Search - Various Artists :: Southern Journey, Vol. 1: Voices From The American South - Blues, Ballads, Hymns, Reels, Shouts, Chanteys And Work Songs

Recognize the jazz, hiphop, rockabilly, and blues roots

08/13/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Truth be told this disc is not for everyone and I hope that this description will help those interested in hearing the ancestors of many major music forms find a good listen. Alan Lomax made an attempt to record the provincial musical styles in their home and on the participants own terms. What you get are real individuals singing and playing instruments for reasons that no longer exist today; to pass the day at work, to pass along local stories and traditions, to pass the time in jail, to provide expression for small communities, and to praise their gods where the lived and breathed. There was not a dollar to be made for any performance on this disc, and though we pay to hear it now, it had an effect on the musicians and singers. This music is not polished but it is a fantastic cd based on its content and not its production value. You won't hear music like this often in your life."

Music from the heart

06/24/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've played this CD over and over and still love every minute of it. The music is so varied, so beautiful. I now want to get other albums recorded by Alan Lomax, a genius for recognizing and recording great music. Highly recommended for anyone who loves uncommercial melodies and pure voices."

Pros and Cons of Southern Journey series

Pharoah S. Wail | Inner Space | 08/23/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Context context context. The number of Southern Journey discs you own affects the way you'll think about the series as a whole. One of my problems with the series has always been the repeats. The Deep River of Song series has no repeats and each disc is more focused. I wish that were the route taken by Southern Journey.



On this site, the whole series looks to be out of print but Rounder still lists the discs so I'd look into that. If it turns out the series is out of print and tracking it down is a hassle, this would be one of the better 1 or 2 discs to get because it's essentially a survey of much of the rest of the series. You get worksongs, mountain ballads, lined-out hymnody, Sacred Harp and Georgia Sea Islanders. Saints, sinners and old inbetweeners.



Recorded in 1959 and '60 by blacks and whites, you'll slip into the rhythm of the chain gang on Dollar Mamie (a personal favorite), and who knows, maybe you'll get saved by Rev. Crenshaw & congregation's epochal I Wonder Will We Meet Again, a serious slice of mightyMighty Black Church music.



If you're coming to this specifically for the bigger names, Almeda Riddle, Hobart Smith or Bessie Jones, my ears and money say they're better served elsewhere...



Almeda - Southern Journey, Vol. 7: Ozark Frontier - Ballads And Old-Timey Music From Arkansas,

Hobart - In Sacred Trust: The 1963 Fleming Brown Tapes (this is incredible. One of my all-time favorites.)

Bessie - Southern Journey, Vol. 12: Georgia Sea Islands - Biblical Songs And Spirituals, Southern Journey, Vol. 13: Earlist Times - Georgia Sea Island Songs For Everyday Living



Ike Caudhill & congregation's lined-out hymnody on Guide Me O' Thou Great Jehovah, Dollar Mamie by prison inmates and I Wonder Will We Meet Again by Rev. Crenshaw & congregation are the drop you dead-in-your-tracks tracks here. In all the years I've owned this, one still haunts, one still moves, one still sanctifies. One of the problems with the series here? This Guide Me O' Thou is edited. It's 3 minutes shorter than the full one on Southern Journey, Vol. 6: Sheep, Sheep, Don'tcha Know The Road? - Southern Music, Sacred And Sinful. God bless the full one."