American Traditional Folk Songs

• Appalachian Ballads and Mountain Songs
• Murder Ballads and Outlaw Songs
• Spirituals, Gospel and Sacred Songs
• Blues Ballads and Pre-War Blues
• Work Songs, Railroad Songs and Sea Shanties
• Songs of the Civil War
• Cowboy and Western Songs
• Woody Guthrie and the Dust Bowl
• The Folk Revival (1950s–1960s)
• Pete Seeger and the Weavers
• Other Revival Artists
• Bob Dylan and the Living Tradition
• Traditional Songs Dylan Recorded or Performed
• Dylan's Original Songs Built on Traditional Models
• The Anthology of American Folk Music
• Ballads
• Social Music
• Songs
• Other Essential Collections and Sources
• The Lomaxes
• Cecil Sharp in Appalachia
• Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music (1952)
• The Library of Congress Archive of Folk Culture
• Sacred Harp Singing
• Old-Time String Band Recordings (1920s–30s)
• The Child Ballads in America

The transatlantic destination of the British-Irish ballad tradition. Songs carried by English, Scottish, and Irish emigrants took root in Appalachia, the Ozarks, New England, and the Deep South, where they mixed with African American spirituals, work songs, and blues to produce the deep well of American folk music. This page traces the tradition from its oldest ballad survivals through the commercial recordings of the 1920s–30s, the folk revival of the 1950s–60s, and the singer-songwriters who continue to draw from the well.

Appalachian Ballads and Mountain Songs

British-Irish ballads preserved (and transformed) in the mountains of Virginia, Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas. Many of these were collected by Cecil Sharp in the Appalachians (1916–18) and by collectors like John and Alan Lomax.

• "Barbara Allen" – the most widespread ballad in America, with hundreds of regional variants. Child 84. Collected everywhere from Virginia to the Ozarks.
• "The House Carpenter" – American name for "The Daemon Lover" (Child 243). A woman leaves her husband for a supernatural former lover who takes her to sea and sinks the ship. Recorded by Clarence Ashley, the Carter Family, and many others.
• "Pretty Polly" – American version of "The Gosport Tragedy" / "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter." A murder ballad. Recorded by B.F. Shelton (1927), Dock Boggs, and Ralph Stanley.
• "Omie Wise" (also "Poor Naomi Wise") – North Carolina murder ballad based on a true story from 1807. Recorded by G.B. Grayson (1927), Doc Watson, and many others.
• "The Cuckoo" – ancient English song preserved in Appalachia. Recorded by Clarence Ashley (on the Anthology), Kelly Harrell, and others.
• "East Virginia" – traditional Appalachian love song in the modal style. Recorded by the Carter Family, Woody Guthrie, and Joan Baez.
• "Pretty Saro" – English love song transplanted to Appalachia, collected by Cecil Sharp. Recorded by Jean Ritchie, Shirley Collins, and Bob Dylan (on Another Self Portrait).
• "Black Is the Color (of My True Love's Hair)" – Appalachian love song of uncertain origin, possibly Scottish. Recorded by John Jacob Niles, Jean Ritchie, and Nina Simone.
• "The Wagoner's Lad" – traditional Appalachian song of a woman abandoned. Recorded by Buell Kazee and Jean Ritchie.
• "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" – first published by Dick Burnett of Kentucky around 1913. Made famous by the Stanley Brothers, Bob Dylan (first album, 1962), and the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.
• "Shady Grove" – modal Appalachian song, possibly derived from "Matty Groves." Recorded by the Kentucky Mountain Boys, Doc Watson, and Jerry Garcia.
• "Little Sadie" – murder ballad collected in many variants. Recorded by Clarence Ashley, Bob Dylan (Self Portrait), and Doc Watson.
• "Jack of Diamonds" – gambling song in many Appalachian variants. Recorded by Blind Lemon Jefferson and Odetta.
• "Down in the Willow Garden" – murder ballad also known as "Rose Connelly." Recorded by the Everly Brothers and Charlie Monroe.
• "Wayfaring Stranger" – spiritual/folk song of uncertain origin, possibly early 19th century. Recorded by Burl Ives, Jack White, Emmylou Harris, and many others.
• "Darlin' Corey" – Appalachian banjo song about a moonshine girl. Recorded by B.F. Shelton, the Stanley Brothers, and Pete Seeger.
• "Little Birdie" – traditional Appalachian song. Recorded by the Stanley Brothers.
• "Cold Rain and Snow" – Appalachian song recorded by Clarence Ashley, Obray Ramsey, and the Grateful Dead.
• "Handsome Molly" – traditional mountain song. Recorded by G.B. Grayson and Bob Dylan.
• "Conversation with Death" (also "O Death") – ancient dialogue between a mortal and Death. Recorded by Lloyd Chandler, Dock Boggs, and Ralph Stanley.
• "Single Girl, Married Girl" – recorded by the Carter Family (1927), one of their earliest and most famous recordings.
• "Wildwood Flower" – adapted by the Carter Family from the 1860 parlour song "I'll Twine Mid the Ringlets" by J.P. Webster. One of the most recorded songs in country music history.
• "Bury Me Beneath the Willow" – traditional Appalachian song. Recorded by the Carter Family.
• "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" – adapted by the Carter Family from Ada R. Habershon and Charles H. Gabriel's 1907 hymn. A cornerstone of American folk and country.
• "Keep on the Sunny Side" – adopted by the Carter Family as their theme song. Written by Ada Blenkhorn and J. Howard Entwisle (1899).
• "Wabash Cannonball" – train song of uncertain origin, first recorded by the Carter Family (1929), later a hit for Roy Acuff.
• "Worried Man Blues" – traditional song recorded by the Carter Family and later by Woody Guthrie.
• "I Never Will Marry" – traditional, recorded by the Carter Family and later by Linda Ronstadt.
• "Foggy Mountain Top" – recorded by the Carter Family. Later the namesake of Earl Scruggs's "Foggy Mountain Breakdown."
• "John Hardy" – ballad based on a true story of a West Virginia steel driver who killed a man in a gambling dispute. Recorded by the Carter Family, Leadbelly, and Bob Dylan.
• "The Storms Are on the Ocean" – traditional, recorded by the Carter Family.
• "Engine 143" – Carter Family railroad disaster ballad.

