The American Roots Music Listening Library

Property of David H. Hickman High School

The American Roots Music Listening Library is designed to enhance students’ learning about their own culture, facilitate their understanding of how their own favorites genres of music developed, and, frankly, stimulate their pride in a national body of music that, despite the claims of uncomprehending Europhilic highbrows, is as rich, diverse, and true to the human spirit as any that man has produced.

Below is a description of the library’s current holdings. The curators of this collection intend to add gradually to its inventory until it represents our music from its beginnings to the present. If you have comments or requests, please e-mail Phil Overeem at povereem@columbia.k12.mo.us .

Armstrong, Louis: Ken Burns Jazz

GENRE: Jazz YEARS: 1923-1967

Modern American music starts here. Singing, improvisation, star power, rhythm, rebellion (against all that is stuffy and genteel and, uh, European), liberation—they’re all inherent in the musical achievements of the man they called Satchmo. The first cut dates from 1923 (in comparison to the other players, Louis, all of 22, is cooking on a whole other planet); the final two cuts knocked the Beatles out of the #1 spot on the pop charts in ’64 and became a hit over a decade after his death, respectively. Among the other historic moments: his use of scat singing on “Heebie Jeebie Blues”; his impossibly audacious intro to “West End Blues”; his “protest” interpretation of Fats Waller’s “Black and Blue”; his invention of modern pop singing on “Star Dust”; his summit meeting with Ella Fitzgerald on “A Fine Romance.”

1. Chimes Blues - King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band

2. Cakewalkin' Babies (From Home) - Clarence Williams' Blue Five

3. Heeby Jeebies - Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five

4. Potato Head Blues - Louis Armstrong & His Hot Seven

5. West End Blues - Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five

6. Tight Like This - Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five

7. Mahogany Hall Stomp - Louis Armstrong & His Savoy Ballroom Five

8. Ain't Misbehavin' - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra

9. Black And Blue - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra

10. St. Louis Blues - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra

11. When It's Sleepy Time Down South - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra

12. Blue Again - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra

13. Lazy River - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra

14. Chinatown, My Chinatown - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra

15. Stardust - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra

16. Shadrack - Louis Armstrong/The Lyn Murray Singers

17. I Double Dare You - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra

18. When The Saints Go Marching In - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra

19. Marie - Louis Armstrong/The Mills Brothers

20. Rockin' Chair - Louis Armstrong & His All Stars

21. Blueberry Hill - Louis Armstrong/Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra and Choir

22. Mack The Knife - Louis Armstrong & The All-Stars

23. Fine Romance, A - Louis Armstrong/Ella Fitzgerald

24. Hello, Dolly!

25. What A Wonderful World

Berry, Chuck: The Great 28

GENRE: Rock and Roll YEARS: 1955-1964

Writing for the exploding youth market, Chuck inadvertently captured the birth of Pop Culture USA in such inspired (and inspirational) detail that a comparison with Walt Whitman is more than apt (Attention English 11/American Studies students: there’s an essay in there somewhere). Along the way, he defined rock and roll guitar, mesmerized a bunch of white boys who would become the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan, and got in a little trouble. Everything you HAVE to hear is packed onto this single disc—and keep your ears on the bands he worked with—particularly Johnnie Johnson and Lafayette Leake on the 88s.

1. Maybellene

2. 30 Days

3. You Can't Catch Me

4. Too Much Monkey Business

5. Brown-Eyed Handsome Man

6. Roll Over Beethoven

7. Havana Moon

8. School Days

9. Rock And Roll Music

10. Oh Baby Doll

11. Reelin' And Rockin'

12. Sweet Little Sixteen

13. Johnny B. Goode

14. Around And Around

15. Carol

16. Beautiful Delilah

17. Memphis

18. Sweet Little Rock And Roller

19. Little Queenie

20. Almost Grown

21. Back In The USA

22. Let It Rock

23. Bye Bye Johnny

24. I'm Talking About You

25. Come On

26. Nadine

27. No Particular Place To Go

28. I Want To Be Your Driver

Charles, Ray: The Very Best of Ray Charles--The Atlantic Years

GENRE: R&B, Soul YEARS: 1953-1958

In his own way, Charles was as revolutionary--and as scandalous--as Elvis Presley. His visionary combination of non-secular and secular fervor birthed soul music, but caused black and white ministers nationwide to damn his soul to Hell; listen carefully to “What’d I Say” to grasp the audacity with which Charles courted his fate. Later, he would just as audaciously claim country music as his (and black America’s) own.

1. It Should've Been Me

2. Don't You Know

3. Blackjack

4. I've Got A Woman

5. What Would I Do Without You

6. Greenbacks

7. Come Back

8. Fool For You, A

9. This Little Girl Of Mine

10. Hallelujah I Love Her So

11. Lonely Avenue

12. It's Alright

13. Ain't That Love

14. Swanee River Rock (Talkin' 'Bout That River)

15. That's Enough

16. What'd I Say (Part 1)

17. Right Time, (Night Time Is) The

18. Drown In My Own Tears

19. Tell The Truth - (live)

20. Just For A Thrill

Coltrane, John: A Love Supreme—Deluxe Edition
GENRE: Jazz YEARS: 1964-1965

Perhaps the most intense spiritual music ever recorded in America, surely the only piece of music to inspire the founding of a church. Tenor soxophonist Coltrane wrote A Love Supreme as a gift of gratitude to God, and it has the power to convert listeners not just to jazz but religious belief—I kid you not. All four members of the quartet play at an elevated level; student drummers who have never heard Elvin Jones may have their heads rearranged. The second disc of this package includes the only recorded live version of the piece, as well as rejected segments of the studio recording made with additional musicians.

1. Acknowledgement Part 1

2. Resolution Part 2

3. Pursuance Part 3

4. Psalm Part 4

DISC 2:

1. Introduction - Andre Francis

2. Acknowledgement Part 1 - (live)

3. Resolution Part 2 - (live)

4. Pursuance Part 3 - (live)

5. Psalm Part 4 - (live)

6. Resolution Part 2 - (alternate take)

7. Resolution Part 2 - (breakdown)

8. Acknowledgement Part 1 - (alternate take)

9. Acknowledgement Part 1 - (alternate take)

Davis, Miles: Kind of Blue

GENRE: Jazz YEAR: 1959

You say you don’t like modern jazz? Because you don’t “get” it? Here’s an excellent place to begin changing your mind. Though, as usual with trumpeter Davis, it’s very experimental—modal composition and improvisation—all you need to respond is working ears and emotions. Particularly fascinating is the contrast between Miles’ stark, spare lines and tenor man John Coltrane’s (see A Love Supreme, above) turbulent, searching solos. There’s nothing to “get,” really—if you’ve ever felt what the title suggests.

1. So What

2. Freddie Freeloader

3. Blue In Green

4. All Blues

5. Flamenco Sketches

6. Flamenco Sketches - (alternate take)

Ellington, Duke: Ken Burns Jazz

GENRE: Jazz YEARS: 1927-1960

Ellington was the greatest and most prolific American composer of the 20^th century, so it’s impossible to adequately represent him in a three-CD box, much less a single disc. But this collection spans 33 years and 4 labels and features most of his “greatest hits” (the two strengths of this disturbingly named series), so it’s a great starter. Ellington fused European traditions to the new music with wondrous results (reminiscent of transplanted Africans using the Christianity that was forced on them as a source of sustenance and a tool of resistance), though most of his lengthier, more complex compositions didn’t make the cut.

That makes room, however, for 21 Ducal diamonds. Be vigilant for the hot buttered rum of Johnny Hodges’s alto saxophone!

1. East St. Louis Toodle-oo

2. Black And Tan Fantasy

3. Take It Easy

4. Mooche, The

5. Rockin' In Rhythm

6. Mood Indigo

7. Creole Rhapsody

8. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)

9. Creole Love Call

10. Sophisticated Lady

11. Solitude

12. Caravan

13. Back Room Romp

14. Ko-Ko

15. Never No Lament (aka Don't Get Around Much Any More)

16. Cotton Tail

17. Take The "A" Train

18. Satin Doll

19. Jeep's Blues - (live)

20. Come Sunday (from "Black, Brown And Beige")

21. Black Beauty

Guthrie, Woody: Dust Bowl Ballads

GENRE: Folk, Country YEAR: 1940

The soundtrack to Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, in 14 songs. “Some folks rob you with a six-gun/And some with a fountain pen,” huh? “The gambling man is rich/And the working man is poor”? Indeed. Besides his epic “Tom Joad” (in two parts), many of Guthrie’s masterpieces are here, such “Pretty Boy Floyd,” “Do Re Mi,” “I Ain’t Got No Home,” and “Vigilante Man,” making it essential listening for any young populist.

1. Great Dust Storm, The (Dust Storm Disaster)

2. I Ain't Got No Home

3. Talking Dust Bowl Blues

4. Vigilante Man

5. Dust Can't Kill Me

6. Dust Pneumonia Blues

7. Pretty Boy Floyd

8. Blowin' Down The Road (I Ain't Gonna To Be Treated This Way)

9. Tom Joad (Part 1)

10. Tom Joad (Part 2)

11. Dust Bowl Refugee

12. Do Re Mi

13. Dust Bowl Blues

14. Dusty Old Dust (So Long It's Been Good To Know Yuh)

15. Dust Bowls Blues - (alternate take)

Holiday, Billie: Lady Day—The Best of Billie Holiday

GENRE: Jazz Vocal YEARS: 1935-1941

“She has the worst voice I’ve ever heard,” a Hickman student once remarked in outrage after first experiencing Holiday. If you go in expecting Celine Dion or Mariah Carey, you may well agree; however, if you keep your ears and mind open, you’ll hear one of the most original and inimitable singers to grace the planet. One thing about “good voices” with “great range”: they can’t alchemize. Holiday, on the other hand, could take the worst piece of Tin Pan Alley trash (like “Me, Myself, and I”) and transmute it into gold with her trumpet-like tone, laconic rhythmic sense, and crafty brain. She influenced every vocalist within earshot, particularly Frank Sinatra, who praised her at every turn, and her studio musicians were the finest jazz instrumentalists of the day. 36 classics across two discs.

