Been All Around This World

Association for Cultural Equity
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Been All Around This World

"Been All Around This World" explores the breadth and depth of folklorist Alan Lomax's seven decades of field recordings. From the earliest trips he made through the American South with his father, John A. Lomax, beginning in 1933, to his last documentary work in the early 1990s, the program will present seminal artists and performances alongside obscure, unidentified, and previously unheard singers and players, from around America and the world, drawn from the Lomax Collection at the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. It hosted by Nathan Salsburg, curator of the Alan Lomax Archive, alongside co-host and producer Michael Cormier-O'Leary, program coordinator at the Association for Cultural Equity, the non-profit research center and advocacy organization that Lomax founded in 1983. (Photo of Alan Lomax by Peter Figlestahler.)

  1. 10/01/2024

    24 - Shouts on the Threshing Floor: Work Songs

    A survey of work songs from around the world, recorded by Alan and John A. Lomax. We narrow the definition of work song to mean specifically those sung to assist in or accompany actual jobs of work. Visit our brand new work song exhibit here. Playlist (links to catalog records in the Lomax Digital Archive when available): 1a Alla Boara 1b A Mezzononte en Punto 2 Walter Brown on Privileged Penitentiary https://archive.culturalequity.org/film-and-video/american-patchwork/greenville-levee-1978 3 Levee Camp Hollers https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/mississippi-delta-survey-1941-1942/lake-cormorant-941/levee-camp-hollers 4a Track Lining Song and Talk https://archive.culturalequity.org/node/1689 4b Dogging Steel https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/southern-us-1959-and-1960/williamson-959/dogging-steel-part-1 4c Sis Joe https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/mississippi-1933-1940/parchman-farm-833/sis-joe 5 Houston Bacon Sinking and Joining Iron https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/mississippi-delta-survey-1941-1942/clarksdale-842/sinking-rails-and-joining-iron 6a Di Yo Pa Hele https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/la-plaine-ii-662/di-yo-pa-hele-pou-nou 6b Naje Kanot-la https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/scotts-head-662/naje-kanot-la 7a Dekouwe bwa-la https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/caribbean-1962/la-plaine-ii-662/dekouwe-bwa-la 7b Clyde Maxwell wood chopping https://archive.culturalequity.org/film-and-video/american-patchwork/clyde-maxwells-wood-chopping-holler-1-1978 7c John Bray Cypress Logging 8 Winnowing songs https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/morocco-1967/tazzarine-967/winnowing-song-i & https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/morocco-1967/tazzarine-967/winnowing-song-ii 8b Shouts on the threshing floor https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/morocco-1967/tazzarine-967/shouts-threshing-floor 8c Unidentified Threshing Song https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/spain-1952-1953/valldemossa-752/unidentified-threshing-song-i 9a I Like Picking Olives https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/spain-1952-1953/valldemossa-752/magrada-collir-oliva 9b Bentara Noa https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/spain-1952-1953/uitzi-1252/bentara-noa 9c Larre Berrian https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/spain-1952-1953/uitzi-1252/larre-berrian-i 10a Warning Cry  https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/spain-1952-1953/alan-lomax-inspecting-recording-machine-marble-quarry 11b O’s Toils https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/scotland-1951-1958/garrygall-851/o-s-toil-s-ro-thoil-liom-i-i-very-much-desire 12a O’s Fhada https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/scotland-1951-1958/garrygall-651/o-s-fhada-bhuainn-anna-far-away-us-anna 12b Oganach https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/scotland-1951-1958/balivanich-651/oganach-gun-toir-na-dheaghaidh-young-man-whom-no-one-0 12c An Cuala https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/scotland-1951-1958/balivanich-651/cuala-sibh-man-mhaighdean-cheutach-have-you-heard

