VA - Trouble So Hard: 40 Prison Songs From The Chain Gang (2014)

Songs, spirituals and hollers heard from behind bars. A selection of affecting, hard hitting blues and uplifting spirituals that would often accompany the slave labour of the chain gangs and beyond. From genuine prisoners to true legends and somewhere in between, enjoy a real slice of musical history.

Tracklist:

CD 1

01. Vera Hall - Troubled So Hard (1:39)
02. Mississippi & Louisiana State Penitentiaries Prisoners - Old Alabama (3:03)
03. The Golden Gate Quartet - God's Gonna Cut Them Down (2:33)
04. Blind Willie McTell (With Curley Weaver) - Lord Have Mercy If You Please (2:57)
05. Prisoners At The Ramsey & Retrieve State Farms, Texas - Let Your Hammer Ring (5:49)
06. Mahalia Jackson - Amazing Grace (2:18)
07. Leadbelly - Pick A Bale Of Cotton (2:58)
08. Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, & Coyal McMahan - The Midnight Special (2:35)
09. The Five Blind Boys - He's My Rock (2:55)
10. Blind Willie Johnson - John The Revelator (3:18)
11. Horace Sprott - Take This Hammer (2:12)
12. Mississippi Fred McDowell - Keep Your Lamps Trimmed And Burning (2:47)
13. The Charioteers - Wade In The Water (2:45)
14. The Staple Singers - Stand By Me (3:36)
15. "22" & Group - Old Dollar Mamie (3:28)
16. Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Down By The Riverside (2:31)
17. Prison Group - Berta (1:57)
18. Big Bill Broonzy - C.C. Rider (3:17)
19. Josh White & His Carolinians - Told My Cap'n (3:19)
20. The Skylarks - Roll Jordan Roll (2:47)

CD 2

01. C.B. & Axe Gang - Rosie (3:09)
02. Leadbelly - Whoa Back, Buck (3:07)
03. Vera Hall - Another Man Done Gone (1:26)
04. The Pace Jubilee Singers - O Death! (3:27)
05. Big Bill Broonzy - In The Evening When The Sun Goes Down (4:25)
06. Prisoners At The Ramsey & Retrieve State Farms, Texas - Go Down, Old Hannah (5:25)
07. The Pace Jubilee Singers - Leave It There (3:06)
08. Skip James - Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues (2:49)
09. Prisoners At The Ramsey & Retrieve State Farms, Texas - Lost John (4:56)
10. "22" & Group - It Makes A Long Time Man Feel Bad (2:42)
11. Blind Willie Johnson - Dark Was The Night (Cold Was The Ground) (3:20)
12. Bama - Stackerlee (4:07)
13. The Golden Gate Quartet - By And By (2:18)
14. Prisoners At The Ramsey & Retrieve State Farms, Texas - Grizzly Bear (4:38)
15. Josh White & His Carolinians - Chain Gang Boun' (3:00)
16. "22" & Group - Prettiest Train (3:45)
17. Rev. Edward W. Clayborn - I Shall Not Be Moved (2:48)
18. B.B. & Group - Black Woman (2:55)
19. 22, Little Red, Tangle Eye & Hard Hair - Early In The Mornin' (4:40)
20. Reverend Gary Davis - I'll Fly Away (4:43)