DISC 1:

1. What A Little Moonlight Can Do

2. These Foolish Things

3. I Cried For You

4. Summertime

5. Billie's Blues

6. If You Were Mine

7. Fine Romance, A

8. Easy To Love

9. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm

10. I Must Have That Man!

11. Me, Myself And I

12. They Can't Take That Away From Me

13. Easy Living

14. Sailboat In The Moonlight, A

15. Trav'lin' All Alone

16. When A Woman Loves A Man

17. You Go To My Head

18. My Man

DISC 2:

1. I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me

2. Very Thought Of You, The

3. I Can't Get Started

4. Long Gone Blues

5. Sugar

6. Some Other Spring

7. Them There Eyes

8. Man I Love, The

9. Body And Soul

10. Swing, Brother, Swing

11. Night And Day

12. Let's Do It

13. God Bless The Child

14. Solitude

15. I Cover The Waterfront

16. Gloomy Sunday

17. Until The Real Thing Comes Along, (It Will Have To Do)

18. All Of Me

Howlin’ Wolf: Howlin’ Wolf/Moanin’ in the Moonlight

GENRE: Blues YEARS: 1951-1961

THE Chicago blues album (actually, two on one disc), though it sure sounds a lot like rock and roll. Besides showcasing the Plato’s Cave version of the Rolling Stones sound (they’ve never caught that shadow, and never quit trying), it has a few other selling points for the modern rock and roll fan. One is the Wolf himself, whose bone-shattering vocals seem to justify even the most extreme sobriquet but which often overshadow his tremendous emotional range (this is not to mention the harsh light they cast on modern “singers”). Another is the band, on most of these 24 cuts propelled by the insane, careening blues guitar of Hubert Sumlin, a man for whom Eric Clapton would have gladly served as valet. The third is the songs, most written by the Shakespeare of the blues, Willie Dixon: “The Little Red Rooster,” “Goin’ Down Slow,” “Smokestack Lightning,” “Evil,” “The Killing Floor,” “Down in the Bottom,” “(I Asked for Water) She Gave Me Gasoline,” “Wang Dang Doodle” (the wildest party in rock and roll history),” “Spoonful,” “Back Door Man.” Those are just the famous ones--made so in the white world by the Yardbirds, Cream, the Doors, the Stones, Jimi Hendrix, the Dead, and others--and it’s not even a greatest hits album. If I had to be stranded on a desert island with one album, it might well be this.

1. Shake For Me

2. Red Rooster, The

3. You'll Be Mine

4. Who's Been Talkin'

5. Wang Dang Doodle

6. Little Baby

7. Spoonful

8. Going Down Slow

9. Down In The Bottom

10. Back Door Man

11. Howlin' For My Baby

12. Tell Me

13. Moanin' At Midnight

14. How Many More Years

15. Smokestack Lightnin'

16. Baby How Long

17. No Place To Go

18. All Night Boogie

19. Evil

20. I'm Leavin' You

21. Moanin' For My Baby

22. I Asked For Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)

23. Forty Four

24. Somebody In My Home

Johnson, Robert: King of the Delta Blues Singers

GENRE: Blues YEARS: 1936-1937

Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones have long pledged allegiance to Johnson, and here’s why. Studded with classics like “Cross Road Blues” (literally the stuff from which legends have been made), “Me and the Devil Blues,” and “Hellhound on My Trail,” this 1998 reissue also features the clearest, most vibrant sound ever on a Johnson record. Recommended reading: Greil Marcus’s chapter on Johnson in Mystery Train, available in the LARC. Supplementary listening: The Roots of Robert Johnson (see below), which demystifies his musical and lyrical styles at no expense to the artist’s greatness.

1. Crossroads Blues

2. Terraplane Blues

3. Come On In My Kitchen

4. Walkin' Blues

5. Last Fair Deal Gone Down

6. 32-20 Blues

7. Kind Hearted Woman Blues

8. If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day

9. Preachin' Blues (Up Jumped The Devil)

10. When You Got A Good Friend

11. Ramblin' On My Mind

12. Stones In My Passway

13. Traveling Riverside Blues

14. Milkcow's Calf Blues

15. Me And The Devil Blues

16. Hellhound On My Trail

17. Traveling Riverside Blues - (previously unreleased, alternate take)

Jordan, Louis: The Best of Louis Jordan

GENRE: Jump Blues, Jazz, R&B

Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, and Sonny Rollins all have one thing in common: when asked who inspired them to become musicians, who influenced their writing, playing, and performing, they all answered, “Louis Jordan.” He’s nearly a household word among music aficionados, but, sadly, he’s relatively obscure to the general public. That’s a shame, because his music’s funny and infectious, and it swings like a rusty axe. Also, as a depiction of the cultural life of African-Americans during the years before and after World War II, it can’t be beat; the man certainly taught Chuck Berry how to write with specific detail, and nobody’s ever written better or more often about food. Though Jordan’s been accused of shucking and jiving, the sly wit that prevails throughout these 20 songs indicates he had a mask on.

1. Choo Choo Ch'Boogie

2. Let The Good Times Roll

3. Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens

4. Saturday Night Fish Fry

5. Beware

6. Caldonia

7. Knock Me A Kiss

8. Run Joe

9. School Days (When We Were Kids)

10. Blue Light Boogie

11. Five Guys Named Moe

12. What's The Use Of Getting Sober

13. Buzz Me Blues

14. Beans And Corn Bread

15. Don't Let The Sun Catch You Cryin'

16. Somebody Done Changed The Lock On My Door

17. Barnyard Boogie

18. Early In The Mornin'

19. I Want You To Be My Baby

20. Nobody Knows You When You Are Down And Out

Kerouac, Jack: Reads On the Road

GENRE: Spoken Word YEAR: Late 1950s

The title’s deceptive. Jack actually reads from On the Road for about 30 minutes, delivers two long poems (with new music composed by David Amram), and sings (yes, sings) 5 standards. Still, it’s very much worth your time, especially if you’re a Beat nut. Add-on: Tom Waits and Primus’s 4-minute On the Road interp.

1. Ain't We Got Fun

2. On The Road (Jazz Of The Beat Generation)

3. On The Road

4. Come Rain Or Shine

5. Orizaba 210 Blues - (with David Amram)

6. When A Woman Loves A Man

7. Leavin' Town

8. Washington DC Blues - (with The David Amram Ensemble)

9. On The Road - Tom Waits/Primus

Little Richard: The Georgia Peach

GENRE: Rock and Roll YEARS: 1955-1957

To paraphrase Greil Marcus, anarchy in the U. S. A., two decades before punk rock. Gay, black, slightly deformed, vocally and tonsorially louder than an air raid siren, he still made it onto white kids’ turntables—and the country hasn’t been the same since. Kids (and adults) who consider him a joke may be surprised at the electric shock of “Long Tall Sally,” “Tutti Frutti,” and the panting, gasping madness of “Jenny Jenny.”

1. Tutti Frutti

2. Baby - (bonus track)

3. I'm Just A Lonely Guy - (bonus track)

4. True Fine Mama - (bonus track)

5. Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey

6. Slippin' And Slidin' (Peepin' And Hidin')

7. Long Tall Sally

8. Miss Ann

9. Oh Why? - (bonus track)

10. Ready Teddy

11. Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey - (bonus track)

12. Rip It Up

13. Lucille

14. Heeby-Jeebies - (bonus track)

15. Can't Believe You Wanna Leave - (bonus track)

16. Shake A Hand - (bonus track)

17. All Around The World - (bonus track)

18. She's Got It

19. Jenny Jenny

20. Good Golly Miss Molly

21. Girl Can't Help It, The

22. Send Me Some Lovin'

23. Ooh! My Soul

24. Keep A Knockin'

25. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On

Miller, Emmett: Minstrel Man From Georgia

GENRE: Pop, Jazz, Blues, Country Vocal YEARS: 1928-1929

One of the most fascinating figures in American music. Author Nick Tosches describes Miller’s achievement as a “transcendence of the bloodlines of country and blues, jazz and pop, black and white…prophecy and summation.” As amazing as it is that such an obscure figure could have been such a strong influence on artists like Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams, Bob Wills, and Merle Haggard—each of whom could quote Miller chapter and verse—it’s even more amazing that such timeless music could grow out of such a dubious tradition as minstrelsy (“whites imitating blacks imitating whites,” as Tosches calls it). The 20 songs include “Right Or Wrong,” “Big Bad Bill (is Sweet William Now),” “I Ain’t Got Nobody,” “Lovesick Blues,” and “She’s Funny That Way.” Readers of a certain age may be muttering to themselves, “This guy did those songs?!!” Exactly.

1. God's River

2. I Ain't Got Nobody

3. Lovesick Blues

4. Lion Tamers, The

5. Anytime

6. St. Louis Blues

7. Take Your Tomorrow

8. Dusky Stevedore

9. I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None O' This Jelly Roll

10. She's Funny That Way, (I Got A Woman Crazy For Me)

11. You Lose

12. Right Or Wrong

13. That's The Good Old Sunny South

14. You're The Cream In My Coffee

15. Lovin' Sam (The Sheik Of Alabam')

16. Big Bad Bill Is Sweet William Now

17. Ghost Of The St. Louis Blues, The

18. Sweet Mama (Papa's Getting Mad)

19. Pickaninnies' Paradise, The

20. Blues Singer (From Alabam'), The

Monk, Thelonious: The Best of the Blue Note Years

GENRE: Jazz YEARS: 1947-1952

Pianist Monk was called the “High Priest of Bop,” but what he played wasn’t bebop—it was, well, Thelonious Monk music. He not only took “mistakes”—dissonances, long pauses, jarring juxtapositions of notes, to name just a few—and turned them into a style, but he made them catchy, as the listener will find after two listens to this compilation. If that weren’t enough, he also carried the entire history of jazz in his head and fingers. A truly unique composer and player.

1. Thelonious

2. Ruby My Dear

3. Well You Needn't

4. April In Paris

5. Monk's Mood

6. In Walked Bud

7. Round Midnight

8. Evidence

9. Misterioso

10. Epistrophy

11. I Mean You

12. Four In One

13. Criss Cross

14. Straight No Chaser

15. Ask Me Now

16. Skippy

Monroe, Bill, and His Bluegrass Boys: The Father of Bluegrass (The Early Years 1940-1947)

GENRE: Bluegrass YEARS: 1940-1947

25 songs from the years during which Monroe was inventing the genre. 10 of them feature the lineup many experts call the greatest bluegrass group of all-time, with Monroe’s mandolin and piercing vocals augmented by Lester Flatt’s rhythm guitar and Earl Scruggs’s revolutionary banjo. Picks to click: “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” “Molly and Tenbrooks,” and “In the Pines” (covered by Kurt Cobain on Nirvana’s Unplugged record).

