If I could describe how I've felt lately, having a ball and chain around my ankle isn't far from the truth, I'll tell you. I can't stress enough how important these songs are to blues history. This album was a bitch for me to find, but I am so glad I did, the damn thing has practically fallen off the face of the earth. I am still, however, searching for Volume 2... and when I find it, by God you'll know about it.
The tradition of work songs originated on the 17th century Mississippi Delta, where slaves brought over from Africa suffered all day in the heat with hard work and torturous punishments. The songs were a form of passing time, and making work easier and more 'enjoyable.' They also served as a big 'fuck you' to their masters.
Prison on 20th century southern U.S. had mandatory work as well. Prisoners had all kinds of manual work and heavy jobs like chopping down trees or building railroads. The tradition of work songs were heavily influenced from the previous 300 year-old slave songs.
This album in particular was put together and recorded live by Alan Lomax, a folklorist and musicologist. He went to several jails around the area to record and preserve some of these songs before the tradition of work songs would die out entirely.
A lot of prisoners actually ended up working themselves literally to death on these camps. So these songs which were very much like the blues, had the power of passing an emotion that each singer might be feeling at the time.... which really is one of the most important similarities between blues and work songs, don't you think?
If this subject interests you beyond just this album, I would highly recommend watching this awesome documentary for free.
