Folk, Gospel & Blues: Will the Circle Be Unbroken (1999)

About this title: The scope of the 45-track Folk, Gospel & Blues: Will the Circle Be Unbroken, culled from the gargantuan 26-disc box set Sony Music 100 Years: Soundtrack for a Century, is impressive. Columbia was one of the biggest labels in the early days of the record industry, as is evident from the beginning of this collection, which features cuts by Bessie Smith, Mississippi John Hurt, Blind Willie Johnson, the Mississippi Sheiks, and Thomas A. Dorsey. As a matter of fact, Columbia and its various offshoots stayed strong throughout pre-war blues and folk; the first disc alone also features Blind Willie ... read more

Tracks:

1. Ezekiel Saw de Wheel [Traditional]
2. Crazy Blues
3. Careless Love [Handy/Koenig/Willia]
4. Frankie [Hurt/Traditional]
5. Lord, I Just Can't Keep from Crying [Johnson/Traditional]
6. What Are They Doing in Heaven Today? [Tindley]
7. Sitting on Top of the World [Chatmon/Vinson]
8. Blues Before Sunrise [Carr]
9. If You See My Saviour [Dorsey]
10. Broke Down Engine [McTell/Atkinson]
11. Mister Tom Hughes' Town [Leadbelly/Lomax/Lom]
12. Cross Road Blues [Johnson]
13. Key to the Highway [Broonzy/Segar]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.