Release Date: 1996.
Recording Time: 79 minutes.
Recording Date: 1952 - 1959.
Release Info: CD 419, Compilation, Reissue.
Angola Prisoners' Blues is a historic collection of field recordings made at the Louisiana State Penitentiary (commonly known as Angola) between 1952 and 1959. Recorded by folklorist Dr. Harry Oster, the album captures the raw, emotive blues and spirituals of African American inmates, many of whom were serving life sentences.
More detail:
Angola Prison, officially known as the Louisiana State Penitentiary, is one of the largest maximum security prisons in the country. In the 1950s, LSU English professor Dr. Harry Oster recorded a series of music performances by African American prisoners at the infamous facility. The performances, many by prisoners serving life sentences, are full of despair and raw emotion. Included in this collection are a cappella selections by three female prisoners (Angola housed both male and female prisoners until 1961). Part of the royalties from this collection go to the Inmate Welfare Fund at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. This album is a historical document of not only the stories of its performers, but of the racism of the prison system and the music industry at that moment.
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In the '50s, Harry Oster made several recordings of African-American inmates at the penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana. These sessions are primarily remembered for the discovery of Robert Pete Williams, but Oster also found several other acoustic blues performers of merit. Several of them are featured on this 20-track, 80-minute CD (which includes three tracks by Williams). Although these singers had hard daily lives and went through hard times before they were jailed, this is hardly a downer record. It's largely first-class acoustic blues with a relaxed (if sometimes sad) dignity. The lyrics are sometimes related to prison life, as in Robert Pete Williams' minor-keyed "Prisoner's Talking Blues" and Guitar Welch's "Electric Chair Blues." Yet much of the material is simply the usual songs of struggle and hope common to the blues, mixed in with some a cappella, spiritual-flavored cuts by female prisoners, and one male vocal group performance clearly derived from doo wop. Guitar blues is the predominant style, though, and country-blues fans will find much to enjoy here, whether they're interested in the folklore aspect or not. Thirteen of the tracks on the CD version were previously unreleased. ~ Richie Unterberger
Credits: Cover - Wayne Pope; Edited By (Reissue), Reissue Producer, Liner Notes - Chris Strachwitz; Liner Notes (Musicological Notes) - Paul B. Crawford; Recorded By (Assistance) - Richard B. Allen; Recorded By, Photography By, Liner Notes - Dr. Harry Oster.
Tracklist:
- 01. Robert Pete Williams - Prisoner's Talking Blues [5:10]
- 02. Hogman Maxey - Stagolee [3:40]
- 03. Guitar Welch - Electric Chair Blues [5:08]
- 04. Hogman Maxey - Black Night Is Fallin' [4:27]
- 05. Robert Pete Williams - Some Got Six Months [3:44]
- 06. Guitar Welch - I'm Gonna Leave You Mama [2:48]
- 07. Robert Pete Williams - I'm Lonesome Blues [4:00]
- 08. Unknown Artist - Angola Bound [5:50]
- 09. Hogman Maxey - Worried Blues [4:23]
- 10. Guitar Welch - Josephine [5:11]
- 11. Clara Young - Soldier's Plea [2:55]
- 12. Odea Mathews - The Moon Is Rising [2:03]
- 13. Thelma Mae Joseph - I'm Still In Love With You [1:48]
- 14. Unknown Artist - I Miss You So [3:39]
- 15. Butterbeans - Hello, Sue [1:10]
- 16. Hogman Maxey - Fast Life Woman [4:09]
- 17. Otis Webster - Careless Love [2:39]
- 18. Roosevelt Charles / Otis Webster - Have You Ever Heard The Church Bells Tone [2:38]
- 19. Guitar Welch - 61 Highway [4:26]
- 20. Roosevelt Charles - Strike At Camp I [9:34]
Recorded at Angola State Penitentiary, Angola, Louisiana, between 1952 and 1959.
Tracks 1-7 originally issued as "Angola Prisoners' Blues" on Folklyric LP A-3 and reissued on Arhoolie LP 2011. Tracks 8-20 all previously unissued.