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 1 (live performance video)

Pioneer Song: Who’s That Guy?
Live performance at Boston University’s CFA Hall, February 2018
Composed for the Composers’ Collective by Charles Seeger under the pseudonym Carl Sands; lyrics by H. T. Tsiang and C. S.

Chapter 4 (commercial recordings)

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 (commercial recording)

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

Harmonica duets (AFS 3304A)
Charles Pollock and Bernard Steffen
Skip to My Lou—first take (AFS 2086A-1)
Rebecca and Penelope Tarwater (vocals)
Old Joe Clark (AFS 2086A-3)
Rebecca Tarwater (banjo)
Barbara Allen—intro (AFS 2089A-3)
Charles Seeger (spoken introduction)
Barbara Allen (AFS 2087A-1)
Rebecca Tarwater (voice)
My Horses Ain't Hungry (AFS 2089A-1)
Rebecca and Penelope Tarwater (vocals); Charles Pollock and Bernard Steffen (harmonicas)

Chapter 8

Recorded by Bernard Steffen with Margaret Valiant, September 6-7, 1936

Look Down that Lonesome Road (AFS 2089A-1)
Bill Carr (voice); Margaret Valiant (piano)
Square dance medley (AFS 2089A-1)
C. H. Stevens (accordion)
Leather Breeches (AFS 3312A-1)
Russell "Chubby" Wise, fiddle

Chapter 9

Recorded by Sidney Robertson, November 1936

Sharon (AFS 3156B-2)
Tink Queer (fiddle), Franklin Slater and Bill Fowler (guitars)
Barbara Allen (excerpt, AFS 3172A-1)
Nate Marlor (voice)
Strike at Harriman, Tennessee (AFS 3176B-1)
Henry Garrett (voice and guitar)

Chapter 10

Recorded by Sidney Robertson, November–December 1936

Mr. Roosevelt (FDRL–82868, SRD 74-12)
Will Wright (voice)
The Dickmann Song (AFS 3195B-4)
Unidentified singers (St. Louis, MO)
Rock-a-bye Baby (AFS 3195A-3)
Unidentified singers (St. Louis, MO)
Risselty, Rosselty (AFS 3204B-2)
R. R. Denoon (voice)
Bounce the Cymblin' (AFS 3225A-4)
Emma Dusenbury (voice)

The Dodger
Emma Dusenbury (voice)
Recording included in Folklife Today blog post

Chapter 11

Recorded by Sidney Robertson, January–March 1937

Look Here We Have Our Hands (AFS 2069B-1)
Charles Seeger (voice and guitar)
Tugwell! Who's That Guy? (AFS 2068B-1)
Charles Seeger (voice and guitar)
Wayfaring Stranger—verse by Margaret Valiant (AFS 2068A-3)
Sidney Robertson (voice); Charles Seeger (guitar)

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

Cindy (AFS 1618B-2)
Resettlement Folk Singers (Margaret Valiant and Charles Seeger, guitars)

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].

Cotton-Eyed Joe / I'm Just Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail (AFS 1619B)
Margaret Valiant (guitar and voice); Tannis Tugwell (voice)

Chapter 13 / Epilogue

Recorded by Margaret Valiant, 1938–1939

Going Down the Road Feeling Bad (AFS 3566A-1)
Group singing at Shafter FSA Camp
Old Blue (AFS 3564B-2)
Franklin Family at Indio FSA Camp
Arkansas Traveler (AFS 3568A-1)
Howard Pace (tap dance) at Visalia FSA Camp
Turkey in the Straw (AFS 3568B-1)
Ernest Sexton (jaw harp) at Visalia FSA Camp
Canta Guitarra (AFS 3321A)
Los Carlistas

Sources

All archival recordings except “Mr. Roosevelt” from American Folklife Center (AFC) Collections 1938/011, 1939/016, 1939/017, and 1940/008 at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

“Mr. Roosevelt” from Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, Hyde Park, New York.