VA - A Treasury of Library of Congress Field Recordings (1997) [FLAC]

Thirty Library of Congress field recordings from 1933 to 1946, compiled and thoroughly annotated by Stephen Wade. There are many Library of Congress collections, but the diversity of performances on this disc might make one of the better selections for someone who's interested enough in folkloric recordings to have just a few, as opposed to an academic who wants to hear as much as possible. There's Appalachian folk music, African-American spirituals, nursery rhymes by black Mississippi children, rural Southern blues, and even an a cappella ballad by a Harvard-educated judge. There are a couple of well-known performers as well: Woody Guthrie does "The Gypsy Davy," and Sonny Terry has a trademark puffing harmonica workout on "Lost John." But largely these are folks who performed mostly for their neighbors or houses of worship. It's not the point of a collection such as this to illustrate how this music influenced pop, but there are some real interesting renditions of songs that later became famous in other hands: "Blood-Strained Banders" (done here by Jimmie Strothers) was adapted into "Good Shepherd" by the Jefferson Airplane; "Sea Lion Woman" (Christine and Katherine Shipp) was done by Nina Simone, and "Another Man Done Gone" (Vera Hall) was covered by John Mayall. There's also the first recorded performance of "Rock Island Line" (by inmates at an Arkansas penitentiary in 1934), which became a folk music standard and eventually started the skiffle craze in England.

Track listing
1 W. H. Stepp - Bonaparte's Retreat
2 Kelly Pace - Rock Island Line
3 E.C. Ball - Pretty Polly
4 Ora Dell Graham - Pullin' the Skiff
5 Ora Dell Graham - Shortenin' Bread
6 Christine and Katherine Shipp - Sea Lion Woman
7 Nashville Washboard Band - Soldier's Joy
8 Vera Hall - Another Man Done Gone
9 Paine Denson - Northfield
10 Turner Junior Johnson - When I Lay My Burden Down
11 W.E. Claunch - Grub Springs
12 Rev. Bozie Sturdivant - Ain't No Grave Can Hold My Body Down
13 Learned Hand - Iron Merrimac
14 Margaret - Creek Lullaby
15 Pete Steele - Coal Creek March
16 David "Honeyboy" Edwards - Worried Life Blues
17 Texas Gladden - One Morning in May
18 Jimmie Strothers - Blood-Strained Banders
19 Jess Morris - Goodbye, Old Paint
20 Wash Dennis and Charlie Sims - Lead Me to the Rock
21 Luther Strong - Glory in the Meetinghouse
22 John J. Quinn - The Avondale Mine Disaster
23 Thaddeus C. Willingham - Roll on the Ground
24 Charlie Butler - Diamond Joe
25 Sonny Terry - Lost John
26 Elita, Mary and Ella Hoffpauir - Sept ans sur mer
27 Smith Casey - East Texas Rag
28 Wade Ward - Old Joe Clark
29 Woody Guthrie - The Gypsy Davy
30 Belo Cozad - Kiowa Story of the Flute