Black Banjo Songsters of North Carolina and Virginia

Smithsonian Folkways – SF CD 40079

Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 1998
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk, African American
[Tracklist]
01 The Coo Coo (Coo Coo Bird): John Snipes (01:15)
02 The Coo Coo (Coo Coo Bird): Dink Roberts (02:12)
03 Old Rattler (Fox Chase): John Snipes (02:47)
04 Georgia Buck (Georgie Buck)(Never Let a Woman Have Her Way): Dink Roberts (01:03)
05 Georgia Buck: Joe and Odell Thompson (01:38)
06 John Henry: James Roberts51 (00:51)
07 High Sheriff: Dink Roberts (00:40)
08 John Hardy: Dink Roberts (01:06)
09 Garfield: Dink Roberts (01:23)
10 Old Corn Liquor: Dink Roberts (01:22)
11 Old Corn Liquor: Joe and Odell Thompson (01:11)
12 John Henry: Joe and Odell Thompson (02:20)
13 Love Somebody (Soldier's Joy): Joe and Tommy Thompson (02:14)
14 Long Tail Blue: John Snipes (01:22)
15 Ain't Gonna Rain No More: John Snipes and Tommy Thompson (01:17)
16 Going Where I've Never Been Before: John Snipes (03:50)
17 Black Annie: Dink Roberts (02:19)
18 Old Blue: Dink Roberts (02:06)
19 Going Away from Home (Take Care of My Wife and Child): John Snipes (03:55)
20 You Don't Know My Darling: John Snipes (01:19)
21 Jaybird March: Etta Baker and Cora Phillips (01:51)
22 Going Up North: John Jackson (01:50)
23 Sugar Hill: Homer Walker (02:27)
24 Momma Don't Allow: Irvin Cook and Leonard Bowles (02:02)
25 Shortnin' Bread: Leonard Bowles (01:49)
26 Shortnin' Bread: Lewis "Big Sweet" Hairston (01:58)
27 Fox Chase: John Tyree (01:12)
28 Roustabout (Buffalo): Dink Roberts (01:24)
29 Cookin' in the Kitchen: John Snipes (01:51)
30 Coo Coo Bird: Rufus Kasey (04:44)
31 Fox Chase: Dink Roberts (04:22)
32 Little Brown Jug: Joe and Odell Thompson (01:28)
[Credits]
Producer: Scott Odell and Cecilia Conway, Cover Artwork: Henry Ossawa Turner, Designer: Visual Dialogue
[Notes]
The sounds and social history of African American banjo playing—32 superb instrumentals and vocals, recorded between 1974 and 1997. Extensively annotated with performer's life histories, tunings, lyrics, bibliography, and discography. The banjo's gourd ancestors came to the Americas with enslaved Africans, forging the link between West African griots and performers of 20th-century blues and string-band music. 64 minutes.