Every Tone a Testimony: An African American Aural History (2001)

About this title: Subtitled "An African American Aural History," the scope of this two-CD set is impressive, encompassing poetry, writings, speeches, and music by many major Black musicians, writers, and activists of the 20th century. The focus of the disc, however, wavers enough to make it an uneven, jumpy listening experience, although it's a valuable source for educators and radio programmers that might want to draw upon specific tracks to make specific points. All but five of the 59 selections come from within the Smithsonian Folkways collection itself, ranging in length from 20-second soundbites to six ... read more

Tracks:

1. The Struggle [Hughes]
2. Field Call
3. Complaint Call
4. Intro and Kneebone Bend
5. Brother Terrapin, Slow Train to Arkansas [Amerson]
6. Jack and Mary and Three Dogs
7. Buck Dance [Tucker]
8. I'm Going up North
9. Pharaoh's Host Got Lost
10. Bars Fight [Terry]
11. Earl of Dartmouth [Wheatley]
12. I Wonder Where My Brother Gone
13. Narrative [Tubman]
14. Speech at Akron Convention [Truth]
15. Singing Slaves [Douglas]
16. Steal Away to Jesus
17. What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? [Douglas]
18. Why Slavery Is Still Rampant [Remond]
19. Free at Last
20. When Malindy Sings [Dunbar]
21. There's a Great Camp Meeting
22. Atlanta Exposition Address [Washington]
23. John Henry [Traditional]
24. Banjo Player [Johnson]
25. Boatman Dance [Traditional]
26. Shine
27. Chopping in the New Ground
28. Lynching, Our National Crime [Wells-Barnett]
29. A Recorded Autobiography
30. Listen Lord, a Prayer [Johnson]
31. My Heart Is Fixed [Davis]
32. The Titanic [Leadbelly]
33. Heritage [Cullen]
34. Jungle Drums
35. No More Auction Block [Traditional]
36. The Negro Speaks of Rivers [Hughes]
37. If We Must Die [McKay]
38. Ma Rainey [Brown]
39. Backwater Blues (I Got up One Mornin' Blues) [Broonzy]
40. Married Man Blues
41. For My People [Walker]
42. The Children of the Poor, Sonnet 2 [Brooks]
43. Body and Soul [Eyton/Green/Heyman/]
44. How He Delivered Me
45. Long Distance Call [Waters]
46. Cry to Me [Live] [Russell]
47. Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around
48. Birmingham 1963-Keep Moving
49. Black Panther Party Platform
50. Interview [Excerpt]
51. Together to the Tune of Coltrane's "Equinox"
52. Nikki Rosa
53. Liberation/Poem
54. Dope
55. The Village of Brooklyn, Illinois 62059 [Bluiett]
56. For the Poets
57. Shotgun Joe [Golden Eagles]
58. St. Louis Woman
59. People Everyday [Arrested Developmen]

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