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)
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
I tend to ramble and was going to waffle on about the book in general but I'll restrain myself. POSSIBLE SPOILERS.
My question is this: What was it about the way Stoner treats Walker that means Lomax bears a 30 year grudge??! Or rather, why did it make Lomax so unbelievably resentful? What was the relationship between Lomax and Walker? I expected to find out that they were both crippled in the war, that they were related or even the merest suggestion that they were lovers. But nothing! Doesn't even suggest that either or neither served in the war, knew each other from outside the university or that there was anything non-academic about their relationship.
Are we just to invent our own reason or did I miss something? I can only think it might be because they are both what we might call now disabled but because that wasn't mentioned as something that affected either of them emotionally, I struggle to believe that that created such an affinity between them that Lomax would hold a 30 year grudge for the sake of a fraud and a cheat when he is supposedly such a brilliant mind himself.
One character (is it Finch? I don't have the book to hand) says something like "l know what it looks like but it's not that. Nothing like that!" I assumed that he was saying it appeared they might be gay but that that wasn't the case. Maybe I took the second part too literally and it WAS the case. But then he didn't specify what he was talking about so maybe I git the wrong impression about what he meant in the first place??
In short, why did Lomax care so much about Walker in particular?
I'm particularly interested in their work traveling the south and collecting recordings. I'm no scholar, so does anyone know any interesting books or sources for the layman?
I hope this is the right place for this post, if it isn't please let me know.
