Folk-Songs of America: The Robert Winslow Gordon Collection, 1922-1932

Contents Foreword Introduction Sound Files (includes links to liner notes) Works Cited Gordon Manuscript Collections Additional Materials: Original Liner Notes in PDF (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) Part 1 (5MB) Part 2 (7MB) Gordon Collection Photographs The Gordon Collections Finding Aid for Archive of Folk Culture Materials

Annotations and Texts (With links to the sound recordings)

Neil V. Rosenberg
Department of Folklore
Memorial University of Newfoundland

The articles, books, and records cited in abbreviated form in the following notes are listed in full in the bibliography at the end of the booklet. My intention is not to give exhaustive citations, but to provide information which sets the songs and tunes in a comparative historical context. The transcriptions of song texts given here are complete in so far as this LP is concerned, but various technical or editorial considerations have occasionally forced the omission of some parts of the original recordings.

The extensive liner notes for this recording have been broken up by the band numbers on the LP in order to make them more readily available in the online version. Sources for the citations found in Neil Rosenberg's liner notes may be found on the page "Works Cited."

The following monophonic sound files are in .MP3 format. Note that these songs were originally recorded on wax cylinders, and are presented here as recorded on the Library of Congress, Archive of Folk Culture LP, published in 1978.

Side A

Band A1:

• liner notes
• MP3 files:
  • Haul the Wood Pile Down
    Singer unknown. Bay Area, California. Early 1920s.
  • Roll the Old Chariot Along
    Singer unknown. Bay Area, California. Early 1920s.

Band A2:

• liner notes
• MP3 file:
  • Old Ninety Seven
    Sung by Fred Lewey in Concord, N.C., October 15, 1925.

Band A3:

• liner notes
• MP3 files:
  • The Old Grey Mare
    Sung by Bascom Lamar Lunsford in Asheville, N.C., October 19, 1925
  • Hesitation Blues
    Sung by Bascom Lamar Lunsford in Asheville, N.C., October 19, 1925
  • Not A-Gonna Lay My Religion Down
    Sung by Bascom Lamar Lunsford in Asheville, N.C., October 19, 1925

Band A4:

• liner notes
• MP3 files:
  • Brother Jonah
    Sung by James G. Stikeleather in Asheville, N.C., November 11, 1925.
  • Georgie
    Sung By Nancy Weaver Stikeleather in Asheville, North Carolina November 11, 1925.

Band A5:

• liner notes
• MP3 files:
  • Isaac Meddler
    Played on fiddle by John W. Dillon in Asheville, N.C., October 22,1925.
  • Mississippi Sawyer
    Played on fiddle by John W. Dillon in Asheville, N.C., October 22,1925.
  • Sally Goodin
    Played on fiddle by John W. Dillon in Asheville, N.C., October 22,1925.

Band A6: Sung by W. E. Bird in Cullowhee, N. C., October 28, 1925.

• liner notes
• MP3 file:
  • Old Granny Hare
    Sung by W. E. Bird in Cullowhee, N. C., October 28, 1925.

Band A7

• liner notes
• MP3 file:
  • Single Girl
    Sung by Julius Sutton in Dillsboro, N. C., October 28, 1925.

Band A8:

• liner notes
• MP3 file:
  • Prisoner's Song
    Sung by Ernest Helton in Biltmore, N.C., November 20, 1925, accompanied on banjo.

Band A9:

• liner notes
• MP3 file:
  • Let's Go to Bury
    Sung by Rev. A. B. Holly in Brickton, N.C., December 14, 1925.

Side B

• liner notes
• MP3 files:
  • Deep Down in My Heart
    Sung by W. M.(Billy)Givens in Darien, Ga., March 19, 1926.
  • Jesus is My Only Friend
    Sung by Bessie Shaw in Oakhill, Ga., April 10, 1926.
  • Glory to God, My Son's Come Home
    Sung by J. D. Purdy near Darien, Ga., ca. 1926.

Band B2:

• liner notes
• MP3 files:
  • Ol' Man Satan/Drive Ol' Satan Away
    Sung by Mary C. Mann in Darien, Ga., April 12, 1926.
  • Finger Ring
    Sung by Mary C. Mann in Darien, Ga., April 12, 1926.

Band B3:

• liner notes
• MP3 files:
  • Blow Boys Blow (1)
    Sung by J. A. S. Spencer in Darien, Ga. [?], May 11, 1926.
  • Blow Boys Blow (2)
    Sung by A. Wilkins, Eastern U.S., ca. 1930-32.
  • Haul Away
    Sung by A. Wilkins, Eastern U.S., ca. 1930-32.

Band B4:

• liner notes
• MP3 file:
  • The Wagon
    Sung by Ben Harney in Philadelphia, Pa., September 9, 1925.

Band B5:

• liner notes
• MP3 files:
  • Milk White Steed
    Sung by Nellie Galt in Louisville, Ky., ca. 1928.
  • Mulberry Hill
    Sung by Nellie Galt in Louisville, Ky., ca. 1928.
    

Band B6:

• liner notes
• MP3 file:
  • Yes Ma'am [Bed Time Quiz]
    Sung by Betty Bush Winger in Point Pleasant, W.Va., ca. 1931-32.
  • All God's Children Got to Humble Down
    Sung by Betty Bush Winger in Point Pleasant, W.Va., ca. 1931-32.

Band B7:

• liner notes
• MP3 file:
  • Robert W. Gordon Testing Equipment
    Recorded in Washington, D.C., January 1932.

Band B8:

• liner notes
• MP3 file:
  • Casey Jones
    Sung by Francis H. Abbot in Charlottesville, Va., March 24, 1932.