some of these titles had formerly been released as 78 rpm records in the 1940s. These albums included instrumental music, song, storytelling, and occupational calls such as "field hollers" and "cattle calls." Some of them were later released on CD by Rounder Records, usually with additional tracks and/or notes. These CDs are out of print. The LP albums were accompanied by liner note booklets of eight to sixty pages, packed with information about the recordings and the traditions they represented. In answer to frequent requests from researchers, and because the notes can stand alone as valuable resources, many of these liner note booklets are to be presented on this page.  Booklets will be added as they are digitized. They will be available primarily as PDF documents, which require the free Adobe Reader.External Links   

AFS L1: Anglo-American Ballads. Edited by Alan Lomax, 1942. Reissued 1956, 1978. PDF, 24 pp., 3.19MB.

AFS L2: Anglo-American Shanties, Lyric Songs, Dance Tunes, and Spirituals. Edited by Alan Lomax, 1942.

AFS L3: Afro-American Spirituals, Work Songs, and Ballads. Edited by Alan Lomax, 1942. PDF, 11 pp., 1.75MB.

AFS L4: Afro-American Blues and Game Songs. Edited by Alan Lomax, 1942. PDF, 10 pp., 1.94MB.

AFS L5: Ethnic Music of French Louisiana, the Spanish Southwest, and the Bahamas. Edited by Alan Lomax, 1978. PDF, 24 pp., 5MB. Alternate title of the 78 rpm recording: Bahaman songs, French Ballads and Dance Tunes, Spanish Religious Songs and Game Songs, published in 1942.

AFS L6: Songs from the Iroquois Longhouse. Essay and notes by William N. Fenton. PDF, 50 pp., 2.83MB. Part of the Music of the American Indian Series. Booklet published in 1942 by the Smithsonian Institution to accompany the Library of Congress recording. Reprinted in 1956 and 1992 by the Library of Congress.

AFS L7: Anglo-American Ballads. Edited by Benjamin A. Botkin, 1943. PDF, 8 pp., 1.15MB.

AFS L8: Negro Work Songs and Calls. Edited by Benjamin A. Botkin, 1943. Reprinted in 1959. PDF, 10 pp., 468KB.

AFS L9: Play and Dance Songs and Tunes. Edited by Benjamin A. Botkin, 1943. PDF, 12 pp., 558KB.

AFS L10: Negro Religious Songs and Services. Edited by Benjamin A. Botkin, 1943. PDF, 8 pp., 1.94MB.

AFS L11: Sacred Harp Singing. Edited by George Pullen Jackson, 1943. PDF, 15 pp., 1.73MB.

AFS L12: Anglo-American Songs and Ballads. Edited by Duncan Emrich, 1952. PDF, 16 pp., 2.31MB.

AFS L13: Afro-Bahian Religious Songs from Brazil. Recorded and edited by Melville J. and Frances S. Herskovits, 1947. PDF, 13 pp., 1.34MB.

AFS L14: Anglo-American Songs and Ballads. Edited by Duncan Emrich, 1952. PDF, 12 pp., 1.38MB.

AFS L15: Venezualan Folk Music. Edited by Juan Liscano and Charles Seeger, 1947. PDF, 26 pp., 7.26MB.

AFS L16: Songs and Ballads of the Anthracite Coal Miners. Recorded and edited by George Korson, 1947, reprinted 1976. PDF, 12 pp., 1.42MB.

AFS L17: Seneca Songs from the Coldspring Longhouse. By Chauncey Johnny John and Albert Jones. Recorded and Edited by William N. Fenton, 1947, reprinted 1957. PDF, 16 pp., 1.92MB. Part of the Music of the American Indian Series.

AFS L18: Folk Music of Puerto Rico. Recorded and edited by Richard A. Waterman, 1947. PDF, 16 pp., 1.18MB.

AFS L19: Folk Music of Mexico. Recorded and edited by Henrietta Yurchenco, 1947. PDF, 10 pp., 1.88MB.

AFS L20: Anglo-American Songs and Ballads. Edited by Duncan Emrich, 1947. PDF, 10 pp., 1.37MB.

AFS L21: Anglo-American Songs and Ballads. Edited by Duncan Emrich, 1959. PDF, 12 pp., 1.39MB.

