Little known in the history of black cowboys in the United States, Dom Flemons presented black cowboys to the Smithsonian Folk Record Company when studying the songs that will become his album. The artist learned that musician John Lomax recorded the most familiar version of Home, "A Black Chef from San Antonio".
"He copied this guy's unique way of singing this song, which became the famous western national anthem we know today," Flammons said.
It's the same as the familiar song "Goodbye, Old Painting" about horses.
It was the violinist who said that the songs recorded by Lomax were white. "But another musician told how he learned this song from an ex-slave who worked for his father on the farm." This song was later attributed to black cowboy and former slave Charlie Willis.
After hearing the roots of two songs that are so closely related to the western United States, Flammons said, "It began to guide me in the direction of music, which shows that African-American cowboys are an important part of the theme of cowboy songs."
Philip Durham found this book in his hometown of Arizona from 1965' s groundbreaking work Black Cowboy. Fraimon learned that one quarter of the cowboys who helped settle in the west were African-Americans, and some of them had the most personality, ranging from Nat Love (better known as deadwood Dick) to Buzz Reeves.
Flammons wrote an original song about Bill pickett, a black film leader. He also found a close connection with the experiences of other African-Americans. For example, cowboys became Pullman porters and then became important figures in the civil rights movement. Fraimon said, "I know I have to tell a story from the past, but it also points out a direction for people to know that there are still modern black cowboys there. He said that he found a suitable partner to publish his entertainment history in Smithsonian Folklore. Black Cowboy is the first film released since the brand's 70th anniversary. Fraimon, the Grammy winner and co-founder of Carolina Chocolate Drops Company, held a party in Smithsonian Castle in early May, which marked the landmark development of the brand. Two years ago,
"I started this project," he said. "Over the years, the inspiration I got from people like Lightning Hopkins and Lead Belly has always been part of the folk catalogue. It's an honor.
Black Cowboy is the first work in this single, and Flammons explores and reanalyzes this important part of our American identity. The songs and poems in the album took the audience on a glorious journey from the ancient road to the ancient western railway tracks.
Buying black jeans is a 1 1 version of the African heritage album series jointly released with the Smithsonian National Museum of African History and Culture.
Huib Schippers, director of the Smithsonian Folklore Center, said: "We have inherited many stories about how this country came into being and what it is. They are increasingly confused about the current political climate and the digital field of our work." . Hippers said: "What we want to do is to counter-narrate some grand narratives that have already been told." The idea is to attract people through sound and convey a deeper sound. "。 " I think in folk customs, we can attract people through music and then invite them to think about the content and background of the songs we play. "
Looks like fremont. He brought back ancient musical instruments, such as the six-string banjo and the American flute, which was the quill pen used by Henry Ragtime Texas Thomas. It is very suitable for artists from Woody Guthrie to Cisco Houston and washboard Sam, who have been adding color to folk customs for decades.
"In my LP series, there are about 150 folk versions," Flammons said. Therefore, in addition to appearing in all historical albums, including from pete seeger to the croaking of frogs, this is a practical choice for an album about the historical songs of black cowboys.
"They won't do what standard record companies might do and say,' Well, can you modernize? Can you make it less cowboy? He said:
"They know that I want to make the first comprehensive album about black cowboys, which is what they have been looking for." . "They didn't know they didn't, but when I showed them, they said,' Yes, this is what we are looking for.' "
Founded by Moses Aske in 1948, the Smithsonian Institution acquired Folkway in 1987 one year after the founder's death, and promised that all 26 168 books would be kept in print forever. So far, this number is about 60 thousand songs.
Hippers said, "Black Cowboy is one of the 30 songs we released for the 70th anniversary this year. This is our biggest release schedule in 25 years.
The catalogue includes the works of Anna and Elizabeth, the world music of Rahim Alhaji Trio and the works of Grapow Mono Blanco, a tribute to the bluegrass artist John Duffy, and Laurie Anderson and Tenzin Joy exploring the book of death in Tibet together. Although most newly released records and streaming media services this summer will see a series of re-released Smithsonian ballads called Vinyl from guthrie, Siegel, Doc Boggs and Lucinda Williams.
"Vinyl records are one of the few growing music industries, which is really good," Schippers said. "It is still a small niche market, but there are so many iconic records and so many iconic covers in folklore. We believe that the 1970s was the best time to release some absolutely classic records.
The first of some ambitious boxes will be released at the end of this year, starting with a 300-page book, including nine CDs of Smithsonian hip-hop and rap anthologies. The upcoming four albums "Social Power of Music" will release a book with 100 pages.
Will be released next year, and this is fremont's colleague Ryan Nong from the Carolina Chocolate Company. Rhiannon Giddens recorded new records of songs from 17 to 19 century, as well as the six-disc boxed album Peter Siegel: A Hundred Years' Treasure.
One of them, but Schippers says folklore is not just the past. "Many people regard folklore as a historical label, because we have Woody Guthrie, lead belly and Peteseeger. But when Moses Askell was alive, these people were not historical figures. He said:
"I am very committed to using folklore as a label to record interesting and thought-provoking sounds in the 2 1 century, and it is also a wonderful file and music resource that can be traced back to nearly 100 years ago."