1. Kentucky Waltz

2. Back Up And Push

3. Orange Blossom Special

4. In The Pines

5. Blue Yodel No. 7

6. Dog House Blues

7. Blue Grass Breakdown

8. Honky Tonk Swing

9. Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong

10. Tennessee Blues

11. Heavy Traffic Ahead

12. Footprints In The Snow

13. Blue Moon Of Kentucky

14. Blue Yodel No. 4

15. Six White Horses

16. Rocky Road Blues

17. Katy Hill

18. My Rose Of Old Kentucky

Morton, Jelly Roll: Bluebird’s Best--The Jazz King of New Orleans

GENRE: Jazz YEARS: 1926-1929

He didn’t invent jazz--he just said he did. No matter: for imaginatively arranged, fully interactive large-group “hot music,” he could not be touched. The performances included here, from his heyday in the mid- to late-’20s, helped provide a bridge from the ragtime and Dixieland era to swing by incorporating the former two and anticipating the latter, but, beyond historical significance, they are classic examples of how exciting and alive “the old stuff” still is to the receptive listener.

1. Black Bottom Stomp

2. Steamboat Stomp

3. Cannon Ball Blues

4. Doctor Jazz

5. Jungle Blues

6. Original Jelly Roll Blues

7. Someday Sweetheart

8. Pearls, The

9. Shreveport

10. Mournful Serenade

11. Red Hot Pepper Stomp

12. New Orleans Bump

13. Blue Blood Blues

14. Gambling Jack

15. Winin' Boy Blues

Charlie Parker: Best of the Savoy and Dial Recordings

GENRE: Jazz YEARS: 1944-1948

The recordings that changed the face of jazz forever. Intricately woven themes full of hairpin turns springboard “Bird” into breakneck improvs that still sound fresh and stunning a half-century later-- hornmen are still imitating him. Case in point: the unaccompanied alto break on “A Night In Tunisia,” one of the greatest moments in recorded jazz. He could break hearts on ballads as well. This neat compilation brings together for the first time Parker’s best recordings for both labels; his sidemen include Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and Bud Powell.

1. Tiny's Tempo

2. Koko

3. Moose The Mooche

4. Yardbird Suite

5. Ornithology

6. Max Making Wax

7. Night In Tunisia

8. Cool Blues

9. Relaxin' At Camarillo

10. Chasin' The Bird

11. Cheryl

12. Milestones

13. Embraceable You

14. Scrapple From The Apple

15. Out Of Nowhere

16. Quasimodo-B

17. Crazeology-D

18. Bluebird - 1

19. Parker's Mood-2

20. Merry-Go-Round

Presley, Elvis: The Complete Sun Sessions

GENRE: Rockabilly YEAR: 1954

This, cats and kittens, is the skinny Elvis, the hungry Elvis, the visionary Elvis--the Elvis whose ghost still haunts us. Nope, he didn’t invent rock and roll, but he had a heart and mind so liberated he didn’t see why a poor white kid couldn’t sing everything he loved, as he does here: black blues, R&B, and vocal group ballads, white country, swing, bluegrass, and pop, black and white gospel. As such, he was an excellent American, and when, after crowding the audiences of those musics together (a public school of the turntable), he also vaulted from eating lard sandwiches for lunch to handing out Cadillacs to his help, he became the American Dream. You know the rest, as they say, but if you think that means his achievement doesn’t count, you’re in denial. None of the monster hits are here, but the monster hits don’t get within shouting distance of the steaming “Mystery Train,” the clarion “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” the scorching “Tryin’ to Get to You,” the salacious “Baby, Let’s Play House,” the ethereal “Blue Moon.” As a special bonus for you scholars, the alternate takes capture the musical epiphany that changed the world.

1. That's All Right

2. Blue Moon Of Kentucky

3. Good Rockin' Tonight

4. I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine

5. Milkcow Blues Boogie

6. You're A Heartbreaker

7. Baby, Let's Play House

8. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone

9. Mystery Train

10. I Forgot To Remember To Forget

11. I Love You Because

12. Blue Moon

13. Tomorrow Night

14. I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')

15. Just Because

16. Trying To Get To You

17. Harbor Lights

18. I Love You Because (take 2)

19. That's All Right

20. Blue Moon Of Kentucky

21. I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine

22. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone (take 9)

23. I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')

24. When It Rains, It Really Pours

25. I Love You Because (take 3)

26. I Love You Because (take 5)

27. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone (take 7)

28. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone (My Baby's Gone) (take 12)

Rodgers, Jimmie: RCA Country Legends

GENRE: Country YEARS: 1927-1933

“You’ll find my name/On the tail of my shirt/I’m a Tennessee hustler/And I don’t have to work,” The Singing Brakeman bragged on “Blue Yodel #9, and he had the right. Though his vocals and guitar seemed limited, he boasted a dazzling arsenal of seductions, ranging from sly, sentimental nostalgia like “Miss the Mississippi and You” to the lowdown dirt of “Jimmie’s Mean Mama Blues.” With Bob Wills, Bill Monroe, and the Carter Family, the wellspring of country music.

1. Blue Yodel (T For Texas)

2. Mississippi Delta Blues

3. Peach Pickin' Time In Georgia

4. My Blue-Eyed Jane

5. Train Whistle Blues

6. Blue Yodel #9

7. Let Me Be Your Side Track

8. Blue Yodel #8 (Mule Skinner Blues)

9. My Good Gal's Gone Blues

10. Travellin' Blues

11. Jimmie's Mean Mamma Blues

12. Miss The Mississippi And You

13. Any Old Time

14. Why There's A Tear In My Eye

15. Gambling Polka Dot Blues

16. No Hard Times

17. Jimmie Rodger's Last Blue Yodel

Sinatra, Frank: Songs for Swingin’ Lovers

GENRE: Pop YEARS: 1955-1956

Ol’ Eyes was never better than when couched in Nelson Riddle’s arrangements and armed with standards by Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Gus Kahn, and other Tin Pan Alley masters, and that’s the situation on this masterpiece. Very low on corn, very high on swing, and a compelling argument for claims that Frank was as much a jazz as a pop singer.

1. You Make Me Feel So Young

2. It Happened In Monterey

3. You're Getting To Be A Habit With Me

4. You Brought A New Kind Of Love To Me

5. Too Marvelous For Words

6. Old Devil Moon

7. Pennies From Heaven

8. Love Is Here To Stay

9. I've Got You Under My Skin

10. I Thought About You

11. We'll Be Together Again

12. Makin' Whoopee

13. Swingin' Down The Lane

14. Anything Goes

15. How About You?

Thompson, Butch: Thompson Plays Joplin

GENRE: Ragtime YEARS: Music (1899-1914); Performance (1998)

Thompson, who shows up to play in Columbia occasionally, invigorates Scott Joplin’s music rather than embalms it (the usual method). His interpretations aren’t radical; it’s just that they’re light and playful, thus truer to the originals than all but the best high-art recitals.

1. Maple Leaf Rag

2. Bethena: A Concert Waltz

3. Swipsey Cakewalk

4. Wall Street Rag

5. Ragtime Dance

6. Solace: A Mexican Serenade

7. Pine Apple Rag

8. Heliotrope Bouquet

9. Elite Syncopations

10. Lily Queen

11. Euphonic Sounds

12. Cascades, The

13. Magnetic Rag

Turner, Big Joe: The Very Best of Big Joe Turner

GENRE: R&B YEARS: 1951-1959

When swing reigned, he was swing. When boogie woogie was at its peak, he was boogie woogie. When jump blues eclipsed the big bands, he was jump blues. When “race music” became “rhythm and blues,” he was R&B. And when rock and roll broke, of course, Big Joe was rock and roll. The thing was, from his beginnings in the Thirties to his death in the early Eighties, his sound never changed. Thus, his very existence proved the link between the styles, and made the idea that Elvis birthed rock and roll even more preposterous. This collection cherry-picks his Atlantic recordings, made as he saw the music he’d always made spill out of the juke joints into the malt shops. Must have been quite a trip.

1. Chains Of Love

2. Sweet Sixteen

3. Honey Hush

4. TV Mama

5. Oke-She-Moke-She-Pop

6. Shake, Rattle And Roll

7. Well All Right

8. Flip Flop And Fly

9. Hide And Seek

10. Midnight Cannonball

11. Chicken And The Hawk (Up, Up And Away), The

12. Boogie Woogie Country Girl

13. Corrine Corrina

14. You're Driving Me Crazy (What Did I Do?)

15. Midnight Special Train

16. Tomorrow Night

Williams, Hank: The Ultimate Collection

GENRE: Country YEARS: 1947-1952

Considering that the Hillbilly Shakespeare wrote at least half of the 100 greatest country songs of all time before he stepped on a rainbow at 29, the compilers do an excellent job of justifying this collection’s title. Hank had all the tools: a voice that cut, a pen that channeled the universal soul, and a stripped-down band that swung and stayed out of the way. You think you don’t like country? Give this an honest sampling, and report back to me.

1. I Saw The Light

2. Mansion On The Hill, A

3. Honky Tonkin'

4. Move It On Over

5. You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave)

6. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

7. Mind Your Own Business

8. My Bucket's Got A Hole In It

9. Long Gone Lonesome Blues

10. Cold, Cold Heart

11. Howlin' At The Moon

12. I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)

13. Hey, Good Lookin'

14. Ramblin' Man - Luke The Drifter

15. I Dreamed About Mama Last Night - Luke The Drifter

16. Lonesome Whistle, (I Heard That)

17. Honky Tonk Blues

18. Half As Much

19. Jambalaya (On The Bayou)

20. Settin' The Woods On Fire

21. I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive

22. You Win Again

DISC 2:

1. Your Cheatin' Heart

2. Please Make Up Your Mind - Luke The Drifter

3. Kaw-Liga

4. Take These Chains From My Heart

5. Rockin' Chair Money

6. Please Don't Let Me Love You

7. Someday You'll Call My Name

8. Cool Water

9. First Year Blues

10. Alone And Forsaken

11. Angel Of Death, The

12. Ready To Go Home

13. There's A Tear In My Beer

14. Weary Blues From Waitin'

15. Why Don't You Love Me

16. Moanin' The Blues

17. I'm A Long Gone Daddy

18. Lost Highway

19. I Can't Get You Off Of My Mind

20. Lovesick Blues

Various Artists: 25 All-Time Doo Wop Hits

GENRE: Doo Wop YEARS: 1957-1963

One disc is not enough, but for now this will have to do. As an odds-against leap for the brass ring of the American Dream, doo wop anticipated rap: get a few guys together, hone your songs, finagle your way in to sing for the man—and maybe one day your name will be in lights. But where rap’s vision gradually narrowed into pessimism, doo woppers always sang of an ethereal romantic utopia, either newly gained or lost. As such, it’s a little corny—but, boy, is it beautiful. Again, one couldn’t possibly get all the essentials on one disc, but “In the Still of the Night,” “Over the Mountain, Across the Sea,” “What Time Is It?”, “We Belong Together,” “The Closer You Are,” “A Sunday Kind of Love,” and “Since I Don’t Have You” make a fearsome guts-of-the-lineup.

