Mississippi Fred McDowell

Rolling Stone (5/1/97, p.50) - 4.5 Stars (out of 5) - "...a lot of music and sociology to love, study and comprehend....While much of this music is already gone from everyday life--forever--Alan Lomax ensured that it will never die. The oral tradition, even on CD, is still alive and well."
Entertainment Weekly (4/25/97, p.72) - "...these performances--straight from the parlors, churches, and prisons of the Deep South--are still essential listening for anyone interested in the roots of American popular music..."
- Rating: B+
Down Beat (9/97, p.53) - 5 stars (out of 5) - "...one stellar performance after another....the CD fidelity of the remastered acetates in the series gives the music tremendous depth and clarity."

There was a time in America, not that long ago, actually, when folk music was more than a
precious national treasure. It was a feature of everyday life, the soundtrack of a nation at
work, play and worship. It was pop music, made by and for the populace from the motley
fabric of colliding immigrant cultures and shared New World experiences: birth, love,
adultery, prejudice, poverty, death, salvation. As recently as 1959 – when Alan... More >