    1h 16m

  2. 07/11/2024

    23 - MIX: Alan Lomax in Carriacou, 1962

    Been All Around This World has a new co-host! ACE Program Coordinator and Been All Around This World producer Michael Cormier-O'Leary joins Curator Nathan Salsburg in bringing you new episodes of this podcast. We are expanding the show's format to include episodes like today's, which is a continuous mix of music, mixed in with our deeper dives. This will allow us to release content more frequently while still developing longer form explorations of material within the collection. In the wake of the devastation recently wrought by Hurricane Beryl, today's mix is a survey of recordings Alan Lomax made on the Grenadian island of Carriacou in 1962. If you'd like to help with relief efforts, consider making a donation to support the rebuilding efforts on the island: https://www.facebook.com/share/QgA2Zg2Aph6iWFNr/ Tracklist: "Demba-o""Meet Me On The Road""It's Time For A Man To Go Home""I Want To Hear Somebody Pray""Wila-wila-mena (I)""O The Angels Send Me For You""Hi Lo Boys""Rosibella (I)""Aunty-o, Coro, Coro""Breakaway (II)""Khaki-o, Wé Yo Diamonds""C‘est Mwe, Nani Moko"

    30 min

  3. 03/01/2024

    22 - When I Get Home: Sacred songs from the 1939 Texas recordings

    The last episode of our survey of John A. and Ruby T. Lomax's 1939 Texas recordings features highlights of sacred performances in the collection. 1) Eulalia Martinez, Paola Lopez, Genoveva Lopez: Gloria a Diós en las alturas (Sugarland, Fort Bend County, Texas, April 23, 1939) 2) Gonzalo Lopez, Cleofe Lopez: Vela por tu amante (Sugarland, Fort Bend County, Texas, April 23, 1939) 3) Iron Head Baker: This Heart of Mine (Camp #4, Ramsey State Farm, Otey, Brazoria County, Texas, April 23, 1939) 4) Columbus Christopher, Wallace Chains, W.S. Harrison (Jaybird), Sylvester Jones (Texas Stavin’ Chain), Wade Bolden (Monkey): Jesus Getting Us Ready for that Great Day (Camp #4, Ramsey State Farm, Otey, Brazoria County, Texas, April 23, 1939) 5) Smith Casey & Unidentified man: When I Get Home (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas, April 16, 1939) 6) Unidentified women: It's A Blessing Just to Call My Savior's Name (Goree State Farm for Women, Huntsville, Walker County, Texas, May 14, 1939) 7) Alvin Brown, William Brown, Terrell Conley, and Eugene Blacker: Ride on King Jesus (State Penitentiary (The Walls), Huntsville, Walker County, Texas, May 13, 1939) 8) Henry Truvillion: Ride on Mighty Rider (The Mighty Rider) (The home of Henry Truvillion, Burkeville, Newton County, Texas, May 16, 1939)

    29 min

  4. 12/18/2023

    21 - Songs of Christmas, Midwinter, and New Year

    An admittedly cursory holiday mix presenting performances from our new digital release, "Songs of Christmas, New Year, and Midwinter from the Lomax Collection," available now on the Lomax Archive's Bandcamp page as well as the streaming services. We invite you to pair this mix with our older holiday-themed episode, which features other related material (if some occasional overlap) and the complete "Sing Christmas" program. This ambitious radio broadcast was produced by Alan for the BBC on Christmas Day 1951, and featured regional Yuletide traditions transmitted via live hook-ups all across Britain.  1) Vera Ward Hall: No Room at the Inn story / song (The home of Vera Ward Hall, Livingston, Sumter County, Alabama, October 10, 1959). 2) United Sacred Harp Musical Association: Sherburne (56th Annual United Sacred Harp Musical Association Convention, Corinth Baptist Church, Fyffe, Dekalb County, Alabama, September 12, 1959) 3) Steven Wright: Jingle Bells (New York City, New York, 1950) 4) Group from Sangonera la Verde, Murcia: Rondalla (En tu puerta está la Virgen) (Monteagudo, Murcia, Región de Murcia, Spain, December 14, 1952) 5) Alice Gibbs and group: Today, Today is Christmas Day (Sint Eustatius, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, 1967) 6) Kate Nicholson and group: Tàladh Chrìosda (Christ's lullaby) (A cΘilidh at the home of Dr. MacLean, Daliburgh, Eilean Siar, Scotland, United Kingdom, June 21, 1951) 7) Miquel Bonet and group -  Caramelles (The Seven Joys of Mary, part 1) (Village church patio, Sant Josep, Ibiza, Illes Balears, Islas Baleares, Comunidad Autónoma de las, Spain, July 18, 1952) 8) Norman Edmonds and the Old-Timers -  Breaking Up Christmas (Probably the home of George Stoneman, Hillsville, Carroll County, Virginia, August 28, 1959) 9) Bartolomeo Angelitti -  Venite Adoremus 10) Joy Bells -  Jingle Bells (Gingerland, Saint George Gingerland, Nevis, Saint Kitts and Nevis, July 11, 1962) 11) Group from Positano, Campania -  Capo d'anno > Tammuriata 12) Vera Ward Hall -  Last Month of the Year (Alan Lomax's apartment, 3rd Street, New York City, New York, May 1, 1948)

