those men in prison
out in the field at Parchman
chopping wood
their souls chained to perdition
by the yoke of circumstance
could not be liberated
by the revolutions of the
disc-cutting machine
though something other than their soul
their body perhaps
their chest and throat
their rough hands
their breath
saved at least
for some brief sweet moment
from the obscurity of time
HAMMER SONGS - Life on a Chain Gang in 1939
These songs were recorded by John & Ruby Lomax on their 1939 field trip through the southern states of the USA, recording people as they came across them. This selection focuses on the worksongs that convicts, prisoners and chain gangs sang as they toiled by the side of the road or in the state penitentiary.
Given the subject matter and circumstances, don't expect perfect sound quality; there are crackles, cuts, glitches, and skips (particularly at the very end of the tracks) but make no mistake.....this IS history.
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You Got to Lay Down and Die (Charles Clark/Henry Wesley/Group of convicts)
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Old Rattler (Tommy Woods/Group of convicts)
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We Don't Have No Payday Here (Group of Convicts)
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Gambler, Where Was You When They Called Yo' Name (Wade "Monkey" Bolden/Group of Convicts
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Hammer Song (Group of Convicts)
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Crawdad (Leroy Martin/Group of Convicts)
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Rosie (Group of Convicts)
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Stewball (Group of Convicts)
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Way Out on the Mountain (Group of Women Convicts)
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Red Hot Sun Turning Over (John Brown/Group of Convicts)
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New Buryin' Ground (John Brown/Group of Convicts)
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The Gospel Train ("Hambone"/Chain Gang)
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Po' Laz'us (Carol Smith/Chain Gang)
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The Longest Day I Ever Lived (John Brown/Group of Convicts)
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Driving Levee (Group of Convicts)
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Early in the Mornin' (Group of Convicts)
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Hell Down Yonder ("Hambone"/Chain Gang)
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Ain't No Heaven on de County Road ("Slick" Owens/Chain Gang)
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Old Hannah (Tommy Woods/Group of Convicts)
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Big-Leg Rosie (Frank "Gulfport Red" Mixon/Group of Convicts)
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Slow Drag Work Song (Tommy Woods/Group of Convicts)
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Rosie (Group of Convicts)
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Makes a Long Time Man Feel Bad (Group of Convicts)
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Cap'n, I Got a Home in Oklahoma (Tommy Woods/Group of Convicts)
https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1477506675288514562?t=tTg3HGKUWM5vXXMkWJYkLg&s=19
Wtf is going on in Houston?
DNA Doe Project has identified the Twinsburg Ohio John Doe 1982 as Frank "Frankie" Little, Jr., a member of the R&B group the O'Jays. His remains were found February 18, 1982 in a shallow grave in the woods behind a machine shop on Cannon Road, with evidence of stabbing, blunt force trauma, and postmortem burning. It was theorized he had been deceased for 1-2 years before his discovery.
Not a lot of information seems to be available about his disappearance or when exactly his family lost contact, but he was believed to have been alive into the mid-1970s. Summit County Medical Examiner Lisa Kohler says she plans to rule his death a homicide.
Thanks to the DNA Doe Project and the City of Twinsburg Police Department, Little's family has some closure.
(I didn't see this posted yet, or any posts about this in general. If anyone knows of a write-up on him that I missed, please let me know!)
EDIT 2: The O'Jays sent a statement to Rolling Stone that said:
> Frankie was a guitarist and songwriter in the very early O’Jays [...] He came with us when we first ventured out of Cleveland and traveled to Los Angeles, but he also was in love with a woman in Cleveland that he missed so much that he soon returned back to Cleveland after a short amount of time. That was in the mid 1960s and we had not heard from him after then. Although this sounds like a tragic ending, we wish his family and friends closure to what appears to be a very sad story.
EDIT 3: /u/Basic_Bichette pointed out this composition he did for the O'Jays on YouTube, if anyone wants to hear his work. Thank you!
- Twinsburg John Doe 1982 - DNA Doe Project Cases
- Twinsburg remains identified through DNA, genealogy research
- DNA Research Identifies 40-Year-Old Remains As O’Jays Member Frankie Little Jr.
ETA: What state. So
... keep reading on reddit ➡
If you are, what are your thoughts on them?
They were both musicologists who were responsible for preserving tons of traditional American music:
https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200196225
https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1477520159086718983?s=20