AFS L22: Songs of the Chippewa. Recorded and edited by Frances Densmore, 1950. PDF, 12 pp., 1.94MB.

AFS L23: Songs of the Sioux. Recorded and edited by Frances Densmore, 1951. PDF, 14 pp., 4.58MB.

AFS L24: Songs of the Yuma, Cocopa, and Yaqui. Recorded and edited by Frances Densmore, 1951. PDF, 16 pp., 8MB.

AFS 25: Songs of the Pawnee and Northnern Ute. Recorded and edited by Frances Densmore, 1951. PDF, 21 pp., 9.85MB.

AFS L26-L27: American Sea Songs and Shanties. Edited by Duncan Emrich, 1952. PDF, 21 pp., 3.46MB.

AFS L28: Cowboy Songs, Ballads, and Cattle Calls from Texas. Edited by Duncan Emrich, collected by John A. Lomax, 1952. PDF, 16 pp., 2MB.

AFS L29: Songs and Ballads of American History and of the Assassination of Presidents. Edited by Duncan Emrich, 1952. PDF, 18 pp., 3.58MB.

AFS L30: Songs of the Mormons and Songs of the West. Edited by Duncan Emrich, 1952. PDF, 16 pp., 2.74MB.

AFS L31: Songs of the Papago. Recorded and edited by Frances Densmore, 1952. PDF, 16 pp., 6.39MB.

AFS L33: Songs of the Menominee, Mandan, and Hidatsa. Recorded and edited by Frances Densmore, 1952. PDF, 18 pp., 7.68MB.

AFS L34: Northwest (Puget Sound). Recorded and edited by Willard Rhodes. Library of Congress, 1954, revised edition, 1984. Part of the Music of the American Indian Series. PDF, 28 pp., 15.26MB.

AFS L35: Kiowa. Recorded and Edited by Willard Rhodes. Library of Congress, 1954; revised edition, 1983. Part of the Music of the American Indian Series. PDF, 24 pp., 11.32MB.

AFS L36: American Indian Songs of Today. Recorded and Edited by Willard Rhodes. Library of Congress, 1987. PDF, 20 pp., 9.39MB. The recording was first issued in 1954. This booklet was published in 1987 as part of the second edition.

AFS L37: Delaware, Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek. Recorded in 1940-52 by Willard Rhodes, 1954, PDF, 2 pp., 219KB. Part of the Music of the American Indian Series. This document contains the notes from the back of the LP album. A liner note booklet for this recording was never published.

AFS L38: Great Basin: Paiute, Washo, Ute, Bannock, Shoshone. Recorded and Edited by Willard Rhodes. Library of Congress, 1982. PDF, 22 pp., 9.18MB. The recording was first issued in 1954. This booklet was published in 1982 as part of the second edition.

AFS L39: Plains: Comanche, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Caddo, Wichita, Pawnee. Recorded and Edited by Willard Rhodes. Library of Congress, 1982. PDF, 26 pp., 11.76MB. The recording was first issued in 1954. This booklet was published in 1982 as part of the second edition.

AFS L40: Sioux. Recorded and edited by Willard Rhodes, 1987, PDF, 21 pp., 3.06MB. Part of the Music of the American Indian Series. The recording was first issued in 1954. This booklet was published in 1987 as part of the second edition.

AFS L41: Navajo. Recorded and edited by Willard Rhodes, 1987, PDF, 20 pp., 10.70MB. Part of the Music of the American Indian Series. The recording was first issued in 1954. This booklet was published in 1987 as part of the second edition.

AFS L42: Apache. Recorded and edited by Willard Rhodes, 1989, PDF, 18 pp., 7.41MB. Part of the Music of the American Indian Series. The recording was first issued in 1954. This booklet was published in 1989 as part of the second edition.

AFS L43: Pueblo: Taos, San Ildefonso, Zuni, Hopi. Recorded and edited by Willard Rhodes, 1987. PDF, 18 pp., 4.42MB. Part of the Music of the American Indian Series. The recording was first issued in 1954. This booklet was published in 1987 as part of the second edition.

AFS L47: Jack Tales I, Told by Mrs. Maud Long of Hot Springs, N.C. Edited by Duncan Emrich, 1956. PDF, 1 p., 456.88KB.