    30 min

  5. 11/28/2023

    20 - Inspiration: Instrumentalists from the 1939 Texas recordings

    Fiddlers, harp blowers, and guitarists recorded by John A. and Ruby T. Lomax during their 1939 Texas field-trip. 1) Frank Goodwyn & Manuel Salinas: Chinese Breakdown (Falfurrias, Brooks County, Texas, April 29, 1939) 2) Lake Porter: The Lost Girl (Falfurrias, Brooks County, Texas, April 29, 1939) 3) Lake Porter: Drunken Hiccups (Falfurrias, Brooks County, Texas, April 29, 1939) 4) Elmo Newcomer: Rye Whiskey (The home of Elmo Newcomer, Pipe Creek, Bandera County, Texas, May 3, 1939) [see here for Newcomer's later Cro-Mart release of "Rye Whiskey."] 5) Elmo Newcomer: The Old Grey Mare (The home of Elmo Newcomer, Pipe Creek, Bandera County, Texas, May 3, 1939) 6) Clinton Saathoff, and Otis Evans: Eeph Caught A Rabbit (Pipe Creek, Bandera County, Texas, May 4, 1939) 7) Pop Warner: Inspiration (State Penitentiary [The Walls], Huntsville, Walker County, Texas, May 11, 1939) [see here for the fine Marshall Project piece on prison radio, which includes a discussion of "Thirty Minutes Behind the Walls" and the Ace Johnson photo discussed in the episode.] 8) Ace Johnson: Rabbit in the Garden (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas, April 16, 1939) 9) Ace Johnson: Train song (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas, April 16, 1939) 10) Smith Casey: East Texas Rag, (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas, April 16, 1939) 11) L.W. Gooden: Clemens Rag (Dormitory, Clemens State Farm, Brazoria, Brazoria County, Texas, April 16, 1939) Bed Music: Wilbert Gilliam: Long Freight Train Blues (State Penitentiary [The Walls], Huntsville, Walker County, Texas, May 11, 1939)