1. Get A Job - The Silhouettes

2. Church Bells May Ring - The Willows

3. In The Still Of The Night, (I'll Remember) - The Five Satins

4. Casual Look, A - The Six-Teens

5. Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine) - The Penguins

6. Lover's Island - The Blue Jays

7. Tonight I Fell In Love - The Tokens

8. Deserie - The Charts

9. There's A Moon Out Tonight - The Capris

10. Over The Mountain, Across The Sea - Johnnie & Joe

11. Till Then - The Classics

12. What's Your Name - Don & Juan

13. To Be Loved (Forever) - The Pentagons

14. 16 Candles - The Crests

15. Babalu's Wedding Day - The Eternals

16. Diamonds And Pearls - The Paradons

17. Who's That Knocking - The Genies

18. What Time Is It? - The Jive Five

19. We Belong Together - Robert & Johnny

20. Nite Owl - Tony Allen & The Champs

21. Sunday Kind Of Love, A - The Harptones

22. Closer You Are, The - The Channels

23. Walking Along - The Solitaires

24. Remember Then - The Earls

25. Since I Don't Have You - The Skyliners

Various Artists: American Pop: From Minstrels to Mojos

GENRE: Various YEARS: 1899-1946

If you want to understand the development of American music up to World War II, there’s no better place to start than this exemplary 9-disc box. Beginning with a scratchy 100+ year-old minstrel recording and ending with a harbinger of free jazz, starring legendary giants from Al Jolson to Dizzy Gillespie and shadowy cult figures from Emmett Miller to Washboard Sam, it’s a bottomless well of weird water, kids—and it was popular. Complete with exhaustive notes.

DISC 1:

1. Mama's Black Baby Boy - The Unique Quartette

2. Poor Mourner - Cousins And De Moss

3. Coon Band Contest, A - Vess Ossman

4. Cakewalk - Unknown

5. Pasquinale - Sousa Band

6. Bill Bailey - Arthur Collins

7. Nobody - Bert Williams

8. Grand Old Rag - Billy Murray

9. De Little Old Log Cabin In De Lane - Carrol C. Clark/Vess Ossman

10. Bully, The - May Irwin

11. Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly? - Nora Bayes

12. You Made Me Love Me - Al Jolson

13. Hungarian Rag - The New York Military Band

14. Down Home Rag - James Reese Europe

15. Desecration Rag - Felix Arndt

16. Memphis Blues - Victor Military Band

17. That's The Kind Of Baby For Me - Eddie Cantor

18. Tiger Rag - The Original Dixieland Jazz Band

19. After You've Gone - Marion Harris

20. Memphis Blues - James Reese Europe

21. Royal Garden Blues - Mamie Smth's Jazz Hounds

22. Sweet Man O' Mine - Mamie Smith

23. Love Will Find A Way - Sissle & Blake

24. Sounds Of Africa - Eubie Blake

25. Keep Off The Grass - James P. Johnson

DISC 2:

1. Society Blues - Kid Ory's Sunshine Orchestra

2. Ragtime Annie - Eck Robertson

3. It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo' - Wendell Hall

4. Original Charleston Strut - Thomas Morris

5. Old Hen Cackled And The Rooster's Gonna Crow, The - Fiddlin' John Carson

6. New Orlean Joys - Jelly Roll Morton

7. Kansas City Man Blues - Sidney Bechet

8. Elephant's Wobble - Benny Moten's Kansas City Orchestra

9. Working Man Blues - King Oliver

10. Lucky Rock Blues - Ma Rainey

11. Chicago Stomp - Jimmy Blythe

12. Johnny Dunn's Cornet Blues - Johnny Dunn

13. California Here I Come - Cliff Edwards

14. Prisoner's Song - Vernon Dalhart

15. Ezekiel Saw De Wheel - Elkins-Payne Jubilee Singers

16. Suitcase Blues - Hersal Thomas

17. When The Work's All Done This Fall - Carl Sprague

18. Sugar Hill - Crockett Ward & His Boys

19. Candy Girl - Uncle Bunt Stephens

20. Long Lonesome Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson

21. It's All Right Now - Arizona Dranes

22. Sweet And Low Down - George Gerswhin (piano solo)

23. Stockyard Strut - Freddie Keppard

24. Cross-Eyed Butcher And The Cacklin' Hen, The - Uncle Dave Macon

DISC 3:

1. Black Bottom Stomp - Jelly Roll Morton

2. Flop Eared Mule - Kahle Brewer

3. Country Blues - Doc Boggs

4. New Jelly Roll Blues - Peg Leg Howell

5. After You've Gone - Sophie Tucker

6. Guitar Rag - Sylvester Weaver

7. I'm Coming Virginia - Bing Crosby/Paul Whiteman

8. My Pretty Girl - Jean Goldkette

9. Woke Up With The Blues In My Fingers - Lonnie Johnson

10. I'm Coming Virginia - Frankie Trumbauer/Bix Beiderbecke

11. Old Hickory Cane, The - Ernest Stoneman

12. There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood - The Giddens Sisters

13. Blue Guitar Stomp - Clifford Hayes

14. Silhouette - Rube Bloom

15. No More Goodbyes - Ernest Stoneman et al.

16. O' Molly Dear - B.F. Shelton

17. Pick Poor Robin Clean - Luke Jordan

18. Honolulu Blues - Red Nichols/Miff Mole

19. Train Forty-Five - Grayson & Whitter

20. Mama 'Taint Long For Day - Blind Willie McTell

21. My Money Never Runs Out - Gus Cannon

22. Motherless Chile Blues - Barbecue Bob

23. Washboard Blues - Hoagy Carmichael

24. Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground - Blind Willie Johnson

DISC 4:

1. Dallas Rag - The Dallas String Band

2. Deep Elm - Willard Robison

3. Cool Drink Of Water Blues - Tommy Johnson

4. Black Beauty - Duke Ellington

5. Somethin' Doin' - Hayes & Prater

6. Antioch - Allison's Sacred Harp Singers

7. Ham Beats All Meat - Dr. Humphrey Bate

8. Melancholy Baby - Paul Whiteman

9. Lovesick Blues - Emmett Miller

10. Fishing Blues - Henry Thomas

11. Wild Cat - Joe Venuti/Eddie Lang

12. Indiana - Frank Teschemacher/Eddie Condon/Joe Sullivan/Gene Krupa

13. Oysters & Wine At 2 A.M. - Polk Miller & His Old South Quartette

14. Lonesome Swallow - Ethel Waters

15. Rolling Log Blues - Lottie Beamon

16. How Long - Frank Stokes

17. Miner's Blues, The - Frank Hutchinson

18. Ice Water Blues - Deford Bailey

19. Acorn Stomp - East Texas Serenaders

20. Heavy Hearted Blues - Tarlton & Darby

21. Next Week Sometime - Alex Johnson

22. Tell Me Woman Blues - Texas Alexander

23. Just Too Soon - Earl Hines

24. Tight Like This - Louis Armstrong

DISC 5:

1. Away Out On The Mountain - Riley Puckett

2. Baby Please Loan Me Your Heart - Papa Charlie Jackson

3. Jump Steady Blues - Pinetop Smith

4. Get Away From My Window (Stay Away) - Butterbeans & Susie

5. Madame Young - Dennis McGee/Sady Courville

6. Till Times Get Better - Jabbo Smith

7. He Rambled - Charlie Poole

8. Feelin' The Spirit - Louis Russell

9. Blind Arthur's Breakdown - Blind Blake

10. K.C. Moan - Memphis Jug Band

11. You Don't Understand - Bessie Smith

12. Hell Broke Loose In Georgia - The Skillet Lickers

13. Squabblin' - Walter Page's Blue Devils

14. There'll Be No Distinction There - Blind Alfred Reed

15. You Got To Wet It - Frankie Jaxon

16. I Hate A Man Like You - Lizzie Miles

17. Dry Spell Blues (Part 1) - Son House

18. Motherless Children - Bessemer Melody Boys

19. Don't Think I'm Santa Claus - Lil McClintock

20. Guitar Rag - Roy Harvey/Jess Johnston

21. Devil Got My Woman - Skip James

22. Draggin' My Heart Around - Fats Waller

DISC 6:

1. So Sorry Dear - Two Poor Boys

2. Get On Board Aunt Susan - Jimmie Davis

3. Let Me Be Your Sidetrack - Jimmie Rodgers

4. Stardust - Louis Armstrong

5. Last Kind Word Blues - Geeshie Wiley

6. Tiger Rag - Art Tatum

7. Shanghai Rooster Yodel #2 - Cliff Carlisle

8. Washboard Blues - Connee Boswell

9. Darkness On The Delta (When It's) - Isham Jones

10. Moten Swing - Benny Moten's Kansas City Orchestra

11. Home On The Range - Lee Sims

12. Dance Of The Octopus - Red Norvo

13. I've Got The Big River Blues - Delmore Brothers

14. Montana Plains - Patsy Montana

15. Bay Rum Blues - Gwenn Foster

16. My Swiss Moonlight Lullaby - Wilf Carter

17. Someday Sweetheart - Bing Crosby

18. Railroad Blues - Sam McGhee

19. Down South Camp Meeting - Fletcher Henderson

20. Bring Up Breakdown - Arthur Schutt

21. Dinah - Boswell Sisters

22. Some Of These Days - Milt Brown

23. Fiddler's Dream - Fiddlin' Arthur Smith

DISC 7:

