Search - Alan Lomax :: Deep River of Song: Alabama

The amazing and sublime Vera Ward Hall

10/28/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"this is probably the finest in the Deep River of Song series because it features so much of Vera Hall's singing. she is a truly wondeful, amazing, sublimely talented singer. as beloved as she is she herself has not had a cd released in her name, this cd being the easiest way to get a large amount of her songs. many of these songs are lullabies and secular songs.
another reviewer mentioned the Smithsonian Folkways cd Negro Folk Music Of Alabama - volume 5 - spirituals. which is 16 songs by Dock Reed [Vera's cousin] + Vera Ward Hall. the songs are all religious in nature and might be more aptly described as Dock Reed songs with 2nd vocals by Vera Hall. her singing is not exactly in the forefront of tehse recordings except on the few songs she sings solo. this cd is not in commercial release so to get it you must go to the Smithsonian Folkways website, click on the "a world of sound" catalogue, then enter Vera Ward Hall in the 'artists search' box. the Smithsonian has a library of some 3,000 recordings [the 'world of sound'] and will burn you a custom cd or cassette of anything in this vast catalogue.
there are also other Vera hall songs scattered among Rounder's cds-
-Afro-American Spirituals, Work Songs + Ballads
contains 3 songs of hers, 1 trouble so hard 2 choose your
seat and set down 3 handwriting on the wall. 'trouble so
hard' is the song Moby sampled on his song 'natural blues'
on his album 'play', if you've only heard the short sample
in that song you'll be amazed by the full song
-Alan Lomax's Southern Journey volume1. contains 1 song by
her "mama's gonna buy"
-various artists 'Every Tone A Testimony' features Vera +
Dock Reed's 'free at last'. this is an album of singers,
poets, and political figures that focuses on the African
American experience, specifically the struggle for equality
i'm sure ther are a few others that i'm forgetting about. until somone puts out a truly comprehensive cd of Vera's work this will have to suffice. the main problem is that Folkways has half of her recordings and Roundr the other half. hopefully someday they'll cooperate/collaborate and put something like that out."

Essential Black music, real folk music, for all musicianers

Tony Thomas | SUNNY ISLES BEACH, FL USA | 11/14/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have heard some of these recordings, particularly "Knock John Booker (To The Low Ground)" for more than 40 years. This is the real thing, the core of Black traditional music. Too much is focused on the blues which sprang out of this kind of music and other traditions at the turn of the century. I came to this music in part out of my own leading participation in the current revival of Black string band music, especially fiddling and banjo.



Now even if there is no real string band here, no fiddling, and no banjo player, the real music and ethos of Black music, the basic rhythms of the church and play music that came from West Africa, as well as the more linear progressions of the blues that point to the area between the coast and the Sahara, are all here in their glory.



Much is said about the great Vera Hall. It is a shame that no one has put out an all-Vera Hall CD so one does not have to collect a dozen different Lomax collection reissues on various labels to have a CD's worth of her singing.



What seems important here is the versions of Black or general folk songs and blues we are used to hearing from white folk singers and white traditional sources like "Railroad Bill," "Hush Little Baby," and "Ain't Gonna Rain No More."



Also the music captured here as children's game songs, or children's games remembered by older people, show a side of blakc music reaching back to the earliest of times. "Knock Johnnie Booker" such a song, as I said, has echoed in my mind since I first heard it on a Library of Congress sampler back in the early 1960s. The tune isn't about the funny character Johnny Booker, many white singers sing about following a minstrel version of the song. Instead it is about the reality of being a slave and getting beaten by the Master or the Mistress. But what a rhythm. My friend Clarke Buehling has been trying to teach the world the importance of the Juba Rhythm not just to patting it, but to his 19th Century minstreal banjo playing. But one listen to the Johnny Booker here, especially if you have heard the rhythm around you again in children's games growing up Black, you know what it is."

There are more recordings of Vera Hall Ward

Weimin Tchen | Melrose, MA USA | 07/31/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, Vera Hall Ward is a great singer, but these recordings made by John & Ruby Lomax 1937-1940, should have been cleaned-up more (pops were eliminated but not crackle & other constant backgroung noise). There are much cleaner recordings of her (perhaps in a later decade) on:> "Treasury of Library of Congress Field Recordings" and
> "Negro Religious Songs and Services".> Smithsonian has re-released duets with her cousin, Dock Reed that was recorded by Harold Courlander on a 1950 fieldtrip:[URL]
- Negro Folk Music of Alabama, Vol. 5: Spirituals (1950) Includes all of F-2038 plus additional music. [prices]> There are more duets available from:
[URL]> You can download recordings from the Lomax 1939 fieldtrip at:
[URL]It is interesting to hear Vera Hall Ward sing secular songs, - inspite of her strongly religious background. I also like the music of the Georgia Sea Islands, St. John's Island, prison worksongs, and the Bahamas (Real Bahamas, Vol. 1-2), which indicate how powerful the older music was."