VA - Songs Of Civil Rights & Protest (2022)

A significant strand of American music, especially in the folk and blues arenas, relates to what came to be known as protest songs when opinions on a number of key social and political issues during the post-war era - civil rights, nuclear disarmament, industrial justice and more – found a unified voice in the musical protest movement. However, this was nothing new, and many of the songs associated with this era came from earlier decades, as blues singers chronicled experiences of racial prejudice, poor rural folk sang about the privations of the Depression, industrial workers railed against exploitation, and gospel singers sought solace in spirituals. This 50-track 2-CD set brings together a selection of recordings which, one way or another, relate to the idea of songs as a medium of protest and social and political commentary, with the later incarnations representing the early stirrings of the classic folk protest movement which crystallised in the early ‘60s in the hands of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and others – one or two of their early recordings are included here. Many of the noted voices of protest are featured here – Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Paul Robeson, Josh White – along with folk artists who embraced the cause like Odetta, Nina Simone, Harry Belafonte and many more, plus some of the more obscure but no less important recordings that set the tone and led the way for later artists. It’s a fascinating and we hope inspiring collection, which tells many a story.

Track List:
CD1

01. Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit
02. Southern Sons - Go Down Moses
03. Leadbelly - The Bourgeois Blues
04. Josh White - Uncle Sam Says
05. Paul Robeson - Song Of Freedom
06. Pete Seeger, The Almanac Singers - Dear Mr. President
07. Woody Guthrie - This Land Is Your Land
08. Tom Glazer - We've Got A Plan (G.I. Joe And The C.I.O.)
09. Sir Lancelot - Atomic Energy
10. Mahalia Jackson - Amazing Grace
11. Brownie McGhee, Sonny Terry, Coyal McMahan - I Shall Not Be Moved
12. Big Bill Broonzy - When Do I Get to Be Called a Man?
13. The Ramparts - The Death of Emmett Till Parts 1 & 2
14. The Weavers - Which Side Are You On
15. Cisco Houston - The Great American Bum
16. Brother Will Hairston (Hurricane Of The Motor City) - The Alabama Bus Parts 1 & 2
17. Nat King Cole - We Are Americans Too
18. Odetta - Spiritual Trilogy: Oh, Freedom, Come and Go With Me, I'm on My Way
19. The Caravans - We Are Soldiers In The Army
20. Oscar Brand - Fair And Free Elections
21. Joan Baez - All My Trials
22. Harry Belafonte - Oh Freedom
23. Sister Rosetta Tharpe - This Little Light Of Mine
24. Soul Stirrers - Free At Last
25. Bob Dylan - The Gospel Plow

CD2

01. Bob Miller - The Rich Man And The Poor Man
02. Paul Robeson - Joe Hill
03. Josh White - Defense Factory Blues
04. Dave McCarn - Cotton Mill Colic
05. Bob Hill - Pity The Downtrodden Landlord
06. Furry Lewis - Judge Harsh Blues
07. Big Bill Broonzy - Black, Brown And White
08. Southern Sons - Lift Every Voice And Sing
09. Laura Duncan - I've Got A Right
10. Woody Guthrie, Cisco Houston, Leadbelly, Sonny Terry - We Shall Be Free
11. Almanac Singers - We Shall Not Be Moved
12. Earl Robinson - The House I Live In
13. Pete Seeger - Talking Atom
14. Nina Simone - Brown Baby
15. Staple Singers - I've Been Scorned
16. Cisco Houston - Soup Song
17. Dave Van Ronk - Please See That My Grave Is Kept Clean Dave Van Ronk
18. Mahalia Jackson - Go Tell It On The Mountain
19. Sam Cooke - Steal Away
20. Odetta - If I Had A Hammer
21. Judy Collins - Wars of Germany
22. The Weavers - Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream
23. Kingston Trio - Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
24. Bob Dylan - Song To Woody
25. Guy Carawan - We Shall Overcome