1. When The Sun Goes Down (In The Evening) - Scrapper Blackwell/Leroy Carr

2. What's The Reason - Mills Brothers

3. Sola - Lydia Mendoza

4. Swanee River - Jimmie Lunceford

5. It Never Dawned On Me - Teddy Wilson

6. Tillie's Downtown Now - Bunny Berrigan

7. Honeysuckle Rose - Mildred Bailey

8. I'm In The Mood For Love - Adelaide Hall

9. River Blues - Bill Boyd

10. I Want You By My Side - Jazz Gillum

11. I'm Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail - Blue Sky Boys

12. Dinah - Benny Goodman

13. I Can't Give You Anything But Love - Billie Holiday

14. Liza - Don Albert & His Orch.

15. If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day - Robert Johnson

16. Church In The Wildwood, The - Chuck Wagon Gang

17. Cross Street Swing - Original Yellow Jackets

18. Good Morning Little School Girl - Sonny Boy Williamson

19. Topsy - Count Basie

20. Dust - Gene Autry

21. Diminuendo In Blue - Duke Ellington

22. Cowboy Night Herd Song - Roy Rogers

23. Road To Ruin, The - St. Louis Jimmy Oden

24. Body And Soul - Larry Adler/Django Reinhardt

25. Little Joe - Carter Family

DISC 8:

1. Let That Liar Alone - Golden Gate Quartet

2. You're Okay - Bob Wills

3. Deep Purple - Art Tatum

4. P.L.K. Special - Jimmy Yancey

5. If Dreams Come True - James P. Johnson

6. Stairway To The Stars - Ella Fitzgerald

7. Walk Around - The Soul Stirrers

8. I'm Always Dreaming Of You - Floyd Tillman

9. Muleskinner Blues - Roy Acuff

10. I Ain't Got No Home - Woody Guthrie

11. After Hours - Erskine Hawkins

12. Oh Yes? Take Another Guess - Hank Penny

13. Sugar - Lee Wiley

14. Seldom The Sun - Alec Wilder

15. Mule Skinner Blues - Bill Monroe

16. Piney Brown's Blues - Big Joe Turner

17. Trail Of The Great Divide - Slim Rinehart

18. Walking The Floor Over You - Ernest Tubb

19. Swing To Bop - Charlie Christian

20. Hello Babe - Lil Green

21. I Got The Blues - Big Maceo

22. You Got To Get Out Of Here - Memphis Minnie

23. She's Funny That Way - Frank Sinatra

24. Mean Old Frisco Blues - Arthur Crudup

25. Buster's Last Stand - Claude Thornhill

DISC 9:

1. Rock Daniel - Sister Rosetta Tharpe

2. Indiana - Lester Young/Nat Cole

3. I Got A Break Baby - T. Bone Walker

4. Red River Dam Blues - Washboard Sam

5. Rainbow Mist - Coleman Hawkins

6. Gulf Coast Blues - Charlie Barnet/Roy Elridge

7. Share Croppin Blues - Kay Starr/Charlie Barnet

8. Don't Let That Man Get You Down - Texas Ruby

9. Honeydripper, The - Joe Liggins

10. Indiana - Don Byas

11. Man I Love, The - Artie Shaw

12. In A Mezz - Sammy Price

13. Buzz Me - Ella Mae Morse

14. I Don't Know Enough About You - Peggy Lee

15. Shaw 'Nuff - Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie

16. Don't Let The Sun Catch You Cryin' - Louis Jordan

17. I'll Get Along Somehow - Charles Brown

18. Boogie Woogie Baby - Delmore Brothers

19. This Subdues My Passion - Charles Mingus

20. Filipino Baby - Cowboy Copas

21. I Wish I Was A Single Girl Again - Maddox Brothers And Rose

22. What Is This Thing Called Love - Lennie Tristano

Various Artists: Anthology of American Folk Music

GENRE: Various YEARS: 1927-1934

If by chance you do get to the bottom of American Pop, here’s its underground mirror image: an even stranger world, haunted by cryptic murderers, presidential assassins, ominous birds, animal newlyweds, runaway trains, dead dogs, raving preachers, subversive moles, Indian war whoopers, ghost-horses, lonesome cowboys, and happy fishermen. What else would you expect from a set compiled by a jack-of-all-trades anarchist? And if anything explains Bob Dylan, this does: he knew this 84-song collection backwards and forwards before he turned 21. Featuring the Carter Family, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Dock Boggs, Cannon’s Jug Stompers, Mississippi John Hurt, Charley Patton, Uncle Dave Macon, and a host of other fine Americans.

DISC 1: VOLUME ONE-BALLADS

1. Henry Lee - Dick Justice

2. Fatal Flower Garden - Nelstone's Hawaiians

3. House Carpenter, The - Clarence Ashley

4. Drunkard's Special - Coley Jones

5. Old Lady And The Devil - Bill Reed/Belle Reed

6. Butcher's Boy (The Railroad Boy), The - Buell Kazee

7. Wagoner's Lad (Loving Nancy), The - Buell Kazee

8. King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O - Chubby Parker

9. Old Shoes And Leggins - Uncle Eck Dunford

10. Willie Moore - Burnett And Rutherford

11. Lazy Farmer Boy, A - Buster Carter/Preston Young

12. Peg And Awl - The Carolina Tar Heels

13. Ommie Wise - G.B. Grayson

14. My Name Is John Johanna - Kelly Harrell

DISC 2: VOLUME ONE-BALLADS, CONT.

1. Bandit Cole Younger - Edward L. Crain

2. Charles Giteau - Kelly Harrel

3. John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man - The Carter Family

4. Gonna Die With My Hammer In My Hand - The Willliamson Brothers/Curry

5. Stackalee - Frank Hutchison

6. White House Blues - Charlie Poole/The North Carolina Ramblers

7. Frankie - Mississippi John Hurt

8. When That Great Ship Went Down - William Smith/Versey Smith

9. Engine 143 - The Carter Family

10. Kassie Jones - Furry Lewis

11. Down On Penny's Farm - The Bently Boys

12. Mississippi Boweavil Blues - The Masked Marvel

13. Got The Farm Land Blues - The Carolina Tar Heels

DISC 3: VOLUME TWO-SOCIAL MUSIC

1. Sail Away Lady - Uncle Bunt Stephens

2. Wild Wagoner, The - Jilson Setters

3. Wake Up Jacob - Prince Albert Hunt's Texas Ramblers

4. La Danseuse - Delma Lachney/Blind Uncle Gaspard

5. Georgia Stomp - Andrew Baxter/Jim Baxter

6. Brilliancy Medley - Eck Roberson

7. Indian War Whoop - Hoyt Ming & His Pep Steppers

8. Old Country Stomp - Henry Thomas

9. Old Dog Blue - Jim Jackson

10. Saut Crapaud - Columbus Fruge

11. Acadian One-Step - Joseph Falcon

12. Home Sweet Home - Breaux Freres

13. Newport Blues - The Cincinnati Jug Band

14. Moonshiner's Dance Part One - Frank Cloutier And The Victoria Cafe Orchestra

DISC 4: VOLUME TWO-SOCIAL MUSIC, CONT.

1. You Must Be Born Again - Rev. J.M. Gates

2. Oh Death Where Is Thy Sting - Rev. J.M. Gates

3. Rocky Road - Alabama Sacred Harp Singers

4. Present Joys - Alabama Sacred Harp Singers

5. This Song Of Love - Middle Georgia Singing Convention No. 1

6. Judgement - Sister Mary Nelson

7. He Got Better Things For You - Memphis Sanctified Singers

8. Since I Laid My Burden Down - The Elders McIntorsh/Edwards' Sanctified Singers

9. John The Baptist - Rev. Moses Mason

10. Dry Bones - Bascom Lamar Lunsford

11. John The Revelator - Blind Willie Johnson

12. Little Moses - The Carter Family

13. Shine On Me - Ernest Phipps & Holiness Singers

14. Fifty Miles Of Elbow Room - Rev. F.W. McGee

15. In The Battlefield For My Lord - Rev. D C Rice And Congregation

DISC 5: VOLUME THREE-SONGS

1. Coo Coo Bird, The - Clarence Ashley

2. East Virginia - Buell Kazee

3. Minglewood Blues - Cannon's Jug Stompers

4. I Woke Up One Morning In May - Didier Hebert

5. James Alley Blues - Richard "Rabbit" Brown

6. Sugar Baby - Dock Boggs

7. I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground - Bascom Lamar Lunsford

8. Mountaineer's Courtship, The - Ernest And Hattie Stoneman

9. Spanish Merchant's Daughter, The - The Stoneman Family

10. Bob Lee Junior Blues - The Memphis Jug Band

11. Single Girl, Married Girl - The Carter Family

12. Le Vieux Soulard Et Sa Femme - Cleoma Breaux & Joseph Falcon

13. Rabbit Foot Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson

14. Expressman Blues - Sleepy John Estes/Yank Rachell

DISC 6: VOLUME THREE-SONGS, CONT.

1. Poor Boy Blues - Ramblin' Thomas

2. Feather Bed - Cannon's Jug Stompers

3. Country Blues - Dock Boggs

4. 99 Year Blues - Julius Daniels

5. Prison Cell Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson

6. See That My Grave Is Kept Clean - Blind Lemon Jefferson

7. C'Est Si Triste Sans Lui - Cleoma And Ophy Breaux/Joseph Falcon

8. Way Down The Old Plank Road - Uncle Dave Macon

9. Buddy Won't You Roll Down The Line - Uncle Dave Macon

10. Spike Driver Blues - Mississippi John Hurt

11. K.C. Moan - The Memphis Jug Band

12. Train On The Island - J.P. Nestor

13. Lone Star Trail, The - Ken Maynard

14. Fishing Blues - Henry Thomas

Various Artists: Good News—100 Gospel Greats

GENRE: Gospel YEARS: 1926-1951

Enough to convert a hardened atheist: an all-star black gospel revival sprawling across four CDs, with no dip in inspiration (of any kind). The lineup: the Dixie Hummingbirds, the Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet, Sister Rosetta Tharpe (whom Elvis regularly sprinted home from high school to catch on the radio, and who played a nasty electric guitar), Dorothy Love Coates, the Five Blind Boys of both Alabama and Mississippi, Mahalia Jackson, and many, many more. Hallelujah, indeed.

