Although these interviews don't pre-date the 1930's they may be of
related interest. They came out of the WPA's Federal Writers Project:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/voices/vfssp.html
and
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html
See also this compilation of material:
http://www.paperlessarchives.com/slaveaudio.html
Jonathan W.
-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bob Olhsson
Sent: Friday, April 27, 2007 2:48 PM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Sounds of Slavery
Unfortunately Lomax chose to omit an immense body of music that didn't
fit
his personal and somewhat primitive image of the African American. "The
rest
of the story" has recently been uncovered at Fisk University in notes
kept
by the music professors who served as his guides. Many slaves had been
given
an excellent music education and their descendents and children became
the
music teachers to the working class of the southeastern United States.
Their
amazing fusion of West African, English, Irish, French and German folk
and
Gospel music along with European classical music became the basis of
America's popular music.
There's an amazing story sitting there for somebody to flesh out.
Bob Olhsson Audio Mastery, Nashville TN
Mastering, Audio for Picture, Mix Evaluation and Quality Control
Over 40 years making people sound better than they ever imagined!
615.385.8051 http://www.hyperback.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of svorg@xxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, April 27, 2007 11:03 AM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Sounds of Slavery
Start with the LOC:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/lohtml/lohome.html
Scott
Ann Arbor, MI
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Joel Bresler <joel.br@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Dear friends:
A recent book by Shane White and Graham White, "The Sounds of
Slavery: Discovering African American History through Songs, Sermons,
and Speech", attempts to analyze the sounds of American slave
culture. The accompanying CD includes 18 cuts, mostly dating from the
1930s. The authors note that these selections are "about as close as
we are ever going to get" to sounds from slaves themselves. (p. xxii)
Given that recording technology had been around for decades by the
1930s, is this true? Are any lister's aware of earlier recordings
that might shed light on the "field calls, work songs, sermons, and
other sounds and utterances of slaves on American plantations"?
Many thanks for your thoughts.
Joel
From Booklist:
With no recordings of slave songs and narratives, the authors have
undertaken the difficult task of bringing to contemporary readers
(and listeners, via the CD that accompanies the book) the sounds of
American slave culture. The impressive work songs, spirituals, and
prayers were compiled from tracks recorded in the 1930s by the Works
Progress Administration. Drawing on WPA interviews with former
slaves, slave narratives, and other historical documents from the
1700s through the 1850s, the authors provide the context for the
field calls, work songs, sermons, and other sounds and utterances of
slaves on American plantations. The authors also focus on
recollections of the wails of slaves being whipped, the barking of
hounds hunting down runaways, and the keening of women losing their
children to the slave block.
Joel Bresler
Independent Researcher
250 E. Emerson Rd.
Lexington, MA 02420
USA
781-862-4104 (Telephone & FAX)
joel.br@xxxxxxxxxxx
www.followthedrinkinggourd.org
IN CASE OF VERIZON EMAIL PROBLEMS, PLEASE USE MY BACK-UP EMAIL:
joelbresler-at-gmail.com