Every Tone a Testimony: An African American Aural History

Every Tone a Testimony: An African American Aural History

by EVERY TONE A TESTIMONY / VARIOU
Every Tone a Testimony: An African American Aural History

Every Tone a Testimony: An African American Aural History

by EVERY TONE A TESTIMONY / VARIOU

CD

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Overview

Subtitled "An African American Aural History," the scope of this two-CD set is impressive, encompassing poetry, writings, speeches, and music by many major Black musicians, writers, and activists of the 20th century. The focus of the disc, however, wavers enough to make it an uneven, jumpy listening experience, although it's a valuable source for educators and radio programmers that might want to draw upon specific tracks to make specific points. All but five of the 59 selections come from within the Smithsonian Folkways collection itself, ranging in length from 20-second soundbites to six-minute musical performances. Whether read by others or by the authors themselves, this contains excerpts of notable literary works or speeches by significant African-Americans such as Langston Hughes, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Angela Davis, Bobby Seale, Martin Luther King, Jr., Amiri Baraka, Jayne Cortez, and Ishmael Reed (sometimes read by notable actors like Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee). The music is a real mixed bag of styles, but again commendably diverse, with performances by Reverend Gary Davis, Leadbelly, Muddy Waters, Paul Robeson, Hamiet Bluiett, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry, James P. Johnson, and Arrested Development -- everything from country-blues and jazz to gospel and rap. Occasionally some of the pieces transcend their considerable historical/educational interest as incendiary performances in their own right, such as Amiri Baraka's remarkably lively, visceral performance of his poem "Dope" and the Golden Eagles' infectious Mardi Gras percussive chants. There are extensive liner notes, but these don't always indicate the date of performance/recording, which even in case of the spoken word tracks would be useful information for many of the people apt to listen to such a disc. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date: 02/27/2001
Label: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
UPC: 0093074700327
Rank: 245783

Tracks

Disc 1

  1. The Struggle
  2. Field Call
  3. Complaint Call
  4. Intro and Kneebone Bend
  5. Brother Terrapin, Slow Train to Arkansas
  6. Jack and Mary and Three Dogs
  7. Buck Dance
  8. I'm Going up North
  9. Pharaoh's Host Got Lost
  10. Bars Fight
  11. Earl of Dartmouth
  12. I Wonder Where My Brother Gone
  13. Narrative
  14. Speech at Akron Convention
  15. Singing Slaves
  16. Steal Away to Jesus
  17. What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?
  18. Why Slavery Is Still Rampant
  19. Free at Last
  20. When Malindy Sings
  21. There's a Great Camp Meeting
  22. Atlanta Exposition Address
  23. John Henry
  24. Banjo Player
  25. Boatman Dance
  26. Shine
  27. Chopping in the New Ground
  28. Lynching, Our National Crime
  29. A Recorded Autobiography
  30. Listen Lord, a Prayer
  31. My Heart Is Fixed
  32. The Titanic
  33. Heritage
  34. Jungle Drums

Disc 2

  1. No More Auction Block
  2. The Negro Speaks of Rivers
  3. If We Must Die
  4. Ma Rainey
  5. Backwater Blues (I Got up One Mornin' Blues)
  6. Married Man Blues
  7. For My People
  8. The Children of the Poor, Sonnet 2
  9. Body and Soul
  10. How He Delivered Me
  11. Long Distance Call
  12. Cry to Me
  13. Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around
  14. Birmingham 1963-Keep Moving
  15. Black Panther Party Platform
  16. Interview
  17. Together to the Tune of Coltrane's "Equinox"
  18. Nikki Rosa
  19. Liberation/Poem
  20. Dope
  21. The Village of Brooklyn, Illinois 62059
  22. For the Poets
  23. Shotgun Joe
  24. St. Louis Woman
  25. People Everyday