DISC ONE - Everytime I Feel The Spirit

1. Birmingham Jubilee Singers HE TOOK MY SINS AWAY (Trad.) P 1926

2. Norfolk Jubilee Quartet WONDER WHERE IS THE GAMBLING MAN (Trad.) P1927

3. Norfolk Jubilee Quartet DIDN’T IT RAIN (Trad.) P 1937

4. Bryant’s Jubilee Quartet EVERYTIME I FEEL THE SPIRIT (Trad.) P 1928

5. Silver Leaf Quartet of Norfolk WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN (Trad.) P 1930

6. Dunham Jubilee Singers I DREAMED OF THE JUDGMENT MORNING (C. Dunham) P 1930

7. Famous Blue Jay Singers CLANKA-A-LANKA (Smith) P 1932

8. Famous Blue Jay Singers I’M LEANING ON THE LORD (Trad.) P 1932

9. Famous Blue Jay Singers BROTHER JONAH (Trad.) P 1932

10. Famous Blue Jay Singers I’M BOUND FOR CANAAN LAND (Trad.) P 1947

11. Mitchell’s Christian Singers THEM BONES (Trad.) P 1934

12. Mitchell’s Christian Singers I’M PRAYING HUMBLE (Trad.) P 1937

13. Mitchell’s Christian Singers TAKE MY HAND (Precious Lord) (T. Dorsey) P 1940

14. Heavenly Gospel Singers LEAD ME TO THE ROCK (Trad.) P 1935

15. Heavenly Gospel Singers WALK IN THE LIGHT (Trad.) P 1936

16. Heavenly Gospel Singers WHEN THE GATE SWINGS OPEN (Dorsey) P 1938

17. Heavenly Gospel Singers CHEER THE WEARY TRAVELER (Trad.) P 1938

18. Heavenly Gospel Singers MY LORD IS WRITING ALL THE TIME (Trad.) P 1940

19. Alphabetical Four HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE WORLD (Trad.) P 1940

20. Selah Jubilee Singers I SAW THE LIGHT (Ruth) P 1941

21. Selah Jubilee Singers HE KNOWS JUST HOW MUCH WE CAN BEAR (Ruth) P 1942

22. Joshua White & His Carolinians KING JESUS KNOWS I’M COMING (Trad.) P 1940

23. Kings of Harmony LORD GIVE ME WINGS (Trad.) P 1944

24. Stars of Harmony ROUGH AND ROCKY ROAD (Trad.) P 1948

25. Stars of Harmony WHERE SHALL I BE (Trad.) P 1948

DISC TWO - Wade In The Water

1. Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet GOLDEN GATE GOSPEL TRAIN (Trad.) P 1937

2. Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet GABRIEL BLOWS HIS HORN (Trad.) P 1937

3. Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet JOHN THE REVELATOR (Trad.) P 1938

4. Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet ROCK MY SOUL (Trad.) P 1938

5. Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet EVERY TIME THAT I FEEL THE SPIRIT (Trad.) P 1939

6. Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet NOAH (Trad.) P 1939

7. Golden Gate Quartet DIDN’T IT RAIN (Trad. arr.) P 1941

8. The Charioteers JESUS IS A ROCK IN THE WEARY LAND (Trad.) P 1940

9. The Charioteers DON’T ROCK THE BOAT (Trad.) P 1940

10. The Charioteers WADE IN THE WATER (Trad.) P 1940

11. The Charioteers WALK TOGETHER CHILLUN (Trad.) P 1940

12. The Charioteers I’M BOUND FOR THE PROMISED LAND (Trad.) P 1940

13. The Charioteers JUBILEE (Trad.) P 1940

14. The Trumpeteers MILKY WHITE WAY (Coleman) P 1947

15. The Trumpeteers BABYLON’S FALLEN (Trad.) P 1949

16. The Trumpeteers GIDEON AND THE SWORD (Johnson) P 1950

17. The Dixieaires BUCKLE MY SHOE (Trad.) P 1949

18. The Dixieaires TIME’S WINDING UP (Trad.) P 1949

19. The Dixieaires FRIENDS, LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT JESUS (Trad.) P 1949

20. The Dixie Hummingbirds THE BOOK OF THE SEVEN SEAS (Trad.) P 1944

21. The Dixie Hummingbirds EVERY KNEE SURELY MUST BOW (Trad.) P 1946

22. The Dixie Hummingbirds AMAZING GRACE (Trad.) P 1946

23. The Dixie Hummingbirds DON’T YOU WANT TO JOIN THAT NUMBER (Trad.) P 1946

24. The Dixie Hummingbirds JUST A CLOSER WALK WITH THEE (Trad.) P 1947

25. The Dixie Hummingbirds EZEKIEL SAW THE WHEEL (Trad.) P 1947

DISC THREE - Get Away Jordan

1. Sister Rosetta Tharpe ROCK ME (Dorsey) P 1938

2. Sister Rosetta Tharpe THAT’S ALL (Tharpe) P 1938

3. Sister Rosetta Tharpe PRECIOUS LORD, HOLD MY HAND (Dorsey) P 1941

4. Sister Rosetta Tharpe STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN EVERY DAY (Trad. arr. Tharpe) P 1944

5. Sister Rosetta Tharpe THIS TRAIN (Tharpe) P 1947

6. Sister Rosetta Tharpe UP ABOVE MY HEAD, I HEAR MUSIC IN THE AIR (Trad. arr. Tharpe)

7. Mahalia Jackson WHAT COULD I DO (Dorsey) P 1947

8. Mahalia Jackson MOVE ON UP A LITTLE HIGHER, PT. 1 (Brewster) P 1947

9. Mahalia Jackson MOVE ON UP A LITTLE HIGHER, PT. 2 (Breswter) P 1947

10. Mahalia Jackson DIG A LITTLE DEEPER (Morris) P 1947

11. Mahalia Jackson GET AWAY JORDAN (McDade) P 1949

12. Mahalia Jackson JUST OVER THE HILL, PT.1 (Brewster) P 1950

13. Mahalia Jackson JUST OVER THE HILL, PT.2 (Brewster) P 1950

14. Mahalia Jackson THE LORD’S PRAYER (Malotte) P 1950

15. Sister Ernestine Washington MY RECORD WILL BE THERE (Trad.) P 1943

16. Sister Ernestine Washington THE LORD WILL MAKE A WAY SOMEHOW (Trad.) P 1946

17. Sister Ernestine Washington GOD’S AMAZING GRACE (Trad.) P 1946

18. Sister Ernestine Washington I’M GONNA LIVE THE LIFE I SING ABOUT (Trad.) P 1947

19. Sister Ernestine Washington WE WILL WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY (Trad.) P 1948

20. Sister Ernestine Washington EACH DAY (Trad.) P 1948

21. The Original Gospel Harmonettes featuring Dorothy Love Coates EVERYDAY WILL

BE A SUNDAY (BY AND BY) (Dorsey) P 1951

22. The Original Gospel Harmonettes featuring Dorothy Love Coates I’M SEALED (Martin) P 1951

23. The Original Gospel Harmonettes featuring Dorothy Love Coates JUST TO BEHOLD HISFACE

24. The Original Gospel Harmonettes featuring Dorothy Love Coates WHEN I REACH MY HEAVENLY HOME (Love Coates/Stanks) P 1951

25. The Original Gospel Harmonettes featuring Dorothy Love Coates GET AWAY JORDAN

DISC FOUR - Glory, Glory Hallelujah

1. The Soul Stirrers I WANT TO REST (Trad.) P 1946

2. The Soul Stirrers THIS IS MY PRAYER (Harris) P 1948

3. The Soul Stirrers JESUS PRAYS FOR YOU AND ME (Harris) P 1948

4. The Soul Stirrers GLORY, GLORY HALLELUJAH (Trad.) P 1948

5. The Soul Stirrers DOES JESUS CARE (Trad.) P 1948

6. The Soul Stirrers PEACE IN THE VALLEY (Dorsey) P 1951

7. The Pilgrim Travelers I’M STANDING ON THE HIGHWAY (Alexander, Barber) P 1948

8. The Pilgrim Travelers THE OLD RUGGED CROSS (Trad.) P 1948

9. The Pilgrim Travelers MOTHER BOWED (Henry) P 1948

10. The Pilgrim Travelers JESUS MET THE WOMAN AT THE WELL (Alexander) P 1949

11. The Pilgrim Travelers GOD SHALL WIPE ALL TEARS AWAY (Trad.) P 1949

12. The Pilgrim Travelers SATISFIED WITH JESUS (Trad.) P 1950

13. The Five Blind Boys of Alabama I WANT MY CROWN (Trad.) P 1948

14. The Five Blind Boys of Alabama I’VE AN INTEREST OVER THERE (Trad.) P 1950

15. The Five Blind Boys of Alabama LIVING ON MOTHER’S PRAYER (Trad.) P 1950

16. The Five Blind Boys of Alabama HONEY IN THE ROCK (Trad.) P 1950

17. The Five Blind Boys of Alabama ANYHOW (Trad.) P 1950

18. The Five Blind Boys of Alabama CANAAN LAND (Trad.) P 1951

19. The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi JESUS TRAVELED THIS ROAD BEFORE (Perkins) P 1948

20. The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi MUST BE A GOD SOMEWHERE (Trad.) P 1948

21. The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi SOMETHING WITHIN ME (Trad.) P 1950

22. The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi JESUS GAVE ME WATER (Trad.) P 1950

23. The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi IN THE WILDERNESS (Brownlee, Robey) P 1950

24. The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi IN THIS WORLD ALONE (Trad.) P 1951

25. Brother Joe May SEARCH ME LORD (May) P 1949

Various Artists: Ken Burns Jazz—The Story of American Music

GENRE: Jazz YEARS: 1919 to present

Nothing like a white scholar attaching his name to a series about music pioneered by blacks—it does stick in one’s craw. Nonetheless, he does a nice job of boxing history, if one imagines that the music died with John F. Kennedy. Every artist you have to hear is represented at least once, usually twice or more. The cuts are in chronological order, too, so you can also hear the music growing. However, any jazz history that doesn’t include Albert Ayler and David Murray (just a few of the missing) when it could have is letting its politics get in the way, and lying about the growth process in the bargain. Until the real thing comes along, though, this will have to do.