Murder Ballads and Outlaw Songs

• "Tom Dooley" – based on the 1866 murder of Laura Foster in North Carolina. Recorded by Frank Proffitt, G.B. Grayson, and the Kingston Trio (1958 hit that launched the folk revival).
• "Banks of the Ohio" – 19th-century murder ballad. Recorded by the Blue Sky Boys, Joan Baez, and Olivia Newton-John.
• "Knoxville Girl" – American version of the English broadside "The Wexford Girl" / "The Bloody Miller." Recorded by the Louvin Brothers.
• "Pretty Polly" – see Appalachian Ballads.
• "Omie Wise" – see Appalachian Ballads.
• "Delia's Gone" – murder ballad based on a real 1900 murder in Savannah, Georgia. Recorded by Blind Willie McTell, Bob Dylan, and Johnny Cash.
• "Frankie and Johnny" (also "Frankie and Albert") – based on a real 1899 murder in St. Louis. One of the most recorded American folk songs.
• "Stagger Lee" (also "Stagolee", "Stack-O-Lee") – based on the 1895 murder of Billy Lyons by Lee Shelton in St. Louis. Recorded by Mississippi John Hurt, Lloyd Price, Bob Dylan, and many others.
• "Jesse James" – ballad about the outlaw Jesse James, killed in 1882. "That dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard." Recorded by Bascom Lamar Lunsford, Woody Guthrie, and many others.
• "Cole Younger" – ballad of the outlaw Cole Younger.
• "John Henry" – the great American folk ballad about the steel-driving man who races a steam drill and dies. Dozens of variants. Recorded by Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, the Carter Family, and many others.
• "Railroad Bill" – outlaw ballad about Morris Slater, an African American outlaw in Alabama in the 1890s.
• "Cocaine Blues" – traditional, recorded by Dick Justice (1929, on the Anthology), later by Johnny Cash.
• "In the Pines" (also "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" / "Black Girl") – ancient song of uncertain origin, possibly Appalachian. Recorded by Leadbelly, Bill Monroe, and Nirvana.
• "Long Black Veil" – written by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin (1959), deliberately composed in the traditional murder ballad style. Recorded by Lefty Frizzell, Johnny Cash, the Band, and Dave Van Ronk.

