For Further Study

Arnold, Byron. Folksongs of Alabama. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1950.
            Based on Arnold’s first collecting trip in 1946, it contains words and musical notation to 153 songs plus biographies of many of the singers. It is not currently in print but may be found in libraries.

Baklanoff, Joy D. and John Bealle. Cornbread Crumbled in Gravy: Historical Alabama Field Recordings from the Byron Arnold Collection of Traditional Tune. Montgomery: Alabama Folklife Association, 1990.
            A cassette of 14 songs from the Byron Arnold collection with 70-page booklet on the history of the collection plus discussions of the songs.  A section of the booklet is available in the resources section of www.alabamafoklife.org. The book/cassette package also may be ordered at that address.

Born, Kathleen. “The Byron Arnold Collection, Papers, Recordings, and Tapes Relating to the University of Alabama, University Research Project No. 139, Folksongs of Alabama.” William S. Hoole Special Collections, 1980.
            A finding aid to Byron Arnold’s papers and recordings in the William S. Hoole Special Collections.

Greenberg, Gabriel. The Vera Hall Project, www.verahallproject.com.
            A website devoted to the life and recordings of Vera Hall.

Halli, Robert W., Jr., ed.  An Alabama Songbook: Ballads, Folksongs, and Spirituals Collected by Byron Arnold. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2004.

            Words, musical notation and valuable notes on 208 folksongs collected by Bryon Arnold.
 
To hear more songs collected in by John and Alan Lomax, visit the website of the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress (www.loc.gov/folklife/onlinecollections.html).  Of special interest are  Southern Mosaic: The John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip and The Alan Lomax Collection.

To learn more about folklife in Alabama, visit the website of the Alabama Center for Traditional Culture: www.arts.state.al.us/folklife/index-folklife.html