DISC 1:

1. Stardust - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra

2. Soon One Mornin' (Death Come A-Creepin' In My Room) - Mississippi Fred McDowell

3. Memphis Blues - Lieut. Jim Europe's 369th Infantry Band

4. Livery Stable Blues - The Original Dixieland Jazz Band

5. Charleston - James P. Johnson

6. Chimes Blues - King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band

7. Back Water Blues - Bessie Smith

8. Pearls, The - Jelly Roll Morton

9. Dead Man Blues - Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers

10. Wild Cat Blues - Clarence William's Blue Five

11. Cake Walkin' Babies (From Home) - Clarence William's Blue Five

12. Sugar Foot Stomp - Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra

13. Heebie Jeebies - Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five

14. Potato Head Blues - Louis Armstrong & His Hot Seven

15. West End Blues - Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five

16. Mooche, The - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra

17. East St. Louis Toodle-oo - Duke Ellington & His Washingtonians

18. Black Beauty - Duke Ellington

19. Mood Indigo - The Jungle Band

20. There Ain't No Sweet Man (Worth The Salt Of My Tears) - Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra

21. Singin' The Blues - Frankie Trumbauer & His Orchestra

22. Riverboat Shuffle - Frankie Trumbauer & His Orchestra

23. Hotter Than 'Ell - Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra

24. I Got Rhythm - Ethel Waters

DISC 2:

1. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra

2. Echoes Of Harlem - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra

3. Moten Swing - Benny Moten's Kansas City Orchestra

4. St. Louis Blues - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra

5. Ain't Misbehavin' - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra

6. For Dancers Only - Jimmie Lunceford & His Orchestra

7. King Porter Stomp - Benny Goodman & His Orchestra

8. Rose Room - The Benny Goodman Sextet

9. Sing, Sing, Sing (With A Swing) - Benny Goodman & His Orchestra

10. Jumpin' At The Woodside - Count Basie & His Orchestra

11. Sent For You Yesterday And Here You Come Today - Count Basie & His Orchestra

12. Lester Leaps In - Count Basie's Kansas City Seven

13. Oh, Lady Be Good - Jones-Smith Incorporated

14. Without Your Love - Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra

15. Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday

16. God Bless The Child - Billie Holiday/Eddie Heywood & His Orchestra

17. Three Little Words - Art Tatum

18. Rebecca - Pete Johnson/Big Joe Turner

19. Harlem Congo - Chick Webb & His Orchestra

20. A-Tisket, A-Tasket - Chick Webb & His Orchestra/Ella Fitzgerald

21. Shine - Django Reinhardt & Le Quartet Du Hot Club De France

22. Dear Old Southland - Noble Sissle & His Orchestra

DISC 3:

1. Body And Soul - Coleman Hawkins

2. Cotton Tail - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra

3. Take The "A" Train - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra

4. Begin The Beguine - Artie Shaw & His Orchestra

5. In The Mood - Glenn Miller & His Orchestra

6. Well, Git It! - Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra

7. Solitude - Billie Holiday/Eddie Heywood & His Orchestra

8. Drum Boogie - Gene Krupa & His Orchestra

9. Salt Peanuts - Dizzy Gillespie & His All Star Quintet

10. Groovin' High - Dizzy Gillespie Sextet

11. Ko-Ko - Charlie Parker's Re-Boppers

12. Scrapple From The Apple - Charlie Parker Quintet

13. Embraceable You - Charlie Parker Quintet

14. Get Happy - Bud Powell Trio

15. Epistrophy - Thelonious Monk

16. Straight, No Chaser - Thelonious Monk

17. Manteca - Dizzy Gillespie

18. Moon Dreams - Miles Davis Nonet

19. Just Friends - Charlie Parker

20. Rockin' Chair - Louis Armstrong

21. They Can't Take That Away From Me - Sarah Vaughan & Her Trio

22. Walkin' Shoes - Chet Baker/Gerry Mulligan

23. Fine And Mellow - Billie Holiday

DISC 4:

1. Doodlin' - Horace Silver & The Jazz Messengers

2. I Get A Kick Out Of You - Clifford Brown/Max Roach

3. St. Thomas - Sonny Rollins

4. Django - The Modern Jazz Quartet

5. Take Five - The Dave Brubeck Quartet

6. So What - Miles Davis Sextet

7. Giant Steps - John Coltrane Quartet

8. Rick Kick Shaw - Cecil Taylor Trio

9. Chronology - Ornette Coleman

10. Original Faubus Fables - Charles Mingus

11. Acknowledgement (from "A Love Supreme") - John Coltrane Quartet

DISC 5:

1. Hello, Dolly! - Louis Armstrong

2. Desafinado - Stan Getz/Charlie Byrd

3. In A Sentimental Mood - Duke Ellington/John Coltrane

4. Tourist Point Of View - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra

5. E.S.P. - The Miles Davis Quintet

6. Spanish Key - Miles Davis (single version)

7. Birdland - Weather Report

8. Mister Magic - Grover Washington, Jr.

9. Rockit - Herbie Hancock

10. Un Ange En Danger - MC Solaar/Ron Carter

11. Tanya - Dexter Gordon

12. Soon All Will Know - Wynton Marsalis

13. Death Letter - Cassandra Wilson

14. Take The "A" Train - The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra

Various Artists: Rhapsodies in Black—Music and Words from the Harlem Renaissance

GENRE: Jazz, Blues, Poetry YEARS: 1913-1935

Attention Teachers: this is a must for any unit on the Harlem Renaissance. Not only does this 4-disc set fully represent the wide range of African-American music of the period, but it also features actors, writers, and musicians of the present reading the poetry of the time. The box includes notes and art that will enchance your unit as well. If you’re not a teacher…it’s a cornucopia for the ears, anyway. Featuring Louis Armstrong, Ethel Waters, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith and others; readers include rappers Ice T and Chuck D, actresses Alfre Woodard and Angela Bassett, musicians Branford Marsalis and Joshua Redman—and Famous Amos!

DISC 1: STRUTTIN' & STRIDIN'

1. Negro Speaks Of Rivers, The - Quincy Jones (poem)

2. Cotton Club Stomp - Duke Ellington & His Cotton Club Orchestra

3. Harlem Strut, The - James P. Johnson

4. Brother Low Down - Bert Williams

5. Letter From Aaron Douglas To Langston Hughes - Wally "Famous" Amos (excerpt)

6. There'll Be Some Changes Made - Ethel Waters & Her Jazz Masters

7. Sounds Of Africa - Eubie Blake

8. Sweet Man O' Mine - Mamie Smith & Her Jazz Band

9. Weary Blues, The - Branford Marsalis (poem)

10. Blues Ain't Nothin' Else But! - Ida Cox

11. Kansas City Man Blues - Clarence Williams' Blue Five

12. Indianola - Wilbur C. Sweatman's Original Jazz Band

13. Hard Hearted Hannah - Rosa Henderson

14. Sonnet To A Negro In Harlem - Angela Bassett (poem)

15. St. Louis Blues - Bessie Smith

16. Copenhagen - Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra

17. Cake Walking Babies From Home - Clarence Williams' Blue Five

18. Long Gone - Darius Rucker (poem)

19. Railroad Blues - Trixie Smith

DISC 2: TESTIFYIN' & PHILOSOPHYIN'

1. Smoke, Lillies And Jade! - Carl Hancock Rux (excerpt, short story)

2. Here Comes Cookie, (Lookie, Lookie, Lookie) - Cleo Brown

3. Charleston - Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra

4. Chili Pepper - Fred Longshaw

5. Lucy Long - Perry Bradford's Jazz Phools

6. Chain Gang Blues - Ma Rainey

7. Mother To Son - Sylvia Rhone (poem)

8. Deep River - Paul Robeson

9. East St. Louis Toodle-oo - Duke Ellington & His Kentucky Club Orchestra

10. Lazy Drag - Thomas Morris & His Seven Hot Babies

11. How It Feels To Be Colored Me - Debbie Allen (excerpt, essay)

12. Senegalese Stomp - Savoy Bearcats

13. After You've Gone - Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra

14. Dead Drunk Blues - Margaret Johnson

15. No Images - Lou Rawls (poem)

16. Woke Up With The Blues In My Fingers - Lonnie Johnson

17. Worried Blues - Gladys Bentley

18. Humpty Dumpty - Frankie Trumbauer & His Orchestra

19. Ham And Eggs - Johnny Dunn & His Band

20. Sugar - Alberta Hunter

DISC 3: PREACHIN' & PRAYIN'

1. If We Must Die - Ice-T (poem)

2. Honey, I'm All Out And Down - Leadbelly

3. My Handy Man - Victoria Spivey

4. Ain't Misbehavin' - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra

5. Handful Of Riffs, A - Lonnie Johnson/Blind Willie Dunn

6. Bright Boy Blues - Cecil Scott & His Orchestra

7. Debt, The - Joshua Redman (poem)

8. Harlem Fuss - Fats Waller & His Buddies

9. Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out - Bessie Smith

10. Fare Thee Honey Blues - Jimmy Johnson & His Band

11. Soon - Gregory Hines (poem)

12. Smashing Thirds - Fats Waller

13. Do Shuffle - Fess Williams & His Royal Flush Orchestra

14. Wherever There's A Will, Baby - McKinney's Cotton Pickers

15. Dee Blues - Chocolate Dandies

16. Odyssey Of Big Boy - Chuck D (poem)

17. Minnie The Moocher (The Ho De Ho Song) - Cab Calloway & His Orchestra

18. Panama - Luis Russell & His Orchestra

19. Royal Garden Blues - Ted Lewis & His Band

20. America - August Wilson (poem)

21. Jesus Gonna Make Up My Dying Bed - Josh White

DISC 4: LUSTIN' FOR LOVE & LIFE

1. I Want To Die While You Love Me - Alfre Woodard (poem)

2. Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All The Time) - Ethel Waters

3. Corrine Corrina - Cab Calloway & His Orchestra

4. Sweetie Dear - Sidney Bechet & His New Orleans Feetwarmers

5. Damnation Of Women, The - LeVar Burton (excerpt, essay)

6. Baby - Adelaide Hall/Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra

7. Happy As The Day Is Long - Leo Reisman & His Orchestra

8. I Got Rhythm - The 5 Spirits Of Rhythm

9. Let's Get Together - Chick Webb's Savoy Orchestra

10. Their Eyes Were Watching God - Veronica Chambers (excerpt, novel)

11. Lady Be Good - Buck & Bubbles

12. Symphony In Riffs - Benny Carter & His Orchestra

13. Sendin' The Vipers - Mezz Mezzrow & His Orchestra

14. Down South Camp Meetin' - Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra

15. Day Breakers, The - Coolio (poem)

16. She'll Be Coming 'Round The Mountain - Tiny Bradshaw & His Orchestra

17. Minor Mania - Claude Hopkins & His Orchestra

18. Sensemaya: Chant For Killing A Snake - Eartha Kitt (poem)

19. Symphony In Black - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra/Billie Holiday

20. Echoes Of Spring - Willie "The Lion" Smith & His Cubs

21. Lookie, Lookie, Lookie Here Comes Cookie - Teddy Hill & His Orchestra

22. Negro Artist And The Racial Mountain, The - George Duke (essay)

23. It Never Dawned On Me - Teddy Wilson

24. Honey Dripper Blues - Georgia White

25. I'm In The Mood For Love - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra

Various Artists: From Spirituals to Swing—The Legendary Carnegie Hall Concerts

GENRES: Various YEARS: 1938-1939

John Hammond was our kind of guy. He loved the new American music so much he masterminded its storming of one of the most sophisticated stages in the country, where it triumphed in all its multifarious glory. The dominant “noise” is that of Count Basie’s Orchestra (represented in some form or another on 22 of the 57 cuts, and featuring that flower of a saxophonist, Lester Young, in full bloom), a unit that understood that “sophisticated” and “good” could be mutually exclusive artistic terms. Besides Basie’s and Benny Goodman’s swing, there’s blues, gospel, boogie woogie, stride, and hot jazz on the side—with the spirit of rock and roll to come hovering in the wings.