Spirituals, Gospel and Sacred Songs

• "Amazing Grace" – words by John Newton (1772), set to the tune "New Britain" (first published 1835). The most famous hymn in English.
• "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" – African American spiritual attributed to Wallis Willis (Choctaw freedman), pre–Civil War.
• "Go Down Moses" – African American spiritual, one of the oldest.
• "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho" – African American spiritual.
• "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" – African American spiritual.
• "Down by the Riverside" – African American spiritual, also an anti-war song.
• "We Shall Overcome" – adapted from the hymn "I'll Overcome Someday" by Charles Albert Tindley (1900). Became the anthem of the Civil Rights movement.
• "This Little Light of Mine" – attributed to Harry Dixon Loes (1920s), adopted by the Civil Rights movement.
• "Sinner Man" – traditional African American spiritual, popularised by Nina Simone.
• "Wade in the Water" – African American spiritual, sometimes said to encode instructions for escaping slavery.
• "Motherless Children" – traditional gospel/blues, recorded by Blind Willie Johnson and Eric Clapton.
• "Death Don't Have No Mercy" – by Reverend Gary Davis.
• "Twelve Gates to the City" – traditional gospel, recorded by Reverend Gary Davis.
• "John the Revelator" – recorded by Blind Willie Johnson (1930). A cornerstone of gospel and blues.
• "In My Time of Dying" (also "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed") – recorded by Blind Willie Johnson, Charlie Patton, Bob Dylan, and Led Zeppelin.
• "Man of Constant Sorrow" – see Appalachian Ballads. Also functions as a spiritual.
• "Wayfaring Stranger" – see Appalachian Ballads. Also functions as a spiritual.
• "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" – see Appalachian Ballads.
• "Angel Band" – hymn by William Bradbury, recorded by the Stanley Brothers.
• "Rank Strangers to Me" – by Albert E. Brumley. Recorded by the Stanley Brothers and Bob Dylan.
• "Down to the River to Pray" (traditional, performed by Alison Krauss)
• "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow,"

Blues Ballads and Pre-War Blues

Songs from the intersection of the ballad tradition and the African American blues, many included on the Anthology of American Folk Music.

• "Stagger Lee" – see Murder Ballads.
• "Frankie and Johnny" – see Murder Ballads.
• "Corrina, Corrina" – first recorded by Bo Carter (1928). Recorded by Bob Dylan, Big Joe Turner, and many others.
• "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" – by Blind Lemon Jefferson. Recorded by Bob Dylan on his first album.
• "Fixin' to Die" – by Bukka White. Later adapted by Country Joe McDonald.
• "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" – by Blind Willie Johnson. Wordless sacred blues, one of the most profound recordings in American music.
• "Stackalee" – Mississippi John Hurt's gentle version of "Stagger Lee," on the Anthology.
• "Spike Driver Blues" – Mississippi John Hurt's version of the John Henry story.
• "Candy Man" – Mississippi John Hurt. On the Anthology.
• "Fishing Blues" – by Henry Thomas (1928). On the Anthology.
• "Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance" – by Henry Thomas. Adapted by Bob Dylan on Freewheelin'.
• "King of the Delta Blues" songs – Robert Johnson's 29 recordings (1936–37), including "Cross Road Blues," "Hellhound on My Trail," "Love in Vain," and "Me and the Devil Blues." The deepest well of Delta blues.
• "Good Morning Blues" – Leadbelly.
• "Goodnight Irene" – Leadbelly. Became a #1 hit for the Weavers in 1950.
• "Midnight Special" – traditional prison song, recorded by Leadbelly.
• "Rock Island Line" – recorded by Leadbelly, later a hit for Lonnie Donegan in the UK (1956), launching the skiffle craze.
• "House of the Rising Sun" – traditional, of uncertain origin. Recorded by Clarence Ashley and Gwen Foster (1933), Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and the Animals.
• "Bourgeois Blues" – Leadbelly.
• "Alberta" – Leadbelly. Also recorded by Bob Dylan.

Work Songs, Railroad Songs and Sea Shanties

• "John Henry" – see Murder Ballads.
• "Pick a Bale of Cotton" – traditional work song. Recorded by Leadbelly.
• "Take This Hammer" – chain gang song. Recorded by Leadbelly.
• "The Rock Island Line" – see Blues Ballads.
• "Nine Pound Hammer" – traditional, associated with Merle Travis.
• "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill" – Irish-American railroad song from the 1880s.
• "I've Been Working on the Railroad" – traditional, first published 1894.
• "The Erie Canal" ("Low Bridge, Everybody Down") – by Thomas S. Allen (1905), about the canal boatmen.
• "Paddy Works on the Railway" – Irish-American work song.
• "Shenandoah" – American river/sea song of uncertain origin, possibly fur-trade era. One of the most beautiful American folk songs.
• "Blow the Man Down" – shared with the English tradition.
• "Haul Away, Joe" – shared with the English and Irish traditions.
• "Pay Me My Money Down" – Georgia Sea Island work song. Recorded by Bruce Springsteen.

