Prison Worksongs – Various Artists / Arhoolie CD-448

Description

Arhoolie CD 448

Dr. Harry Oster made these remarkable recordings in 1959 at the Angola State prison in Louisiana. Male and female inmates sing while performing routine jobs which range from cutting wood, to hoeing, cleaning the highways, washing laundry with a rubboard, and operating a sewing machine. Some of the singers, such as Robert Pete Williams, Roosevelt Charles, Guitar Welch, Hogman Maxey, and Odea Mathews, became known from their recordings on the album “Angola’s Prisoners’” Blues (Arhoolie CD 419). This CD includes all of the original Arhoolie LP 2012 plus four previously unissued selections, including two by the remarkable storyteller, Emanuel Dunn (who was not a prisiner).

1. Berta – Big Louisiana/Rev Rogers/Roosevelt Charles
2. Take This Hammer – Guitar Welch/Hogman Maxey/Andy Mosely
3. Stewball – Rev. Rogers/Big Louisiana/Jose Smith
4. Five Long Years For One Man – Odea Matthews
5. Alberta Let Your Bags Grow Long – Guitar Welch/Hogman Maxey/Andy Mosely
6. I Had Five Long Years – James Russell
7. Early In The Mornin’ – Johnny Butler
8. All Teamed Up In Angola’s Mule Lot – Roosevelt Charles/Arthur Davis/Big Louisiana
9. I Got A Hurtin’ In My Right Side – Willy Rafus/Arthur Davis
10. Let Your Hammer Ring – Big Louisiana/Willy Rafus/Arthur Davis
11. Cleaning This Highway – Willy Rafus/Andy Mosely/Johnny Butler
12. John Henry – Guitar Welch/Hogman Maxey/Robert Pete Williams
13. Something Within Me – Odea Matthews
14. Jesus Cares – Murray Macon
15. Working On The Levee (Part 1) – Emanuel Dunn (previously unreleased)
16. Working On The Levee (Part 2) – Emanuel Dunn (previously unreleased)
17. Take This Hammer – Big Louisiana (previously unreleased)
18. Pickin’ Cotton All Day Long – Creola Scott/Ceola Scott (previously unreleased)
19. My Mule “Grey” – Emanuel Dunn (previously unreleased, a plowing song)

REVIEW

“Consisting almost entirely of chants with accompaniment little more than the tools of the trade… this collection takes you into the prison workyard for an up-close-and-personal with the inmates of Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola… the anguish, desperation, and bitterness is heavy in the voices of these men. The end result is a powerful portrait of life on the other side of the bars.”

-Dan Ferguson, Timeout