DISC 1: THE DECEMBER 23, 1938 CONCERT

1. Swingin' The Blues - Count Basie & His Orchestra (previously unreleased)

2. One O'Clock Jump - Count Basie & His Orchestra

3. Introduction - John Hammond

4. Blues With Lips - Hot Lips Page/Count Basie Orchestra

5. I Never Knew - Kansas City Five (previously unreleased)

6. Don't Be That Way - Kansas City Five

7. Introduction - John Hammond

8. Blues With Helen - Helen Humes/Kansas City Five

9. Introduction - John Hammond

10. I Ain't Got Nobody - Count Basie/Walter Page/Jo Jones (studio)

11. Jumpin' Blues - Meade Lux Lewis/Albert Ammons/Pete Johnson (previously unreleased)

12. Honky Tonk Train Blues - Meade Lux Lewis (previously unreleased)

13. Low Down Dog - Joe Turner/Pete Johnson (previously unreleased)

14. It's All Right Baby - Joe Turner/Pete Johnson

15. Boogie Woogie - Albert Ammons (previously unreleased)

16. Cavalcade Of Boogie - Meade Lux Lewis/Albert Ammons/Pete Johnson/Walter Page/Jo Jones

17. Rock Me - Sister Rosetta Tharpe/Albert Ammons (previously unreleased)

18. That's All - Sister Rosetta Tharpe/Albert Ammons (previously unreleased)

19. What More Can My Jesus Do? - Mitchell's Christian Singers

20. My Poor Mother Died A'Shoutin' - Mitchell's Christian Singers

21. Are You Living Humble - Mitchell's Christian Singers (previously unreleased)

DISC 2:

1. Weary Blues - New Orleans Feetwarmers

2. Milenburg Joys - New Orleans Feetwarmers (previously unreleased)

3. I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate - New Orleans Feetwarmers

4. It Was Just A Dream - Big Bill Broonzy/Albert Ammons (previously unreleased)

5. Fox Chase - Sonny Terry (previously unreleased)

6. Carolina Shout - James P. Johnson

7. Every Tub - Count Basie & His Orchestra (previously unreleased)

8. Stealin' Blues - Jimmy Rushing/Count Basie & His Orchestra (previously unreleased)

9. After You've Gone - Kansas City Six (previously unreleased)

10. Oh, Lady Be Good - Kansas City Five (previously unreleased)

11. Allez-Oop - Kansas City Five

12. Mortgage Stomp - Kansas City Five (previously unreleased)

13. Spoken Introduction - Sterling A. Brown (previously unreleased)

14. Gospel Train - Golden Gate Quartet

15. I'm On My Way - Golden Gate Quartet

16. Noah - Golden Gate Quartet (previously unreleased)

DISC 3: THE 1939 CONCERT, CONTINUED

1. I Got Rhythm - Benny Goodman Sextet

2. Flying Home - Benny Goodman Sextet

3. Memories Of You - Benny Goodman Sextet

4. Stompin' At The Savoy - Benny Goodman Sextet

5. Honeysuckle Rose - Benny Goodman Sextet

6. Blueberry Rhyme - James P. Johnson (previously unreleased)

7. Mule Walk, The - James P. Johnson

8. Lowdown Dirty Shame - Ida Cox/James P Johnson/Jo Jones/Walter Page/Freddie Green/Shad Collins/Dickie Wells/Buddy Tate (previously unreleased)

9. Four Day Creep - Ida Cox/James P Johnson/Jo Jones/Walter Page/Freddie Green/Shad Collins/Dickie Wells/Buddy Tate

10. Done Got Wise - Big Bill Broonzy/Albert Ammons

11. Louise, Louise - Big Bill Broonzy/Albert Ammons

12. Mountain Blues - Sonny Terry

13. New John Henry, The - Sonny Terry/Bull City Red

14. Paging The Devil - Kansas City Six

15. Way Down Yonder In New Orleans - Kansas City Six

16. Good Morning Blues - Kansas City Six

17. Old Fashioned Love - Count Basie & His Orchestra/Helen Humes/James P Johnson (previously unreleased)

18. If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight - Count Basie & His Orchestra/Helen Humes/James P. Johnson (previously unreleased)

19. That Rhythm Man - Count Basie & His Orchestra

20. Oh, Lady Be Good - Jam Session

Various Artists: The Roots of Robert Johnson

GENRE: Blues YEARS: 1927-1937

After you spend time with this remarkable country blues collection, the music of Robert Johnson (see above) will seem much less mysterious, though no less magical, to you. The songs, singing, and picking styles of the artists represented here—Skip James, Son House, Charley Patton, Kokomo Arnold, and Lonnie Johnson, among others—trace directly to Johnson’s own, leading the listener to the conclusion that, like his acolyte Eric Clapton and a guy by the name of Cobain, he was an ace synthesizer. Though many of the recordings are taken from ancient sources, the sound is warm and clear.

1. Devil Got My Woman - Skip James

2. Milk Cow Blues - Kokomo Arnold

3. When The Sun Goes Down - Leroy Carr

4. My Black Mama, Part 1 - Son House

5. Revenue Man Blues - Charlie Patton

6. Red River Blues - Henry Thomas

7. Roll And Tumble Blues - Hambone Willie Newbern

8. Life Saver Blues - Lonnie Johnson

9. 22-20 Blues - Skip James

10. Kokomo Blues - Scrapper Blackwell

11. Sitting On Top Of The World - The Mississippi Sheiks

12. Preachin' The Blues, Pt.1 - Son House

13. Go Ahead, Buddy - Casey Bill Weldon

14. Lead Pencil Blues - Johnnie Temple

Waters, Muddy: The Best of Muddy Waters

GENRE: Blues YEARS: 1948-1960

Muddy was Howlin’ Wolf’s rival in Chicago; we can be thankful they pushed each other to such heights. Unlike Wolf’s music, Waters’ did not set foot on the “new” land of rock and roll; it was planted firmly and deeply in Mississippi Delta soil, representing in many ways the sound of Robert Johnson (see above) brought into the Atomic Age. Few sounds in rock and roll are so simultaneously new and ancient as the electric voodoo of Muddy’s slide guitar (especially on “Rollin’ Stone,” the song from which you-know-who got their name) and Little Walter’s amplified harp, both of which seem to be escaping from the graveyard. As on the Wolf record above, Willie Dixon’s the compositional star, contributing “I Just Want to Make Love to You,” “Hoochie Coochie Man,” and “I’m Ready.”

1. I Just Want To Make Love To You

2. Long Distance Call

3. Louisiana Blues

4. Honey Bee

5. Rollin' Stone

6. I'm Ready

7. Hoochie Coochie

8. She Moves Me

9. I Want You To Love Me

10. Standing Around Crying

11. Still A Fool

12. I Can't Be Satisfied

Wills, Bob, and the Texas Playboys: The Tiffany Transcriptions, Volume 2—Best of the Tiffanys

GENRE: Western Swing YEARS: 1946-1947

All the greatest tunes by the greatest Western swing band of all-time, recorded in a California radio studio in 1946-1947 at their most spontaneous. Wills’ unit was equally adept at fiddle tunes, polkas, pop, blues, jazz, ragtime, Dixieland, folk songs—everything under the sun. As such, they prophesied the arrival of Elvis, who of course recorded one of their tunes. Wills was a revolutionary in another way: he insisted on adding drums to what’s essentially country music, moving it out of the mountains and hills into the city in the process, and employed electric guitarists who loved dirty noise (check out Junior Barnard’s solos). Oh, yes—when you put this in the CD player, be prepared to dance, because the roll call of tunes includes “Stay a Little Longer,” “Roly Poly,” “Cotton-Eyed Joe,” and the eternal “San Antonio Rose.”

1. Take Me Back To Tulsa

2. Faded Love

3. Right Or Wrong - (previously unreleased)

4. Bring It On Down To My House

5. Cherokee Maiden

6. Steel Guitar Rag

7. Stay A Little Longer -(previously unreleased)

8. Roly Poly

9. Cotton Eyed Joe

10. Time Changes Everything

11. Corrine, Corrina

12. Ida Red

13. Maiden's Prayer

14. San Antonio Rose

Young, Lester: Ken Burns Jazz

GENRE: Jazz YEARS: 1936-1957

Young was the embodiment of cool, both in his tenor playing and his self-invention. Nine of these 19 songs feature Count Basie, and three his bewitching collaborations with Billie Holiday.

1. Oh, Lady, Be Good! - (with Jones-Smith Incorporated)

2. Every Tub - (with Count Basie & His Orchestra)

3. Honeysuckle Rose - (with Count Basie & His Orchestra)

4. Pagin' The Devil - (with The Kansas City Six)

5. Sailboat In The Moonlight, A - (with Billy Holiday & Her Orchestra)

6. He's Funny That Way

7. Getting Some Fun Out Of Life - (with Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra)

8. If Dreams Come True - (with Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra)

9. Taxi War Dance - (with Count Basie & His Orchestra)

10. Twelfth Street Rag

11. Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie

12. Lester Leaps In - (with Count Basie's Kansas City Orchestra)

13. Tickle Toe

14. Sometimes I'm Happy

15. I've Found A New Baby

16. D.B. Blues

17. Jumpin' With Symphony Sid

18. This Year's Kisses

19. Polka Dots And Moonbeams - (with Count Basie & His Orchestra)