Re: [ARSCLIST] Sounds of Slavery

[Bertram Lyons <bert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Throwing dirt on Lomax doesn't seem to address the question of whether recordings exist of slaves previous to the 1930s. Recording technology was present for over 40/50 years before the 1930s. Did unknown individuals make attempts to capture the sounds of slaves previously to the 1930s? Are there historical recordings out there that fill this void?

You would have to imagine that this is a possibility.

I think that was more the original question.

I wonder if there is a productive answer out there.

Bertram Lyons

Project Manager / Dissemination Coordinator
Association for Cultural Equity
Alan Lomax Archive
450 West 41st Street, Room 606
New York, NY 10036
901-508-6631
www.culturalequity.org


> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Sounds of Slavery
> From: Bob Olhsson <olh@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Fri, April 27, 2007 1:48 pm
> To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 
> 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