Songs For Political Action: Folk Music, Topical Songs And The American Lef CD - Import

Leave it to Bear Family Records to release a ten-disc collection of Communist and leftist-activist songs that only a dyed-in-the-wool Republican can afford! However, there's a lot of stuff on these discs -- songs about lynchings, anti-union murders and riots, and other injustices, including wretched working conditions permitted by earlier governments, et cetera. There's folk material, of course, but also cowboy songs, country songs, blues and country-blues. These ten CDs also tear down the stereotype of the dry and doctrinaire political song.

Highlights include Disc One ("The Roots of the Folk Revival,") which is primarily given over to the oldest union songs and farm-related protest songs. Disc Three is given over to the Almanac Singers; this body of work was recorded when the official Communist Party line (to which they adhered) was non-aggression against Nazi Germany. Some of the music on Disc Four ("Fighting the Fascists") was surprisingly complex, given the spartan conditions under which a lot of it was done. Disc Seven ("Pete Seeger: 1946-48") is mostly made up of Seeger's masterpieces Roll the Union On and Songs for Political Action. Disc Nine ("Campaign Songs: 1944-1949") represents the last significant cohesive body of topical political songs to come from the American left. By the time of Disc Ten ("An Era Closes"), the Left couldn't do more than snipe at the reactionaries setting the agenda and the passive moderates who stood by. The sound quality on most of the material in this set is astonishingly good and the ten discs are accompanied by an over-200-page hardcover book featuring historical and musical essays, photographs, session information and lyrics -- one of the finest documents of the relationship between

feat. nearly 300 extremely rare recordings on 10 CD's + hardcover book inc. Carl Sandburg, John Allison, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, The Union Boys, The Weavers, Earl Robinson, Almanac Singers, Laura Duncan + many others

Earl Robinson: We're Keeping Score In '44; Josh White: No More Blues; Bill Oliver: Lay That Ballot Down (part 1 & 2); Verne Partlow: The Fertilizer Song;; Talking F.T.A; Kiss The Boys Goodbye; Round And Round The Canneries; My Name is Cannery Bill; Maria Alexander & Others: The Boos Gang; Bye, Bye Bosses; Richard Huey: The Walls Of Jericho; Royal Harmonaires: Henry Wallace Is The Man; Abigail Alvarez: A Corrido To Wallace And Taylor; A Second Corrido To Wallace And Taylor; Paul Robseon: The Battle Hymn Of '48; Michael Loring: The Same Old Merry-Go Round; I've Got A Ballot; Great Day; George Levine: Wallace Button/Goodbye Harry; Sis Cunningham: Henry Wallace; Bill Oliver: We Can Win With Wallace; Malvina Reynolds: Work With Wallace; Sir Lancelot: The Century Of The Common Man; Wallace Is The Man For Me; Michael Loring/Alan Lomax: Yankee Doodle; Tell The Boss; The Weavers: Intro/New York City; Fred Hellerman: Marcantonio For Me; The Weavers/Hope Fox: Skip To THe Polls; Fred Hellerman: Marcantonio For Major; Laura Duncan: Now, Right Now; The Weavers: We Shall Not Be Moved; Pete Seeger/Hope Foye: Oh Freedom; Pete Seeger: Ben Davis; Unidentified Vocalist: M.T.A.; The People's Choice; Fred Hellerman: Keep A-Goin' And A-Growin.

Decormier & Bernardi & Booth: Riddle Of Thurman Towns, The; Gerald Gallant: Grapes To Pick; Fred Hellerman: I Don't Want To Be Adjusted/Stand Up And Be Counted/The Progressive; The Party Is Here To Stay; Bob Hill: Pity The Downtrodden Landlord; The Weavers: The Hammer Song; Banks Of Marble; ERnie Lieberman/Hope Foye: Spring Song; Ernie Lieberman: Songs Of My Hands; My Old Man; I'm On My Way; Lieberman & Duncan & Smith: In Contempt; Die Gedanken Sind Frei; Walk Along Together; Put My Name Down; Hold On; Osborne Smith: Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel; Laura Duncan: I've Got A Right; Jewish Young Folksingers: We Shall Overcome; Betty Sanders: Talking Un-American Blues; Joe

Glazer/Bill Friendland: Old Bolshevik Song; The Cloakmaker's Union;