VA - The Little Red Box Of Protest Songs

The Little Red Box Of Protest Songs is a truly outstanding release: 3 CDs (and - not in this post -  a
DVD) full of some of the finest protest folk music from the USA of the early 20th century.

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the publication of the first American protest song book, "The Little Red Song Book", and Pete Seegers's 90th birthday this collection traces the roots of protest song in the US from the first half of the last century up to the Fifties illustrating how the stage was set for the Folk protest giants of the Sixties such as Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs. Featuring classic performances by Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Josh White, Leadbelly, The Almanac Singers, The Weavers and many more.

Releases such as this set almost make the modern day listener feel uneasy, such is the convenience of purchasing a collection that encompasses such a breadth of human experience. Each of these songs stands tall and strong, could be (and no doubt have been) lived in and lived by. There are songs as familiar as nursery rhymes, others that surprise the first-time listener and demand repeated plays.
Though this is nominally referred to as folk music, it really covers jazz, blues and soul, with soul in particular permeating. It’s in the ghostly harmonies of The Union Boys, the humour of Carl Sandburg’s The Boll Weevil and the stand-up dignity of Woody Guthrie songs that pepper the set.
Such is the nature of the protest song, this is an intense listen and perhaps best absorbed in short bursts, given the amount of material collected.


Tracklist:

Disc One - THE HOUSE I LIVE IN

Banks are Made of Marble - Pete Seeger
Chain Gang Bound - Josh White & His Carolinians
Joe Hill - Earl Robinson
This Land is Your Land - Woody Guthrie
Jim Crow - The Union Boys
Farmer's Letter to the President - Bob Miller
The Strange Death of John Doe - Almanac Singers
Southern Exposure - Josh White
Talking Atom - Pete Seeger
We've Got a Plan - Tom Glazer & Josh White
Bank Failures - Bob Miller
The House I Live In - Earl Robinson
Round & Round Hitler's Grave - Almanac Singers
Eisenhower Blues - J.B Lenoir
Unity Rhumba - Goodson & Vale
Dear Mr. President - Almanac Singers
Pastures of Plenty - The Weavers
The Bosses' Gang - Mara Alexander & Others
Freedom Road - Josh White
The Scottsboro Boys - Leadbelly

Disc Two - PATRIOTIC DIGGERS

Voting Union - Pete Seeger
Talking Sailor - Woody Guthrie
The Roosevelt Song - Leadbelly
The Boll Weevil - Carl Sandburg
The Preacher & the Slave - Seeger, Glazer, Wood & Gilbert
Nine Foot Shovel - Josh White & His Carolinians
High Price Blues - Brownie McGhee
Hold On - The Union Boys
Miner's Song - Woody Guthrie
Pity the Downtrodden Landlord - Bob Hill (Fred Hellerman)
Jim Crow Train - Josh White
Patriotic Diggers - John Allison
Farm Relief Blues - Bob Miller
Worried Man Blues - Woody Guthrie
Trouble - Josh White & His Carolinians
UAW-CIO - The Union Boys
Mr. Hitler - Leadbelly
No More Blues - Tom Glazer & Josh White
Plow Under - Almanac Singers
Told My Cap'n - Josh White & His Carolinians

Disc Thee - WE SHALL BE FREE

Strange Fruit - Josh White
The Bourgeois Blues - Leadbelly
C For Conscription - Almanac Singers
Citizen C.I.O. - Tom Glazer & Josh White
Ship in the Sky - Woody Guthrie
Jerry - Josh White & His Carolinians
The Rich Man & The Poor Man - Bob Miller
In Washington - Priority Ramblers
A Dollar Ain't a Dollar Anymore - Seeger, Glazer, Hays & Wood
Atomic Energy - Sir Lancelot
Black, Brown & White - Brownie McGhee
Uncle Sam Says - Josh White
Ragged Hungry Blues (Pt. 1) - Aunt Molly Jackson
Ragged Hungry Blues (Pt. 2) - Aunt Molly Jackson
We're Keeping Score In '44 - Earl Robinson
Goin' Home Boys - Josh White & His Carolinians
I've Got a Right - Laura Duncan
The Hammer Song - The Weavers
I'm On My Way - Ernie Lieberman
We Shall Be Free - Woody Guthrie

The Little Red Box Of Protest Songs
(192 kbps, front cover included