Select recordings mentioned in
A Chance to Harmonize
Note: I would love to hear from descendants of the people recorded by the RA and FSA in the 1930s. If that’s you or someone you know, please send me a message on my contact page!
Also, this page is a work in progress. If there is a recording from the book that isn’t included but that you would like to hear, please feel free to let me know. —Sheryl
Chapter 4
The Farmer Comes to Town
Pete Seeger, American Industrial Ballads (Folkways, 1957)
The lyrics on this recording are identical to those that appeared in the Music Unit’s first song-sheet.
There Is a Tavern in the Town
Rudy Vallee and his Connecticut Yankees (RCA Victor, 1934)
This is the melody to the Music Unit's second song-sheet, "Co-operation Is Our Aim."
Chapter 5
Happy Days Are Here Again
Ben Selvin & His Orchestra (Columbia, 1930)
Vocals by the Crooners begin at about minute 1:20.
Chapter 6
Tracks recorded by Charles Seeger, June 2, 1936
Chapter 8
Recorded by Bernard Steffen with Margaret Valiant, September 6-7, 1936
Chapter 9
Recorded by Sidney Robertson, November 1936
Chapter 10
Recorded by Sidney Robertson, November–December 1936
The Dodger
Emma Dusenbury (voice)
Recording included in Folklife Today blog post
Chapter 11
Recorded by Sidney Robertson, January–March 1937
Raggedy, Raggedy Are We
John L. Handcox
Songs, Poems, and Stories of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union (West Virginia University Press, 2005)
Chapter 12
Recorded by Alan Lomax, c. 1937
verse 1: Margaret Valiant; v2: Charles Seeger; v3: Bess Lomax; v4: Adrian Dornbush; v5: Tannis Tugwell; v6: [unknown]; v7: Grete Franke; v8: Ruth Crawford Seeger; v9: Margaret Valiant; v10: [unknown].
Chapter 13 / Epilogue
Recorded by Margaret Valiant, 1938–1939
Sources
All recordings except “Mr. Roosevelt” from American Folklife Center (AFC) Collections 1938/011, 1939/016, 1939/017, and 1940/008 at the Library of Congress.
“Mr. Roosevelt” from Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, SRD 74-12.