Every Tone a Testimony

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 27, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Smithsonian Folkways
• ASIN: B000056CAA
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #316,198 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Field Call - Annie Grace Horn Dodson

2. Complaint Call - Enoch Brown

3. Intro and Kneebone Bend - Lawrence McKiver/Doretha Skipper

4. Brother Terrapin, Slow Train to Arkansas - Rich Amerson

5. Jack and Mary and Three Dogs - Mrs. Janie Hunter

6. Buck Dance - Joe Tucker

7. I'm Going up North - Children Of East York School

8. Pharaoh's Host Got Lost - Lawrence McKiver

9. Bars Fight - Arna Bontemps

10. Earl of Dartmouth - Dorothy F. Washington

See all 33 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. No More Auction Block - Paul Robeson

2. The Negro Speaks of Rivers - Langston Hughes

3. If We Must Die - Claude McKay

4. Ma Rainey - Sterling Brown

5. Backwater Blues (I Got up One Mornin' Blues) - Big Bill Broonzy

6. Married Man Blues - Billie And Dee Dee Pierce

7. For My People - Margaret Walker

8. The Children of the Poor, Sonnet 2 - Gwendolyn Brooks

9. Body and Soul - George 'Big Nick' Nicholas

10. How He Delivered Me - Juanita Johnson & The Gospel Tones

See all 25 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

This double CD draws upon the collection at the Smithsonian Folkways archive to create a history of African American life and culture in sound—an aural history. Encompassing both the African American oral and literary traditions, these 59 tracks feature an unparalleled assembly of voices in music, oratory, poetry, and prose by historically renowned African American musicians, writers, and activists. The sounds collected here are testimony to the power, creativity, and resilience of Black expressive forms that have received recognition throughout the world. 59 tracks run two hours and 27 minutes. 40-page booklet.

RELATED LESSON PLAN
"The Underground Railroad:A Musical Journey to Follow the Drinking Gourd"

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most exciting resource for American History!, August 27, 2001

By 

AfroAmericanHeritage (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Every Tone a Testimony (Audio CD)

This is without a doubt the most exciting American History resource to cross my desk in years! It contains 59 tracks (nearly two and a half hours) of material drawn from the Smithsonian Folkways archive, organized to create a history of African American life and culture in sound. It presents music, poetry, oratory and prose by historically renowned African American musicians, writers and activists spanning two centuries. Just a sampling of the diverse voices you'll hear include Langston Hughes, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B.Du Bois, Margaret Walker, the Fisk Jubliee Singers, Gwendolyn Brooks, Paul Robeson, Muddy Waters, the SNCC Freedom Singers , Martin Luther King, Jr, Nikki Giovanni, and Arrested Development. Writers who predate recorded sound are also represented in historic recordings; for example, Arna Bontemps reads the writings of Lucy Terry, Ruby Dee reads Sojourner Truth and Ida B. Wells-Barnett. I was especially impressed by the equal representation of women. It also includes an extensive booklet with supplemental material. Anyone who teaches American History or African American Studies cannot afford to be without this CD, and anyone who loves aural history will want it in their collection. It's invaluable.