American Negro Folk Songs

While his father works in the city over the winter, a young boy thinks of some good times they've shared and looks forward to his return to their South African home in the spring.

Authoritative study traces the African influences and lyric significance of such songs as Swing Low, Sweet Chariot and John Henry, and gives words and music for 230 songs. Bibliography. Index of Song Titles.

This thorough, well-researched exploration of the origins and development of a rich and varied African American musical tradition features authentic versions of over 40 folk songs. These include such time-honored selections as "Wake Up Jonah," "Rock Chariot," "Wonder Where Is My Brother Gone," "Traveling Shoes," "It's Getting Late in the Evening," "Dark Was the Night," "I'm Crossing Jordan River," "Russia, Let That Moon Alone," "Long John," "Rosie," "Motherless Children," three versions of "John Henry," and many others. One of the first and best surveys in its field, Negro Folk Music, U.S.A. has long been admired for its perceptive history and analysis of the origins and musical qualities of typical forms, ranging from simple cries and calls to anthems and spirituals, ballads, and the blues. Traditional dances and musical instruments are examined as well. The author — a well-known novelist, folklorist, journalist, and specialist in African and African American cultures — offers a discerning study of the influence of this genre on popular music, with particular focus on how jazz developed out of folk traditions.

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Excerpt from Folk Song of the American Negro It is a far cry from that day of the introduction of these folk songs which has their expression and birth among the days of bondage, and which have been faithfully preserved and steadfastly cherished for the light they give in their quaintness of expression upon the experiences which call them forth, and for the exquisite melodies which touch a chord that the most consummate art fails to reach. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

How often have I overheard alluring snatches of song, only to be baffled by denial when I asked for more. Kindly black faces smile indulgently as at the vagaries of an imaginative child, when I persist in pleading for the rest. "Nawm, honey, I wa and n and t singing nothing — nothing a-tall! " How often have I been tricked into enthusiasm over the promise of folk-songs, only to hear age-worn phonograph records, — but perhaps so changed and worked upon by usage that they could possibly claim to be folk-songs after all! — or Broadway echoes, or conventional songs by white authors! Yet cajolements might be in vain, even though all the time I knew, by the uncanny instinct of folk-lorists, that there were folk-songs there. And even when you get a song started, when you are listening with your heart in your ear and the greed of the folk-lorist in your eye, you may lose out. If you seem too much interested, the song retreats, draws in like a turtle and s head, and no amount of coaxing will make it venture back. And there is something positively fatal about a pencil! Songs seem to be afraid of lead-poisoning. Or perhaps the pencil is secretly attached by a cord (a vocal cord?) to the singer and s tongue. It must be so, for otherwise, why has it so often happened that when I, distrustful of my tricky memory to hold a precious song, have sneaked a pencil out to take notes, the tongue has suddenly jerked back and refused to wag again? Yet that is not always the case, for sometimes the knowledge that his song is being written down inspires a bard with more respect for it and he gives it freely.

Beloved spirituals include such lasting favorites as All God's Children Got Shoes, Balm in Gilead, Deep River, Down by the Riverside, Ezekiel Saw the Wheel, Gimme That Ol'-Time Religion, He's Got the Whole World in His Hand, Roll, Jordan, Roll, Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, Steal Away to Jesus, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, This Train, Wade in the Water, We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder, Were You There When They Crucified My Lord? and many more. Excellent for sing-alongs, community programs, church functions, and other events.

Authoritative study traces the African influences and lyric significance of such songs as Swing Low, Sweet Chariot and John Henry, and gives words and music for 230 songs. Bibliography. Index of Song Titles.