    34 min

  6. 11/02/2023

    19 - Go to Sleepy Little Baby: Lullabies from the Alan Lomax Collection

    The Lomax Collection reflects a variety of human experience—from the sacred to the profane, from the rural to the urban, and from the public square to the domestic scene. The Lomaxes recorded lullabies all over the world, creating a record of the universality of these particularly intimate moments between parents and children. This episode gathers some of our favorite lullabies from the archive, and is part of a larger project on the subject, which includes an exhibit on the Lomax Digital Archive and a compilation pairing archival recordings with new interpretations by contemporary artists. For information on the performers, old and new, and the songs, visit the accompanying exhibit on the Lomax Digital Archive: archive.culturalequity.org/go-to-sleepy. The compilation is available via our Bandcamp page: https://alanlomaxarchive.bandcamp.com/album/hush-the-waves-are-rolling-in-lullabies-from-the-alan-lomax-collection. This project was made possible with support from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Council and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Show Notes: 1) Elizabeth Cronin - Dance To Your Daddy (The home of Elizabeth Cronin, Ballymakeery, County Cork, Ireland, January 24, 1951) 2) Jean Ritchie - Dance To Your Daddy/Hush Little Baby (Alan Lomax's apartment, 3rd street, New York City, May 14, 1949) 3) Carmen Martínez - Durme meu filliño (Soutoxuste, Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain, November 23, 1952) 4) María Escrihuela - Nana Nanita (Tavernes de Valldigna, Valencia, Valencia, Spain, August 5, 1952) 5) Unidentified women - Iavnana (Republic of Georga, August 1, 1964) 6) Vera Ward Hall - Come Up, Horsey (Alan Lomax's apartment, 3rd St, New York City, New York, May 1, 1948) 7) Bessie Jones - Go To Sleepy Little Baby (Saint Simons, Glynn County, Georgia, October 12, 1959) 8) Bruna Bazil - Night, Night, Night (Massacre, Saint Paul Parish, Dominica, June 24, 1962) 9) Bruna Bazil - Little Baby I Want You to Sleep (Massacre, Saint Paul Parish, Dominica, June 24, 1962) 10) Unidentified women - Cântec De Leagan (I) (Drăguș, Brașov, Transylvania, Romania, August 1, 1964) 11) Unidentified women - Cântec De Leagan (II) (Drăguș, Brașov, Transylvania, Romania, August 1, 1964) 12) Unidentified woman - Ninna Nanna (Baiardo, Imperia, October 9. 1954) 13) Natale Rotella - Ninna Nanna (Feroleto Antico, Calabria, August 5, 1954) 14) Francesca Chilona - Che Bera Sta Figghiola (Cardeto, Calabria, July 27, 1954) 15) Sidney Hemphill Carter - Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby (Probably the home of Sidney Hemphill Carter, Senatobia, Tate County, Mississippi, September 26, 1959) Bed Music: K.B. Singh, Harry Naran, Bully Naran, Mrs. Afrose Mohammed - Lullaby (Pasea Village, Tunapuna/Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago, May 7, 1962) Niña de la Puebla - Alborada de villancicos (Andalucía, Spain, September 20, 1952) W.D. Stewart (Bama), Robert Sanders (Yancey) - Bye Bye Baby (Lambert Camp, Parchman Farm (Mississippi State Penitentiary) Sunflower County, Mississippi, November 1, 1947)

    32 min

  7. 12/22/2022

    16 - Sing Christmas and the Turn of the Year

    An expansion of our Christmas and New Year episode of a few years back with extra tracks and more all around cheer. Links are to tracks' records in the Lomax Digital Archive. Those without them are either not Lomax recordings, or not yet included in the LDA. (If you'd like to assist in digitization/cataloging efforts to preserve and make available some of the early Lomax collections currently offline, please consider making a donation at culturalequity.org/donate, or drop us a line!) Happy Winter solstice and assorted holidays to everybody. 1. Villagers of Lagartera, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain: Ronda de Nochebuena, Christmas Eve 1952. 2. Merritt Boddie and the Marigolds Band: Christmas Machete / Noel, Gingerland, Nevis, July 1962.  3. Georgia Sea Island Singers: Yonder Come Day, Central Park, NYC, July 1965. 4. Sophie Loman Wing and group: All Night Long, St. Simons Island, Georgia, June 1935. 5. Norman Edmonds and the Old-Timers: Breaking Up Christmas, Hillsville, Virginia, August 1959. 6. Kelly Pace and group: Holy Babe, Cumins State Farm, near Gould, Arkansas, May 1939. 7. Vera Ward Hall: No Room At the Inn (song & story) / Last Month of the Year (song), Livingston, Alabama, October 1959.  8. Phil Tanner: The Gower Wassail, Columbia 372-M, 1937. 9. Jean Ritchie: Wassail song, NYC, March 1949.  10. 1959 United Sacred Harp Musical Association: Sherburne (#186), Fyffe, Alabama, September 1959 11. Alice Gibbs and friends: Today, Today Is Christmas Day, St. Eustatius, January 1967. 12. “Special group” from the 1959 United Sacred Harp Musical Association: Christmas Anthem (#225) 13. Shirley and Dolly Collins: The Moon Shines Bright, from “For As Many As Will,” Topic Records, 1978. 14. Villagers of Hío, Aragon: Buenas Entradas de Reyes, Hío, Galicia, November 1952 15. Ottavio Dogali, Giuseppe Napoli, and Giuseppe Ascani: Alla Pastorale, Cinquefrondi, Reggio Calabria, August 1, 1954.  16. Iaconelli and Arcari: La Novena di Natale, Columbia 14490, NYC, September 1929.  17. Edward King: Le Jour De L'an (New Year's Day), Baraga, Michigan, October 1938. 18: Georgia Sea Island Singers with Ed Young, Hobart Smith, and Nat Rahmings: Yonder Come Day, St. Simons Island, April 1960.  19 and beyond: “Sing Christmas and the Turn of the Year,” BBC Radio, 1957. For artists and titles see here.