AFS L48: Jack Tales II, Told by Mrs. Maud Long of Hot Springs, N.C. Edited by Duncan Emrich, 1956. PDF, 1 p., 417.88KB.

AFS L49: The Ballad Hunter: Lectures on American Folk Music: Parts 1 and 2. By John Avery Lomax, 1942, reissued in 1948. PDF, 2 pp., 746KB.

AFS L50: The Ballad Hunter: Lectures on American Folk Music: Parts 3 and 4. By John Avery Lomax, 1942, reissued in 1948. PDF, 2 pp., 711KB.

AFS L51: The Ballad Hunter: Lectures on American Folk Music: Parts 5 and 6. By John Avery Lomax, 1942, reissued in 1948. PDF, 2 pp., 755KB.

AFS L52: The Ballad Hunter: Lectures on American Folk Music: Parts 7 and 8. By John Avery Lomax, 1942, reissued in 1948. PDF, 3 pp., 1014KB.

AFS L53: The Ballad Hunter: Lectures on American Folk Music: Parts 9 and 10. By John Avery Lomax, 1942, reissued in 1948. PDF, 2 pp., 799KB.

AFS L54: Versions and Variants of the Tunes of Barbara Allen. Edited by Charles Seeger, 1966. PDF, 18 pp., 12.17 MB.

AFS L55: Folk Music from Wisconsin. Edited by Helene Stratman-Thomas, 1960. PDF, 36 pp., 1.20MB.

AFS L56: Songs of the Michigan Lumberjacks. Edited by Earl Clifton Beck, 1960. PDF, 12 pp., 2.11MB.

AFS L57: Child Ballads Traditional in the United States (Volume 1). Edited by Bertrand H. Bronson, 1960. PDF, 21 pp., 10.79MB.

AFS L58: Child Ballads Traditional in the United States (Volume 2). Edited by Bertrand H. Bronson, 1960. PDF, 23 pp., 9.48MB.

AFS L59: Negro Blues and Hollers. Edited by Marshall W. Stearns, 1962. PDF, 18pp., 5.80MB.

AFS L60: Songs and Ballads of the Bituminous Coal Miners. Recorded and Edited by George Korson, 1965. PDF, 16 pp., 2.48MB.

AFS L61: Railroad Songs and Ballads. Edited by Archie Green, 1968. PDF, 20 pp., 2.70MB.

AFS L62: American Fiddle Tunes. Edited by Alan Jabbour, 1972. PDF, 44 pp., 5.95MB.

AFS L63-L64: Music of Morocco. Recorded and edited by Paul Bowles, 1972. PDF, 11 pp., 1.52MB.

AFS L65-L66: The Hammons Family: A Study of a West Virginia Family's Traditions. Edited by Carl Fleischhauer and Alan Jabbour, 1973. PDF, 77 pp., 10.42MB. This version of the liner notes was revised for internet presentation by Carl Fleischhauer. The format was changed and updated with additional images. The text is largely the same as the LP version with a few updates and corrections.

AFS L67: Afro-American Folk Music from Tate and Panola Counties, Mississippi. Edited by David Evans; photographs by Cheryl Evans. PDF, 28 pp., 1.53MB.

AFS L68: Folk-Songs of America: the Robert Winslow Gordon Collection, 1922 to 1932. Edited by Neil V. Rosenberg and Debora G. Kodish, 1978. The album, including recordings, photographs, and liner notes, is available online from this link. The liner notes booklet is available in both html and PDF.

AFS L69-L70: Children of the Heav'nly King: Religious Expression in the Central Blue Ridge. Edited by Charles K. Wolfe, 1981. PDF, 47 pp., 12.44MB.

AFS L71: Omaha Indian Music. Edited by Dorothy Sara Lee and Maria La Vigna, 1985. Available in HTML. The liner notes for the LP album form part of the American Memory presentation Omaha Indian Music, which presents sound recordings collected by Francis La Flesche and Alice Cunningham Fletcher between 1895 and 1897, songs and speeches documented at a 1983 powwow, a 1985 Hethu'shka Society concert at the Library of Congress, and photographs from the powwow and concert, as well as field notes and other documentation.

 

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