Question on old southern music I am doin a paper on this?!
Question: Alright no I dont want everyone on here saying Im racist cause I know someone will. But where can I find artists of old southern music which is more the folk country stuff where they singing about the civil war and all time life of the south when slavery was still in existence. I have heard some of the songs but no artists to put to it. And please dont give me artists like Johnny Rebel where it is just blatant racism. I am just looking for the old southern country/ folk music from that era. thank you very much
Answers: Alright no I dont want everyone on here saying Im racist cause I know someone will. But where can I find artists of old southern music which is more the folk country stuff where they singing about the civil war and all time life of the south when slavery was still in existence. I have heard some of the songs but no artists to put to it. And please dont give me artists like Johnny Rebel where it is just blatant racism. I am just looking for the old southern country/ folk music from that era. thank you very much
There are several collections of recordings of music from that time.
Perhaps the best is the CD set put out at the time the original Shelby Foote "Civil War" series aired on PBS about 10 years ago (plus or minus a few ...). You can find it by searching through www.PBS.org.
There is a piano player in Savannah, GA, who made a gorgeous recording of his arrangements of Civil War songs. You'll have to hunt for him, but I promise you that they will break your heart. Although the music is stictly instrumental, he included the words.
Some of the titles are, "All's Quiet on the Potomac," "Was My Brother in the Battle?", "Sorrowful, Sad and Weeping," and "Tenting Tonight." "When Johnny comes Marching Home" is a bittersweet tale from the war.
There were songs sung in both North and South about the voyage of the CSS Alabama.
Prior to the war, perhaps the most famous of all songs was "John Brown's Body," an Abolitionist song whose melody became that of "Battle Hymn of Freedom."
However, there were poems and songs about life you can find by going the the American Popular Culture Association website and others. I found one about the California Gold Rush ships!
Two decades ago this was a blank page, no one had collected or studied the material. Now there is a LOT, thanks to Foote and renewed interest in the period. Steven Foster's songs are mostly nostalgic, written long after. But there are MANY sources of folk, popular and art songs of the time, now. Have fun!
EDIT: In enthusiasm and hurry, I left out many very important Black slave songs of the time, almost all religious. "Mary, Don't You Weep," "Let My People Go," and "Deep River" are but a few important examples. You will LOVE looking up the history of the music from the film, "O Brother Where Art Thou."
I don't know who records them anymore, but you might want to search for Stephen Foster songs.
Wikipedia has his bio and lists his songs...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Fos...