In June and July of 1947 Byron Arnold, a professor of music at the University of Alabama, drove across the state of Alabama recording folk songs. The University of Alabama Press published his resulting book, Folksongs of Alabama, in 1950 but it was not until 1992 that any of Byron’s recordings reached the public via this collection produced by the Alabama Folklife Association. Included here are 14 beautifully sung pieces, selected by Joy Baklanoff, and a 70-page guide, prepared by John Bealle, which includes biographical information about Arnold as well as information about the singers, the songs, and Arnold’s experiences in recording them. Audio cassette only comes with the included booklet.

Contents:
Frog Went A-Courting: Mrs. Emma S. Craig, Florence
Paper of Pins: Mrs. Emma S. Craig, Florence
Tall Angel at the Bar: Rev. Alex Fountain, Florence
Song for Tamping Ties: Stence Crozier, Gadsden
Valley-O: Mrs. Janie Barnard Couch, Guntersville
Low Down, Death, Right Easy: Vera Hall Ward and Dock Reed, Livingston
Go to Sleepy: Mrs. Laurie Cater Carleton, Grove Hill
In that Land: Vera Hall Ward and Dock Reed, Livingston
My Southern Home: Venetia Danner McClure, Mobile
Got on My Traveling Shoes: Hixon Harmony Five, Atmore Prison
I want my Crown: Hixon Harmony Five, Atmore Prison
Marching Around the Levee: Pansy S. (Mrs. C.G.) Richardson, Pensacola, Florida
I Got Shoes (Shout All over God’s Heaven): Mrs. Theckla Jones and 4 members of the Greater Mt. Triumph Baptist Church Choir, Atmore.
Mockingbird Song: Mrs. Isabel Tipton, Birmingham