V/A - Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons (1965)




Some of these tracks are songs, acapella chants whose notes travel a sad scale; others are spoken word, which show range and roughness in a different way. All of the tracks are narratives, and the voices who sing them groan, throb and roar in deeply powerful ways. This is a really special recording.

The two Johnny Jackson recordings are my favorites, but why not pick your own? Political incorrectness acknowledged, please be moved by the Beautiful Voices from Texas State Prisons.

10 Responses so far.

  1. Will says:

    questionable for so many reasons.
    unquestionably beautiful music, though.
    good pick.

  2. Anonymous says:

    thought you guys might wanna give this a try.

    it comes with the hole album, 4 unreleased tracks, and a bizarre video.

    thank you for all the great music.

    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=2QJ1XAVU
    SIX CAR COLLISION _ ELEGANT BONES

  3. Yeayoung says:

    Amen. I love this hard to grab release. Thank you once again for something beautiful.

  4. Lana says:

    Well put, Will. I wanted to share this album, but didn't know how to address its problematic aspects without distracting from the point: this is amazing music, and we fucking love and post amazing music. I hope my re-titling of the album's name (as reflected in the link) serves as acknowledgement and concern with the questionability of this record, while still drawing attention to the music at hand.

  5. Domo says:

    Hi!



    We´re DOMO (www.myspace.com/domoband), a psychedelic band from Alicante, Spain. We write you to ask if we could send you our first album so you can make a review in your fantastic blog!!!. You can contact us on domorockband@gmail.com



    Best regards and many thanks!!



    DOMO

  6. kurt says:
    This comment has been removed by the author.
  7. kurt says:

    I've been on hols and have not been on your site for over 2 weeks. It is one of the minor joys of my life to trawl through all the your new stuff each time i come home. Looking forward to this one. Thanks for your generosity. ps. removed post above as i didn't express myself well. Cheers.

  8. Unknown says:

    This is fucking brilliant. Really amazing find. Something John Lomax would have been proud to record.
    Maybe he did. Any chance there are any liner notes?

    Thanks again. I'm just loving it.

  9. Lana says:

    'Same as it ever was', I found this online, and haven't been able to get my hands on a hard copy. Hence, I haven't seen the liner notes. If and when I do, I'll hit you back!

  10. I won't go into how fantastic a recording this is, as all I would want to express has already been.

    But I found this and thought it might be of interest to some people here http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QJsoFzx-fQ4/S2fDF-UTH1I/AAAAAAAAA3E/ngYxeNj_UpM/s1600-h/negro+folklore+back.jpg

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