Various Artists – The Complete Friends of Old Time Music Concert (Smithsonian Folkways, 2024)
The Complete Friends of Old Time Music Concert, featuring previously unreleased recordings by Bessie Jones, John Davis, the Georgia Sea Island Singers, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Ed Young, is now available.
Captured in April 1965 using a Nagra tape recorder and a Sony condenser microphone by field recordist Peter Siegel, this concert is being presented for the first time. It provides a compelling glimpse at the intersection of Black folk traditions and civil rights activism.
The Georgia Sea Island Singers, led by Jones and Davis, performed folk songs and spirituals that have significantly influenced artists like Jerry Garcia and Jake Blount. These songs, originating from the Gullah Geechee people of Georgia, retain strong connections to Africa and carry powerful messages of resistance against slavery and oppression. The concert also featured the country blues of Mississippi Fred McDowell, the Mississippi cane fife player Ed Young, and folklorist Alan Lomax as the host.
During the 1960s and 70s, Bessie Jones, John Davis, and the Georgia Sea Island Singers became renowned for their powerful performances of traditional songs from the African American Gullah Geechee community on St. Simons Island, Georgia. Most group members were born and raised on St. Simons, tracing their ancestry to enslaved people from West and Central Africa who worked on the island’s cotton plantations.
The Georgia Sea Island Singers played a significant role in the civil rights movement, bringing centuries of Black musical tradition to a pivotal era in American history. This album showcases a variety of traditional music from the island and beyond, including work songs, spirituals, children’s songs, and renditions of Mississippi blues.
Buy The Complete Friends of Old Time Music Concert.
Author: Douglas Sanders