Songs of the Civil War

• "Dixie" – by Daniel Decatur Emmett (1859), adopted as the unofficial Confederate anthem.
• "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" – words by Julia Ward Howe (1861) to the tune of "John Brown's Body."
• "John Brown's Body" – Union marching song about the abolitionist.
• "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" – by Patrick Gilmore (1863).
• "Aura Lee" – parlour song (1861), melody later used for Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender."
• "Goober Peas" – humorous Confederate soldiers' song.
• "The Yellow Rose of Texas" – minstrel song from the 1850s, later associated with the Civil War.
• "Lorena" – by Henry DeLafayette Webster (1857). The most popular song on both sides of the war.
• "Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground" – by Walter Kittredge (1863).
• "The Battle of Shiloh Hill" – traditional.
• "Marching Through Georgia" – by Henry Clay Work (1865), about Sherman's March.

Cowboy and Western Songs

• "Home on the Range" – by Brewster M. Higley (1873). Kansas state song.
• "Git Along, Little Dogies" – traditional cowboy trail song.
• "The Streets of Laredo" – American version of the Irish/English ballad "The Unfortunate Rake" / "St. James Infirmary." One of the great examples of transatlantic song migration.
• "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" – adapted from "The Ocean Burial" by Edwin H. Chapin.
• "Red River Valley" – possibly Canadian in origin. One of the most widely known folk songs.
• "I Ride an Old Paint" – collected by Margaret Larkin and Carl Sandburg. Recorded by Woody Guthrie.
• "The Old Chisholm Trail" – traditional cowboy song with dozens of verses.
• "Goodbye Old Paint" – traditional cowboy farewell song.
• "Home on the Range" – see above.
• "Cool Water" – by Bob Nolan (1936), recorded by the Sons of the Pioneers.
• "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" – by Bob Nolan, recorded by the Sons of the Pioneers.
• "El Paso" – by Marty Robbins (1959). Modern cowboy ballad in the traditional style.
• "Ghost Riders in the Sky" – by Stan Jones (1948).
• "Don't Fence Me In" – by Cole Porter and Robert Fletcher.

Woody Guthrie and the Dust Bowl

• "This Land Is Your Land" – by Woody Guthrie (1940). America's unofficial alternative national anthem.
• "Pastures of Plenty" – Guthrie, about migrant farmworkers.
• "Do Re Mi" – Guthrie, about Dust Bowl refugees turned away at the California border.
• "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)" – Guthrie (words) and Martin Hoffman (melody). About the 1948 crash that killed 28 migrant farmworkers.
• "Dust Bowl Blues" – Guthrie.
• "I Ain't Got No Home" – Guthrie.
• "Tom Joad" – Guthrie, based on The Grapes of Wrath.
• "Pretty Boy Floyd" – Guthrie, about the outlaw. "Some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen."
• "1913 Massacre" – Guthrie, about the Italian Hall disaster in Calumet, Michigan.
• "Hard Travelin'" – Guthrie.
• "Ramblin' Round" – Guthrie, to the tune of "Goodnight Irene."
• "Roll On, Columbia" – Guthrie, commissioned by the Bonneville Power Administration.
• "Grand Coulee Dam" – Guthrie.
• "Riding in My Car" – Guthrie children's song.
• "So Long, It's Been Good to Know Yuh" – Guthrie.
• "Union Maid" – Guthrie, to the tune of "Red Wing."
• "Bound for Glory" – the title of Guthrie's autobiography; also a song.

The Folk Revival (1950s–1960s)

The urban folk revival centred on Greenwich Village, Cambridge, and the coffee house/concert circuit. Artists who brought traditional and traditional-style songs to a new audience.

Pete Seeger and the Weavers

• "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" – by Pete Seeger (1955).
• "If I Had a Hammer" – by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays (1949).
• "Turn! Turn! Turn!" – by Pete Seeger, words from Ecclesiastes.
• "Wimoweh" ("The Lion Sleeps Tonight") – adapted by the Weavers from Solomon Linda's Zulu song "Mbube."
• "Goodnight Irene" – Weavers' 1950 #1 hit, from Leadbelly.
• "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" – Weavers, adapted from Leadbelly's "Drinkin' of the Wine."
• "We Shall Overcome" – see Spirituals. Seeger was central to its spread.

