The Alan Lomax Sound Archive Now Online

Attention, fellow folkies! You'll love this:

A huge treasure trove of songs and interviews recorded by the legendary folklorist Alan Lomax from the 1940s into the 1990s have been digitized and made available online for free listening. The Association for Cultural Equity, a nonprofit organization founded by Lomax in the 1980s, has posted some 17,000 recordings.

Here's a taste of what you'll find there:

“John Henry” sung by prisoners at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, Parchman Farm, in 1947.
“In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town” performed by Big Bill Broonzy, 1952.
“Story of a slave who asked the devil to take his master,” told by Bessie Jones in 1961.

More: Open Culture