Every Tone A Testimony (2001) ( )

Product Summary Label: Smithsonian UPC: 00093074700327 Release Date: 2/27/2001 Buy.com Sku: 60455736 Item#: M2DDPF Format:  CD Song Listing Disc 1 Song Title Sample 1. Struggle, The - Langston Hughes ~ Various Artists 2. Field Call - Annie Grace Horn Dodson ~ Various Artists 3. Complaint Call - Enoch Brown ~ Various Artists 4. Intro And Kneebone Bend - Lawrence McKiver/Doretha Skipper ~ Various Artists 5. Brother Terrapin, Slow Train To Arkansas - Rich Amerson ~ Various Artists 6. Jack And Mary And Three Dogs - Mrs. Janie Hunter ~ Various Artists 7. Buck Dance - Joe Tucker ~ Various Artists 8. I'm Goin' Up North - Children Of East York School ~ Various Artists 9. Pharaoh's Host Got Lost - Lawrence McKiver ~ Various Artists 10. Bars Fight - Lucy Terry ~ Various Artists 11. Earl Of Datrmouth - Phillis Wheatley ~ Various Artists 12. I Wonder Where My Brother Gone - Annie Grace Horn Dodson ~ Various Artists 13. Narrative - Harriet Tubman ~ Various Artists 14. Speech At Akron Convention - Sojourner Truth ~ Various Artists 15. Singing Slaves - Frederick Douglass ~ Various Artists 16. Steal Away To Jesus - Kinsey West ~ Various Artists 17. What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July? - Frederick Douglass ~ Various Artists 18. Why Slavery Is Still Rampant? - Sarah Parker ~ Various Artists 19. Free At Last - Dock Read & Vera Hall Ward ~ Various Artists 20. When Malindy Sings - Paul Laurence Dunbar ~ Various Artists 21. There's A Great Camp Meeting - Fisk Jubilee Singers ~ Various Artists 22. Atlanta Exposition Address - Booker T. Washington ~ Various Artists 23. John Henry - Brownie McGhee/Sonny Terry ~ Various Artists 24. Banjo Player - Fenton Johnson ~ Various Artists 25. Boatman Dance - Elizabeth Cotten ~ Various Artists 26. Shine - Percy Randolph ~ Various Artists 27. Chopping In The New Ground - Inmates Of Ramsey ~ Various Artists 28. Lynching, Our National Crime - Ida B Wells-Barnett ~ Various Artists 29. Recorded Autobiography, A - W.E.B. Du Bois ~ Various Artists 30. Listen Lord, A Prayer - James Weldon Johnson ~ Various Artists 31. My Heart Is Fixed - Reverend Gary Davis ~ Various Artists 32. Titanic, The - Leadbelly ~ Various Artists 33. Heritage - Countee Cullen ~ Various Artists 34. Jungle Drums - James P. Johnson ~ Various Artists Disc 2 Song Title Sample 1. No More Auction Block - Paul Robeson ~ Various Artists 2. Negro Speaks Of Rivers, The - Langston Hughes ~ Various Artists 3. If We Must Die - Claude McKay ~ Various Artists 4. Ma Rainey - Sterling Brown ~ Various Artists 5. Backwater Blues - Big Bill Broonzy ~ Various Artists 6. Married Man Blues - Billie & Dede Pierce ~ Various Artists 7. For My People - Margaret Walker ~ Various Artists 8. Children Of The Poor, Sonnet 2, The - Gwendolyn Brooks ~ Various Artists 9. Body And Soul - George Big Nick Nicholas ~ Various Artists 10. How He Delivered Me - Juanita Johnson & The Gospel Tones ~ Various Artists 11. Long Distance Call - Muddy Waters ~ Various Artists 12. Cry To Me - Solomon Burke ~ Various Artists 13. Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around - The SNCC Freedom Singers ~ Various Artists 14. Brimingham 1963 (Keep Moving) - Martin Luther King Jr. ~ Various Artists 15. Black Panther Party Platform - Bobby Seale ~ Various Artists 16. Interview (Excerpt) - Angela Davis ~ Various Artists 17. Together To The Tune Of Coltrane's Equinox - Sarah Webster Fabio ~ Various Artists 18. Nikki-Rosa - Nikki Giovanni ~ Various Artists 19. Liberation / Poem - Sonia Sanchez ~ Various Artists 20. Dope - Amiri Baraka ~ Various Artists 21. Village Of Brooklyn, Illinois 62059, The - Hamiet Bluiett ~ Various Artists 22. For The Poets - Jayne Cortez ~ Various Artists 23. Shotgun Joe - Golden Eagels ~ Various Artists 24. St. Louis Woman - Ishmael Reed ~ Various Artists 25. People Everday - Arrested Development ~ Various Artists   Album Notes and Credits Notes & Personnel Info EVERY TONE A TESTIMONY is an aural history of African American culture encompassing a collection of prose, poetry and music. Compilation producer: Robert H. Cataliotti. Includes a 40 page booklet. Subtitled "An African American Aural History," the scope of this two-CD set is impressive, encompassing poetry, writings, speeches, and music by many major Black musicians, writers, and activists of the 20th century. The focus of the disc, however, wavers enough to make it an uneven, jumpy listening experience, although it's a valuable source for educators and radio programmers that might want to draw upon specific tracks to make specific points. All but five of the 59 selections come from within the Smithsonian Folkways collection itself, ranging in length from 20-second soundbites to six-minute musical performances. Whether read by others or by the authors themselves, this contains excerpts of notable literary works or speeches by significant African-Americans such as Langston Hughes, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Angela Davis, Bobby Seale, Martin Luther King, Jr., Amiri Baraka, Jayne Cortez, and Ishmael Reed (sometimes read by notable actors like Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee). The music is a real mixed bag of styles, but again commendably diverse, with performances by Reverend Gary Davis, Leadbelly, Muddy Waters, Paul Robeson, Hamiet Bluiett, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry, James P. Johnson, and Arrested Development -- everything from country-blues and jazz to gospel and rap. Occasionally some of the pieces transcend their considerable historical/educational interest as incendiary performances in their own right, such as Amiri Baraka's remarkably lively, visceral performance of his poem "Dope" and the Golden Eagles' infectious Mardi Gras percussive chants. There are extensive liner notes, but these don't always indicate the date of performance/recording, which even in case of the spoken word tracks would be useful information for many of the people apt to listen to such a disc. ~ Richie Unterberger   Technical Info Release Date : 01/23/2001 Original Release Date : 2001 Catalog ID : 47003 Label : Smithsonian Folkways Recordings Number of Discs : 2 Studio/Live : Studio Mono/Stereo : Mixed SPAR Code : n/a UPC : 00093074700327   Professional Reviews Dirty Linen (8-9/01, p.75) - "...Time spent with these rich, amply documented discs cannot fail to educate and inspire..."    Related Videos Christmas In The Heart : ... A Cherry Cherry Christmas... 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