• "Silver Dagger" – traditional Appalachian ballad.
• "Mary Hamilton" – Child ballad,
• "The Cherry Tree Carol" – ancient English carol,
• "All My Trials" – Bahamian lullaby
• "Donna Donna" – Yiddish-origin song,
• "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me" – traditional, a Van Ronk signature.
• "Cocaine Blues"
• "Green Rocky Road" – traditional
• "House of the Rising Sun"

Other Revival Artists

• Jean Ritchie – the "Mother of Folk," from Viper, Kentucky. Brought unbroken Appalachian tradition to the revival. Key songs: "Nottamun Town," "Pretty Saro," "The Cuckoo Bird."
• Odetta – "the voice of the Civil Rights movement." Key songs: "Water Boy," "Another Man Done Gone," "No More Auction Block."
• Doc Watson – blind North Carolina guitarist. Key songs: "Deep River Blues," "Shady Grove," "Tom Dooley," "Matty Groves."
• Reverend Gary Davis – Harlem street preacher and virtuoso guitarist. Key songs: "Samson and Delilah," "Death Don't Have No Mercy," "Cocaine Blues."
• Mike Seeger – Pete's half-brother, dedicated to authentic traditional music rather than the commercial folk revival. Co-founded the New Lost City Ramblers. Recorded old-time music with obsessive fidelity.
• The New Lost City Ramblers (Mike Seeger, John Cohen, Tom Paley / Tracy Schwarz) – recreated the sound of 1920s–30s string band recordings. Key albums: The New Lost City Ramblers (1958), Songs from the Depression.
• Peggy Seeger – folk singer and songwriter, partner of Ewan MacColl. Key song: "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" (written for her by MacColl).

Bob Dylan and the Living Tradition

Traditional Songs Dylan Recorded or Performed

• "House of the Rising Sun" – first album (1962).
• "Man of Constant Sorrow" – first album.
• "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" – first album (Blind Lemon Jefferson).
• "Fixin' to Die" – first album (Bukka White).
• "In My Time of Dyin'" – first album (Blind Willie Johnson).
• "Pretty Peggy-O" – first album. Scottish ballad ("The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie") as filtered through American tradition.
• "Gospel Plow" – first album ("Hold On" / "Keep Your Hand on the Plow").
• "Barbara Allen" – performed in early concerts; never officially recorded but central to his education.
• "The Two Sisters" – early concert repertoire (Child 10).
• "Lord Randall" – the direct structural model for "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall."
• "Scarborough Fair" – in Dylan's early Village repertoire (before Simon & Garfunkel).
• "Canadee-i-o" – Good as I Been to You (1992). Traditional ballad.
• "Jim Jones" – Good as I Been to You. Australian transportation ballad.
• "Frankie and Albert" – Good as I Been to You.
• "World Gone Wrong" – World Gone Wrong (1993). Mississippi Sheiks.
• "Delia" – World Gone Wrong.
• "Stack A Lee" – World Gone Wrong. (Frank Hutchison's version.)
• "Lone Pilgrim" – World Gone Wrong. Sacred Harp hymn.
• "Two Soldiers" – World Gone Wrong. Civil War ballad.
• "Blood in My Eyes" – World Gone Wrong. Mississippi Sheiks.
• "Corrina, Corrina" – Freewheelin'.
• "Rocks and Gravel" – early recordings.
• "Alberta" – Self Portrait (Leadbelly).
• "Little Sadie" – Self Portrait.
• "Copper Kettle" – Self Portrait. Moonshine song.

Dylan's Original Songs Built on Traditional Models

• "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" – structure of "Lord Randall" (Child 12).
• "Blowin' in the Wind" – melody from the spiritual "No More Auction Block."
• "The Times They Are a-Changin'" – modelled on Irish/Scottish come-all-ye songs.
• "With God on Our Side" – melody from Dominic Behan's "The Patriot Game" (itself from an older tune).
• "Girl from the North Country" – melody and structure from "Scarborough Fair."
• "Bob Dylan's Dream" – melody from "Lord Franklin," an English ballad about the lost Arctic expedition.
• "Masters of War" – melody from "Nottamun Town," an English folk song learned from Jean Ritchie.
• "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" – based on Paul Clayton's "Who's Gonna Buy You Ribbons," itself from a traditional song.
• "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" – in the broadside ballad tradition of topical songwriting.
• "Percy's Song" – uses the melody of "The Wind and the Rain" ("The Twa Sisters," Child 10).
• "Farewell, Angelina" – echoes of "Farewell to Tarwathie," a Scottish whaling song.
• "John Wesley Harding" – in the tradition of the outlaw ballad.
• "As I Went Out One Morning" – traditional broadside opening formula.

