American Roots Music [Box Set]

Disc 1
1	American Roots Music Theme
2	Waiting for a Train
3	Wildwood Flower
4	Take Me Back to My Old Carolina Home
5	Wabash Cannonball
6	That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine
7	Sitting on Top of the World
8	Uncle Pen
9	Salty Dog Blues
10	Nine Pound Hammer
11	Walking the Floor over You
12	If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time
13	It Wasn't God Who Made Honkey Tonk Angels
14	Black Mountain Rag
15	Earl's Breakdown
16	Little Maggie
17	Where Shades of Love Lie Deep
18	Stomping Grounds
Disc 2
1	The King Biscuit Time Theme / James Cotton
2	Crazy Blues / Mamie Smith
3	ST. Louis Blues / Bessie Smith
4	Black Snake Moan / Blind Lemon Jefferso
5	Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues / Charley Patton
6	Cross Road Blues / Robert Johnson
7	Death Letter Blues / Son House
8	Another Night to Cry / Lonnie Johnson
9	Foldin' Bed / Whistler's Jug Band
10	Boogie Woogie Dream / Albert Ammons
11	Bye Bye Bird / Sonny Boy Williamson
12	Shake for Me / Howlin' Wolf
13	Got My Mojo Working / Muddy Waters
14	The Thrill Is Gone / B.B. King
15	Take a Little Walk With Me / Robert Lockwood, Jr.
16	Henry / Keb' Mo'
Disc 3
1	Joshua Fit de Battle / Fisk University Jubi
2	Precious Lord, Take My Hand / Rev. Thomas A. Dorse
3	Blind Barnabus / Golden Gate Quartet
4	Down by the Riverside / Sister Rosetta Tharp
5	Move on up a Little Higher / Mahalia Jackson
6	Sit Down Servant / The Staple Singers
7	Jesus Gave Me Water / Edwin Hawkins
8	Oh Happy Day / Woody Guthrie
9	This Land Is Your Land / Leadbelly
10	Goodnight Irene / The Weavers
11	So Long Been Good to Know Yuh / The New Lost City Ra
12	The Soldier and the Lady / Mississippi John Hur
13	John Henry / Peter, Paul and Mary
14	If I Had a Hammer ( the Hammer Song) / The SNCC Freedom Sin
15	We Shall Overcome / SNCC Freedom Singers
16	The Times They Are A-Changin' / Bob Dylan
Disc 4
1	Allons a Lafayette / Joe Falcon
2	Madame Atchen / Amédé Ardoin
3	Port Arthur Blues / Dewey Balfa
4	I'm a Hog for You / Clifton Chenier
5	Dans la Louisianne / Marc & Ann Savoy
6	Ossun Two / Steve Riley & The Ma
7	Mal Hombre / Lydia Mendoza
8	Muchacha Bonita / Narciso Martínez
9	Rosalito / Valerio Longoria, Sr
10	Las Nubes / Little Joe & La Fami
11	Ring of Fire / Mingo Saldivar
12	Sorry Boy / Flaco Jimenez
13	Yeibichei Song / Unidentified Perform
14	Traditional Powwow / Renzel Last Horse
15	Jesus Loves Me / Everette Red Bear
16	Wounded Knee / Floyd Red Crow Weste
17	Enchantment Song / R. Carlos Nakai
18	The Dance / Robert Mirabal

Barnes & Noble

If roots music is a genre, then this set presents the roots of roots. This 68-track, four-CD set serves as a companion to the PBS television series (available on DVD and VHS, too), presenting the complete performances of songs excerpted or used as background music in the episodes. It's a savvy mix of essential classics (reaching back to the 1920s), performances from archival film sources, and new recordings, journeying through country, blues, gospel, folk, Cajun/zydeco, Tejano, and Native American styles. Well annotated with an informative 58-page book, American Roots Music is both a history lesson and a compelling listen. The country disc includes originators Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family, with western swing from Gene Autry and Bob Wills, bluegrass from Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley, honky-tonk from Kitty Wells, Lefty Frizzell, and Hank Williams, and still-dexterous picking from living legends Doc Watson and Earl Scruggs. The set moves to the blues for the second disc, beginning in the '20s with spiritual sisters Mamie Smith and Bessie Smith. There's classic Delta blues from Charley Patton, Robert Johnson, and Son House (in an amazing, scary 1967 archival film performance of "Death Letter Blues"), Chicago blues from Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, and B. B. King's soulful classic "The Thrill Is Gone." Disc 3 is half gospel, half folk; although both could merit CDs of their own, the choices are astute. Amid stiff competition from the Golden Gate Quartet, the Staple Singers, and Mahalia Jackson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe's searing "Down by the Riverside" steals the show. Folk mainstays Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Bob Dylan are here, as are Leadbelly and Peter, Paul and Mary. Disc 4 contains the most radical selections, focusing on mostly contemporary recordings of regional music, with six picks each of Cajun/zydeco, Tejano, and Native American musics. It makes a strong case for including Clifton Chenier, Lydia Mendoza, Flaco Jimenez, and R. Carlos Nakai in the roots pantheon. For scholars and casual fans alike, American Roots Music is required, essential listening. Steve Klinge

All Music Guide

The successes of the breakthrough soundtrack from the film O Brother Where Art Thou? and the in-depth PBS television series Ken Burns' Jazz seem to have combined in the 2001 production of Palm Pictures' four-part TV series American Roots Music. The series touches on the development of the distinctly American styles of traditional folk, country, blues, gospel, Western swing, bluegrass, cajun, zydeco, Tejano, and Native American music. Corresponding with the television event, Palm has released a four-CD box set soundtrack with a 48-page booklet covering the styles covered during the show. Much like a broadened version of the amazing Washington Square Memoirs: The Great Urban Folk Boom, 1950-1970 CD set, American Roots Music has pulled together an impressive list of performers, including the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Bill Monroe, B.B. King, Hank Williams, Robert Johnson, Son House, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, the Staple Singers, Clifton Chenier, Flaco Jimenez, and Bob Dylan. The depth of the track selection is impressive, as is the breadth of the performers chosen. The producers have chosen to include some studio recordings, and some audio tracks taken from the film archives, making for a somewhat uneven sound quality. While the previously unreleased nature of these select tracks will appeal to collectors and die-hard fans, those just exploring these styles might be turned off by the rough quality of these performances. The discs span more than eight decades of music, acting as a good overview of these genres for new listeners, while Americana enthusiasts will view it as another great collection of the most influential American roots artists in music history. [Also available from Palm is a 19-song CD sampler entitled American Roots Music: Highlights and a video collection containing the entire television series on DVD and VHS.] Zac Johnson