VA - Voices Of Mississippi: Artists And Musicians Documented By Bill Ferris (2018)

This watershed release represents the life’s work of William Ferris, an audio recordist, filmmaker, folklorist, and teacher with an unwavering commitment to establish and to expand the study of the American South. William Ferris was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1942. Growing up on a working farm, Ferris began at a young age documenting the artwork, music, and lives of the people on the farm and in his local community. The archive of recordings that he created and the documentary films that he had a hand in producing have served as powerful tools in institutions of higher learning for decades. It is with great excitement that we present these films and recordings. Our hope is that the enjoyment and educational value that has been received by Ferris’s students over the years will be transmitted to listeners around the world and further the understanding of Southern culture.

Track List:

1. James “Son Ford” Thomas – 44 Blues
2. Lovey Williams – I Feel So Good
3. Wallace “Pine-Top” Johnson, Ma – Stackalee and Billy Lyons
4. Scott Dunbar – Lil’ Liza Jane
5. Mississippi Fred McDowell – Big Fat Mama
6. Louis Dotson – Bottle Blowing
7. Sonny Boy Watson – Bring Me My Shotgun
8. Sam Myers – Eyesight to the Blind
9. James “Son Ford” Thomas – Cairo
10. Scott Dunbar – Jaybird
11. Tom Dumas – Cotton Eyed Joe
12. Lovey Williams – Coal Black Mare
13. Unidentified Musician with Mis – I Dreamed I Went to the U.N.
14. Walter Lee Hood – Darling If You Must Leave
15. Mississippi Fred McDowell – I Got a Letter from Hot Spring
16. Wallace “Pine-Top” Johnson, Ma – Baby Loves to Boogie
17. Wash Heron and “Big” Jack John – Nothing
18. James “Son Ford” Thomas – Dust My Broom
19. Scott Dunbar – The Memphis Mail
20. Sonny Boy Watson – Have You Seen My Baby
21. James Hughes – Instrumental Guitar Piece in A
22. Lovey Williams – Train I Ride
23. Unidentified Musician with Mis – Little Red Rooster
24. Leland Musician – Darlin’ Why You Treat Me So?
25. Inmates at Parchman Farm – Water Boy Drowned in the Mobil
26. George Lee “Sun Bud” Spears – I Ain’t Gonna Live It No More
27. James “Son Ford” Thomas with S – I Cannot Stay Here Baby
28. Mary and Amanda Gordon – Lord, I’m in Your Hand
29. The Southland Hummingbirds – You Don’t Know Like I Know
30. Lovey Williams – I’m Standing in the Safety Zon
31. Reverend Smith and Family – Children, Go Where I Send Thee
32. Liddle Hines – What Could I Do?
33. Providence Missionary Baptist – So Glad I Got Good Religion
34. Church of God in Christ – I Know the Lord Will Make a Wa
35. Walter Lee Hood and Parchman I – Home on High
36. Fannie Bell Chapman – We’re So Glad To Be Here
37. Mary Alice and Alan Mcgowan – My Mother’s on that Train
39. Walter Lee Hood – They Tell Me of an Uncloudy Da
40. Rose Hill Church – Thanks for Bill Ferris
41. Rose Hill Church – Over Yonder Where the Sun Will
42. The Southland Hummingbirds – I’ve Been Born Again
43. Lovey Williams and Family – The Lord Will Make a Way Someh
44. Providence Missionary Baptist – How Did You Feel When You Come
45. Church of God in Christ – I Don’t Have to Worry About Wh
46. Fannie Bell Chapman and Family – He’s My Rock, My Sword, and Sh
47. Walter Lee Hood and Parchman I – Thank You Jesus
48. Mary and Amanda Gordon – Cross of Calvary
49. Church of God in Christ – My Grave’s Gonna Be Decorated
50. The Southland Hummingbirds – There Are Days
51. Church of God in Christ – You Can’t Hide Sinner
52. Reverend Isaac Thomas and Rose – Lord, Remember Me
53. Church of God in Christ – Glory, Glory (Lay My Burden Do
54. Barry Hannah – On Bill
55. Alice Walker – Regions of the Mind and Heart
56. Alex Haley – The South
57. Ray Lum – A Trader Is
58. Bobby Rush – The Blues to Me
59. Barry Hannah – On Son Thomas and Tradition
60. James “Son Ford” Thomas – I Know It’s Wrong to Be Playin
61. Sonny Boy Watson – Jitterbug Comes to Town
62. James “Son Ford” Thomas – You Whistlin’
63. Joe “Skeet” Skillet – Mule Toast and Pool Hall Toast
64. Joe Cooper – The Preacher
65. Wallace “Pine-Top” Johnson, Ja – Lyin’
66. Shelby “Poppa Jazz” Brown – Two Brothers, Heaven and Hell
67. Shelby “Poppa Jazz” Brown – Creekman Killed Charlie Kirkla
68. B.B. King – Lucille
69. Allen Ginsberg, James “Son For – On Blues Composition
70. Robert Penn Warren – The Decline in Human Values
71. Pecolia Warner – The Bible Salesman
72. Ray Lum – Fast Traders Disguising Mules
73. Ray Lum – Horses Too Tall To Drown
74. Ray Lum – The Ark and the Cats
75. Ray Lum – The Panther
76. Victor Bobb – Fixing Charles Lindbergh’s Eng
77. Barry Hannah – Lying About Being from Mississ
78. Pete Seeger – We Shall Overcome
79. James “Son Ford” Thomas – Cemetery Conversations