The Anthology of American Folk Music

Ballads

• "Henry Lee" – Dick Justice. (Child 68, "Young Hunting.")
• "Fatal Flower Garden" – Nelstone's Hawaiians. (Child 155, "Sir Hugh.")
• "The House Carpenter" – Clarence Ashley. (Child 243.)
• "Old Lady and the Devil" – Bill and Belle Reed. (Child 278.)
• "The Butcher's Boy" – Buell Kazee. (Broadside ballad.)
• "Engine 143" – Carter Family.
• "John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man" – Carter Family.
• "Peg and Awl" – the Carolina Tar Heels.
• "Stackalee" – Frank Hutchison.
• "White House Blues" – Charlie Poole. (About McKinley's assassination.)
• "Frankie" – Mississippi John Hurt.
• "When That Great Ship Went Down" – William and Versey Smith. (Titanic ballad.)
• "Kassie Jones" – Furry Lewis. (Casey Jones ballad.)
• "Omie Wise" – G.B. Grayson.

Social Music

• "Moonshiner's Dance" – Frank Cloutier and the Victoria Cafe Orchestra.
• "Sail Away Ladies" – Uncle Bunt Stephens.
• "Old Country Stomp" – Henry Thomas.
• "Indian War Whoop" – Floyd Ming's Pep Steppers.
• "Georgia Stomp" – Andrew and Jim Baxter.
• "Gonna Die with My Hammer in My Hand" – Williamson Brothers and Curry.
• "Sugar Baby" – Dock Boggs.

Songs

• "The Cuckoo" – Clarence Ashley.
• "East Virginia" – Buell Kazee.
• "Fishing Blues" – Henry Thomas.
• "King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O" – Chubby Parker. ("Froggie Went a-Courtin'.")
• "Minglewood Blues" – Cannon's Jug Stompers.
• "Feather Bed" – Cannon's Jug Stompers.
• "John the Revelator" – Blind Willie Johnson.
• "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" – Blind Lemon Jefferson.
• "Motherless Children" – Blind Willie Johnson.
• "Present Joys" – Sacred Harp singers.
• "Shine on Me" – Ernest Phipps and His Holiness Singers.
• "Whole World in His Hands" – recording by various.
• "Fifty Miles of Elbow Room" – Rev. F.W. McGee.

Other Essential Collections and Sources

The Lomaxes

John A. Lomax and son Alan Lomax travelled America with a portable recording machine, capturing songs from prisons, plantations, mountain hollows, and city streets for the Library of Congress. Their work is the other great foundation (alongside the Anthology) of the American folk archive.

• American Ballads and Folk Songs (1934)
• Our Singing Country (1941)
• Folk Song U.S.A. (1947)
• Field recordings at Angola Prison (Leadbelly discovered here), Parchman Farm, and throughout the South.

Cecil Sharp in Appalachia

The English folk collector Cecil Sharp travelled to the Appalachian mountains (1916–18) and collected hundreds of ballads preserved by isolated mountain communities — ballads that had died out in England itself.

• English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians (1917, expanded 1932)

Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music (1952)

See dedicated section above.

The Library of Congress Archive of Folk Culture

Thousands of field recordings made by the Lomaxes, Herbert Halpert, Sidney Robertson Cowell, and others.

Sacred Harp Singing

A cappella hymn singing in four-part harmony, using shape-note notation. Preserved in the rural South since the early 19th century. The singing conventions are living continuations of a tradition stretching back to colonial New England. Key text: The Sacred Harp (first edition 1844).

Old-Time String Band Recordings (1920s–30s)

The commercial recordings made in the late 1920s and early 1930s — before the term "country music" existed — are the primary document of how British-Irish songs sounded in their American form. Key artists: the Carter Family, Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, Dock Boggs, Clarence Ashley, G.B. Grayson, Eck Robertson, Fiddlin' John Carson, the Skillet Lickers.

The Child Ballads in America

Francis James Child's The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (1882–98) documented 305 ballad types. Many were found alive in America by later collectors:

• Olive Dame Campbell and Cecil Sharp in Appalachia
• Phillips Barry in New England
• Vance Randolph in the Ozarks
• The Lomaxes throughout the South

The American variants are often older in form than surviving British versions.