Why Should the Devil Get All the Good Tunes?

The International Herald Tribune, a very good source of international news and opinion, reviews today a new recording that chronicles the transition of African-American music from rural to urban environments in the pre-WWII timeframe. Compiled by the late folklorist, musician and professor, Dr. John Work III (pictured), Recording Black Culture was recently released by Spring Fed Records, a label based in Woodbury, Tennessee, according to the IHT article. Since the roots of Be-Bop, R&B, Boggie Woogie and the Blues can be traced to African-American culture, this release is of some note. Check out the mp3 clips that can be downloaded from the review. Spring Fed is worth checking out just because of their catalog of American roots music.

As the article notes, the release of this newly discovered collection of historic tunes has fueled the academic dispute around the work of pioneering folklorist Alan Lomax, who told part - but not all of the story of this important period in African-American culture. Now, that record is much more complete.