    2h 22m

  8. 11/29/2022

    15 - "Trials, Troubles, Tribulations"

    Our eschatological episode of the program. Songs on final things: the end of the world, the end of time, judgement day, "when the stars begin to fall," etc. Playlist (links to catalog records in the Lomax Digital Archive): [Bed music] Fred McDowell: Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning 1. E.C. Ball & Lacey Richardson: Tribulations (Rugby, Virginia, August 1959) [Your host credited Orna Ball rather than her brother Lacey Richardson as E.C.'s accompanist.] 2. James Moore and friends: World Is Goin' To Destruction (At the home of Dave Roland, Sadie Beck Plantation, Arkansas, July 1942) 3. Holly Springs Sacred Harp singing: New Georgia (#534) (Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church, H.S., Georgia, June 1982) 4. Taylor-Griggs' Louisiana Melody Makers: When the Moon Drips Into the Blood (Victor Records, V-40083, Memphis, Tennessee, September 1928) [bonus: Sampson Caldwell and J.F. "Farmer" Collett: Jesus Getting Us Ready For That Great Day (At the home of John Sizemore, Gardner, Clay Co. - not Leslie Co. as announced - Kentucky, September 1937)] 5. Hobart Smith, Preston Smith, and Texas Gladden: When the Stars Begin To Fall (Bluefield, Virginia, August 1959) 6. Belleville A Cappella Choir: My Lord, What A Morning (Church of God and Saints in Christ, Belleville, Virginia, April 1960) 7. Group of six men: An-nar (The Hellfire) (Fes, Morocco, September 1967) 8. Mrs. Ross, Rev. Cyphers, and the congregation of True Light Baptist Church: That Awful Day Will Surely Come (Dallas, Texas, February 1948) 9. (Sensational?) Friendly Brothers of Tallulah, Louisiana: Where Shall I Be When the First Trumpet Sounds (St. James Baptist Church, Canton, Mississippi, August 1978) 10. Lillie & Thelma Knox: Where Shall I Be When the First Trumpet Sounds (Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, July 1937) 11. Rev. Dickson, Ebenezer Elliott, and congregation of Indian Walk London Baptist Church: Want To Go To the Happy Land (Indian Walk, Princes Town, Trinidad, May 1962) 12. St. Vincent Spiritual Baptist congregation: On That Great Day (uploaded to YouTube by The Admiral Quow, November 2010) 13. Georgia Sea Island Singers: One of These Days (St. Simons Island, Georgia, October 1959)

    1h 4m
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4.8
out of 5
44 Ratings

About

"Been All Around This World" explores the breadth and depth of folklorist Alan Lomax's seven decades of field recordings. From the earliest trips he made through the American South with his father, John A. Lomax, beginning in 1933, to his last documentary work in the early 1990s, the program will present seminal artists and performances alongside obscure, unidentified, and previously unheard singers and players, from around America and the world, drawn from the Lomax Collection at the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. It hosted by Nathan Salsburg, curator of the Alan Lomax Archive, alongside co-host and producer Michael Cormier-O'Leary, program coordinator at the Association for Cultural Equity, the non-profit research center and advocacy organization that Lomax founded in 1983. (Photo of Alan Lomax by Peter Figlestahler.)

Information

  • Creator
    Association for Cultural Equity
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2024
  • Episodes
    22
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 Been All Around This World
  • Show Website
    Been All Around This World

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