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Martin Luther King, Jr.   Primary Artist
Fisk University Jubilee Singers   Primary Artist
Billie Pierce   Primary Artist
The Golden Eagles   Primary Artist
Jayne Cortez   Primary Artist
Rich Manuel "Rich" Amerson   Primary Artist
Sarah Webster Fabio   Primary Artist
Vera Hall-Ward   Primary Artist
Nikki Giovanni   Primary Artist
Doretha Skipper   Primary Artist
James P. Johnson & His Orchestra   Primary Artist
Percy Randolph   Primary Artist,Vocals
Arna Bontemps   Primary Artist
Muddy Waters   Primary Artist
Brownie McGhee   Primary Artist,Guitar
De De Pierce   Primary Artist
Margaret Walker   Primary Artist
Sonia Sanchez   Primary Artist,Vocals
Big Bill Broonzy   Primary Artist
Ishmael Reed   Primary Artist
Lawrencs McKiver   Primary Artist
Dock Reed   Primary Artist
Hamiet Bluiett   Primary Artist,Sax (Baritone)
Elizabeth Cotten   Primary Artist
Rev. Gary Davis   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Gwendolyn Brooks   Primary Artist
Arrested Development   Primary Artist
George Nicholas   Primary Artist,Sax (Tenor)
Ruby Dee   Primary Artist
Claude McKay   Primary Artist
Amiri Baraka   Primary Artist
Sterling A. Brown   Primary Artist
Paul Robeson   Primary Artist
Solomon Burke   Primary Artist
Sonny Terry   Primary Artist,Harmonica
Angela Davis   Primary Artist
Bobby Seale   Primary Artist
Langston Hughes   Primary Artist
Lead Belly   Primary Artist
Countee Cullen   Primary Artist
Ossie Davis   Primary Artist
S.P. Leary   Drums
Bob Kent   Drums
Scott Dunbar   Guitar
Arno Hecht   Sax (Tenor)
Dave Jackson   Bass
James "Pee Wee" Madison   Guitar
Alan Booth   Piano
Marc Ribot   Guitar
Paul Oscher   Harmonica
Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson   Guitar
Otis Spann   Piano
John Miller   Piano
Dave Conrad   Bass
Rutha Harris   Vocals
Gabriel Rotello   Keyboards
Charles Neblett   Vocals
John W. Work III   Director
Bernice Johnson Reagon   Vocals
Billy Hart   Drums
Cordell Hull Reagon   Vocals
Crispin Cioe   Sax (Baritone)
James P. Johnson   Piano
Wayne Wallace   Guitar

Technical Credits

Johnny Green   Composer
Robert Sour   Composer
Martin Luther King, Jr.   Performer
Ossie Davis   Performer
Guy Carawan   Engineer
Billie Pierce   Performer
The Golden Eagles   Composer,Performer
Lucy Terry   Composer
Pete Reiniger   Mastering
Rich Manuel "Rich" Amerson   Composer,Performer
Sarah Webster Fabio   Performer
Jerry Butler   Artwork,Cover Image
Nikki Giovanni   Performer
Carla Borden   Editorial Assistant
Booker T. Washington   Composer
Doretha Skipper   Performer
James P. Johnson & His Orchestra   Performer
James Weldon Johnson   Composer
Sojourner Truth   Composer
Arna Bontemps   Performer
Alan Lomax   Engineer
Muddy Waters   Composer
Margaret Walker   Composer,Performer
Speech   Composer
Sylvester Stewart   Composer
Sonia Sanchez   Sounds,Dialect Coach
Big Bill Broonzy   Composer,Performer
Ishmael Reed   Performer
D.A. Sonneborn   Production Supervisor
Dock Reed   Performer
Edward Heyman   Composer
Hamiet Bluiett   Composer
Elizabeth Cotten   Performer
Claude McKay   Composer,Performer
Rev. Gary Davis   Composer,Songwriter
Moses Asch   Interviewer
Gwendolyn Brooks   Composer,Performer
Anthony Seeger   Production Supervisor
Arrested Development   Performer
Ruby Dee   Performer
Paul Lawrence Dunbar   Composer
Robert H. Cataliotti   Producer,Annotation
John W. Work III   Arranger
Mary Monseur   Production Coordination
Amiri Baraka   Performer
Traditional   Composer
Sterling A. Brown   Composer,Performer
Paul Robeson   Performer
Solomon Burke   Performer
Angela Davis   Performer
Bert Russell   Composer
Bobby Seale   Performer
Langston Hughes   Composer,Performer
Lead Belly   Composer
Countee Cullen   Composer,Performer
Frank Eyton   Composer
Fisk University Jubilee Singers   Performer
Jayne Cortez   Performer
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