• 2 CDS FEATURING BLUES AND GOSPEL RECORDINGS
• 1 CD FEATURING INTERVIEWS AND STOYTELLING
• 1 DVD FEATURING DOCUMENTARY FILMS
• DOWNLOAD/STREAMING CODE INCLUDED
Voices of Mississippi is a typically beautiful D-t-D object. It comprises one hardcover book, 3 CDs of blues and gospel music and stories collected by folklorist William Ferris and a DVD of films Ferris made between 1972 and 80, all packaged in a cloth-bound box with an unforgettable image of folk artist and blues musician James “Son Ford” Thomas on the cover. If you are a vinyl hound, you can purchase a single LP of tunes cherry-picked from the blues and gospel discs, and if you are a documentary film buff the DVD separately, but to get the full immersive effect you need to spring for the box. This is a document of a life devoted to celebrating lives and uplifting the best of a culture that’s too easy to be known only through its most odious and self-hating manifestations.
ARTISTS & THEMES:
- CD ONE: BLUES
- 01. JAMES
- 02. LOVEY WILLIAMS - I Feel So Good
- 03. Wallace
- 04. SCOTT DUNBAR - Lil’ Liza Jane
- 05. MISSISSIPPI FRED MCDOWELL - Big Fat Mama
- 06. LOUIS DOTSON - Bottle Blowing
- 07. SONNY BOY WATSON - Bring Me My Shotgun
- 08. SAM MYERS - Eyesight To The Blind
- 09..JAMES “SON FORD” THOMAS - Cairo
- 10. SCOTT DUNBAR - Jaybird
- 11. TOM DUMAS - Cotton Eyed Joe
- 12. LOVEY WILLIAMS - Coal Black Mare
- 13. UNKNOWN ARTIST WITH MISSISSIPPI FRED MCDOWELL - I Dreamed I Went To The U.N
- 14. WALTER LEE HOOD - Darling If You Must Leave
- 15. MISSISSIPPI FRED MCDOWELL - I Got A Letter From Hot Springs
- 16. WALLACE “PINE-TOP” JOHNSON* & MAUDIE SHIRLEY WITH JASPER LOVE - Baby Loves To Boogie.
- 17. WASH HERON & “BIG” JACK JOHNSON - Nothing
- 18. JAMES “SON FORD” THOMAS - Dust My Broom
- 19. SCOTT DUNBAR - The Memphis Mail
- 20. SONNY BOY WATSON - Have You Seen My Baby
- 21. JAMES HUGHES - Instrumental Guitar Piece In A
- 22. LOVEY WILLIAMS - Train I Ride
- 23. UNKNOWN ARTIST WITH MISSISSIPPI FRED MCDOWELL - Little Red Rooster
- 24. UNKNOWN ARTIST - Darlin’ Why You Treat Me So?
- 25. UNKNOWN ARTIST - Water Boy Drowned In The Mobile Bay
- 26. GEORGE LEE “SUN BUD” SPEARS - I Ain’t Gonna Live It No More
- 27. JAMES “SON FORD” THOMAS* WITH SONNY BOY WATSON - I Cannot Stay Here Baby.
- CD TWO: GOSPEL
- 01. MARY ALICE* & ALAN MCGOWAN - My Mother’s On That Train
- 02. THE SOUTHLAND HUMMINGBIRDS - You Don’t Know Like I Know
- 03. LOVEY WILLIAMS - I’m Standing In The Safety Zone
- 04. REVEREND SMITH AND FAMILY - Children, Go Where I Send Thee
- 05. LIDDLE HINES - What Could I Do?
- 06. PROVIDENCE MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH - So Glad I Got Good Religion
- 07. CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST - I Know The Lord Will Make A Way (Yes He Will)
- 08. WALTER LEE HOOD AND PARCHMAN INMATES - Home On High
- 09. FANNIE BELL CHAPMAN - We’re So Glad To Be Here
- 10. MARY & AMANDA GORDON - Lord, I’m In Your Hand
- 11. REVEREND OTT & FAMILY - You Don’t Knock, You Just Walk On In
- 12. WALTER LEE HOOD - They Tell Me Of An Uncloudy Day
- 13. ROSE HILL CHURCH - Thanks For Bill Ferris
- 14. ROSE HILL CHURCH - Over Yonder Where The Sun Will Never Shine
- 15. THE SOUTHLAND HUMMINGBIRDS - I’ve Been Born Again
- 16. LOVEY WILLIAMS & FAMILY - The Lord Will Make A Way Somehow
- 17. PROVIDENCE MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH - How Did You Feel When You Come Out Of The Wilderness
- 18. CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST - I Don’t Have To Worry About Where I Spend Eternity
- 19. FANNIE BELL CHAPMAN & FAMILY - He’s My Rock, My Sword, And Shield
- 20. WALTER LEE HOOD & PARCHMAN INMATES - Thank You Jesus
- 21. MARY & AMANDA GORDON - Cross Of Calvary
- 22. THE CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST - My Grave’s Gonna Be Decorated On That Day
- 23. THE SOUTHLAND HUMMINGBIRDS - There Are Days
- 24. THE CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST - You Can’t Hide Sinner
- 25. REVEREND ISAAC THOMAS & ROSE HILL CHURCH - Lord, Remember Me
- 26. THE CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST - Glory, Glory (Lay My Burden Down)
- CD THREE: STORYTELLING
- 01. BARRY HANNAH - On Bill
- 02. ALICE WALKER - Regions Of The Mind And Heart
- 03. ALEX HALEY - The South
- 04. RAY LUM - A Trader Is
- 05. BOBBY RUSH - The Blues To Me
- 06. BARRY HANNAH - On Son Thomas And Tradition
- 07. JAMES
- 08. SONNY BOY WATSON - Jitterbug Comes To Town
- 09. JAMES
- 10. JOE
- 11. JOE COOPER - The Preacher
- 12. WALLACE
- 13. SHELBY
- 14. SHELBY
- 15. B.B. KING - Lucille
- 16. ALLEN GINSBERG, JAMES
- 17. ROBERT PENN WARREN - The Decline In Human Values
- 18. PECOLIA WARNER - The Bible Salesman
- 19. RAY LUM - Fast Traders Disguising Mules
- 20. RAY LUM - Horses Too Tall To Drown
- 21. RAY LUM - The Ark And The Cats
- 22. RAY LUM - The Panther
- 23. VICTOR BOBB - Fixing Charles Lindbergh's Engine
- 24. BARRY HANNAH - Lying About Being From Mississippi
- 25. PETE SEEGER - We Shall Overcome
- 26. JAMES