Sings for Children

by Lead Belly

Overview

A dozen of these 28 songs were first issued on the 1960 Folkways album Negro Folk Songs for Young People. But this is not so much a CD expansion of that album as a lengthy compilation of children-friendly performances from the 1940s that uses Negro Folk Songs for Young People as its core. The additional tracks were recorded by Moses Asch of Folkways in 1941-1948, and include five of the six songs released on the 1941 album Party Songs/Sings & Plays, and a previously unreleased radio broadcast of "Take This Hammer." While many of these are simple tunes that can easily be picked up by young kids for singing along to, like "Skip to My Lou" and "Blue-Tailed Fly (Jimmy Crack Corn)," a bunch of these are classic folk songs of equal appeal to all age groups. Some of them are particularly identified with Leadbelly's interpretations, such as "Rock Island Line," "John Henry," "Cotton Fields," "Midnight Special," "Pick a Bale of Cotton," and "Take this Hammer"; other familiar standards like "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and "Sally Walker" are also aboard. As the liner notes explain, Leadbelly didn't limit the repertoire of his performances for children solely to simple tunes, also putting in blues and folk songs that you wouldn't think of as kids' tunes, like "Good Morning Blues." The result is a disc that is simply a good Leadbelly album, whether listened to by kids or others. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	03/23/1999
Label:	Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
UPC:	0093074504727
Rank:	72978

Tracks

1. More Yet
2. Boll Weevil
3. Little Boy, How Old Are You?
4. Skip to My Lou
5. Red Bird
6. Sally Walker
7. Ha Ha This A-Way
8. Grey Goose
9. Christmas Is Coming
10. Blue Tail Fly
11. Polly Wee (The Frog Song)
12. Pig Latin Song
13. When a Man's a Long Way from Home
14. Good Morning Blues
15. By and by When the Morning Comes
16. Every Time I Feel the Spirit/Swing Low, Sweet Chariot/They Hung Him on
17. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
18. Rock Island Line
19. Cotton Fields
20. Old Man
21. John Henry
22. Julie Ann Johnson
23. Whoa Back Buck
24. You Can't Lose Me, Cholly
25. Midnight Special
26. Pick a Bale of Cotton
27. Take This Hammer
28. We're in the Same Boat, Brother

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Lead Belly   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Mary Monseur   Production Coordination,Project Coordinator
Lead Belly   Composer,Arranger
Charlie Pilzer   Mastering
Pete Reiniger   Coordination,Sound Coordinator,Technical Coordinator
Carla Borden   Editing
Michael Maloney   Project Coordinator,Production Coordination
Huddie Ledbetter   Composer
Anthony Seeger   Annotation,Liner Notes,Project Supervisor,Reissue Compilation
Alan Lomax   Composer
D.A. Sonneborn   Project Supervisor
Jeff Place   Annotation,Liner Notes,Reissue Compilation
Traditional   Composer