I‘ll Meet You On That Other Shore
Alan Lomax’s “Southern Journey”
1959 – 1960
In 1959 and 1960, at the height of the Folk Revival, Alan Lomax undertook the first-ever stereo field recording trip through the American South to document its still thriving vernacular musical culture. He traveled through Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, and North Carolina, making over 70 hours of recordings. The trip came to be known as Lomax’s “Southern Journey,” and its recordings were first issued for the Atlantic and Prestige labels in the early ‘60s.
“I’ll Meet You On That Other Shore” features John Davis and the Georgia Sea Island Singers, Tidewater Virginia’s Union Choir of the Church of God and Saints of Christ, Old Regular Baptist lining hymns from Eastern Kentucky, Ozark balladeer Neal
Morris, work songs from Parchman Farm (the Mississippi State Penitentiary), octogenarian Charles Barnett on vocal and washtub, fiddler Carlos “Bookmiller” Shannon’s rendition of “The Eighth of January,” Hobart Smith’s performance of “Railroad Bill” — a formative influence on the 1960s Folk Revival — and one of the debut recordings of bluesman Mississippi Fred McDowell.
The Alan Lomax Archive is the repository of
thousands of hours of Lomax’s field recordings
from across his seven-decade career, and Global
Jukebox is its first independent music label. It will
draw on the full range of the archive’s worldwide
collections, beginning with five albums commemorating
the 50th anniversary of Lomax’s storied
Southern Journey. Compiled and annotated by
Nathan Salsburg, the albums draw on new transfers
of the original tapes, and include considerable
previously unreleased material and extensive
booklets of photos and notes.
Title: I’ll Meet You On That Other Shore:
Alan Lomax’s “Southern Journey,” 1959–1960
Label: Global Jukebox
Catalog #: GJ1003
UPC: 847108057211
Genre: Folk, Blues, Traditional, Fife and drum,
Gospel, Appalachian, Prison Songs
Street Date: 12.28.10
PDF booklet: 12-page booklet of photos and
song notes.
Publicist: Howard Wuelfing,
Howlin’ Wuelf Media, 215-428-9119
Also available as an LP on Mississippi Records.
Track List
1. Fred McDowell: “What’s the Matter Now?”
2. Bookmiller Shannon: “The Eighth of January”
3. Ruby Vass: “Old Gospel Ship”
4. Union Choir of the Church of God and Saints of
Christ: “None But the Righteous”
5. George Spangler & Thornton Old Regular
Baptist Church congregation:
“Why Must I Wear This Shroud?”
6. Neal Morris: “Sing Anything”
7. Vera Ward Hall: “Black Woman (Wild Ox
Moan)Ӡ
8. Floyd Batts: “Dangerous Blues”
9. Hobart Smith: “Railroad Bill”
10. Unidentified woman & St. James Church
congregation: “I’ll Meet You On that Other Shore”*
11. Charles Barnett: “Moses Was A Servant
of the Lord”*
12. Spencer Moore & Roy Everett Blevins:
“The Girl I Left Behind”
13. Lucius Smith: “Goodbye Honey, You Call that
Gone”*
14. John Davis & the Georgia Sea Island Singers:
“Moses, Don’t Get Lost”
15. Almeda Riddle: “Rainbow Mid Life’s Willows”
*Previously unissued.
†Previously unissued version.