- Prison Songs Vol 1- Murderous Home-01-The Murderer's Home [Jimpson with five others]-Various Artists - Alan Lomax 0:50
- Prison Songs Vol 1- Murderous Home-02-No More, My Lord [Jimpson with men chopping trees]-Various Artists - Alan Lomax 2:09
- Prison Songs Vol 1- Murderous Home-03-Old Alabama [B.B. and six others chopping firewood]-Various Artists - Alan Lomax 3:03
- Prison Songs Vol 1- Murderous Home-04-Black Woman [B.B. and six others]-Various Artists - Alan Lomax 2:55
- Prison Songs Vol 1- Murderous Home-05-Jumpin' Judy [Tangle Eye, Fuzzy Red, Hard Hair & others]-Various Artists - Alan Lomax 4:18
- Prison Songs Vol 1- Murderous Home-06-Whoa Buck [C.B.]-Various Artists - Alan Lomax 3:53
- Prison Songs Vol 1- Murderous Home-07-Prettiest Train [''22'' leads a group chopping weeds with hoes]-Various Artists - Alan Lomax 3:46
- Prison Songs Vol 1- Murderous Home-08-Old Dollar Mamie [''22'' leads a group chopping weeds with hoes]-Various Artists - Alan Lomax 3:29
- Prison Songs Vol 1- Murderous Home-09-It Makes a Long Man Time Feel Bad [''22'' with axe group]-Various Artists - Alan Lomax 2:43
- Prison Songs Vol 1- Murderous Home-10-Rosie [C.B. with a group of ten men with axes]-Various Artists - Alan Lomax 3:09
- Prison Songs Vol 1- Murderous Home-11-Levee Camp Holler [Bama]-Various Artists - Alan Lomax 2:50
- Prison Songs Vol 1- Murderous Home-12-What Makes a Work Song Leader- [interview with Bama]-Various Artists - Alan Lomax 2:06
- Prison Songs Vol 1- Murderous Home-13-Early in the Mornin' [''22'', Little Red, Tangle Eye & Hard Hair accompanied by double cutting axes-Various Artists - Alan Lomax 4:42
- Prison Songs Vol 1- Murderous Home-14-How I Got in the Penitentiary [interview with Bama]-Various Artists - Alan Lomax 1:23
- Prison Songs Vol 1- Murderous Home-15-Tangle Eye Blues [Tangle Eye]-Various Artists - Alan Lomax 3:07
- Prison Songs Vol 1- Murderous Home-16-Stackerlee [Bama]-Various Artists - Alan Lomax 4:08
- Prison Songs Vol 1- Murderous Home-17-Prison Blues [Alex]-Various Artists - Alan Lomax 2:20
Notes
In the late 1940s, ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax went to Parchman Farm in Mississippi to record African-American prisoners. This penitentiary was renowned for its anachronistically harsh conditions, and it's something of a miracle that Lomax was allowed in to document the music in the first place. Most of the material was recorded while the men were actually at work, and reflect the rhythms of chopping trees, splitting fireweed, chopping weeds, and other such tasks. The liner notes make much of how the subjugation and misery of the community is reflected in the music. While the dreariness of their lives was no doubt genuine, the music itself -- mainly gospelish work songs and chants geared toward getting the men through their daily grinds, usually sung a cappella, often by groups -- is not depressing to hear. True, it's hard to call it uplifting knowing what the prisoners were enduring, but there's an enormous pride and spiritual strength. It's as convincing as any gospel, and a number of these made their way into pop and rock repertoires in adapted forms, such as "Rosie," "Early in the Mornin'," and "Stackerlee."