Mississippi Records are iconic for releasing and documenting the finest archival recordings from all over the world in limited vinyl and cassette editions. The label's most recent endeavors revolve around a batch of five different parts of a 50th anniversary series, all of which pertaining to the work of American folklorist and ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, the first of this series being Wave The Ocean, Wave The Sea: Field Recordings From Alan Lomax's "Southern Journey" 1959-1960.
The "Southern Journey" was Lomax's trip through America's various Southern states, capturing many aspects of its musical culture using an Ampex 602-2 tape machine in revolt against people's opinion that Southern music, at the time, was dead. In result, over 70 hours of music were recorded and sent to record labels like Atlantic and Prestige. However, these releases became long out-of-print, thus leading to Mississippi Record's vinyl revival of these recordings.
Wave The Ocean, Wave The Sea is an adventure through a plethora of musical styles that would've gone completely unnoticed if it weren't presented the way it is today. The majority of these 16 artists use minimal instrumentation, often just vocals backed with a guitar or banjo, which would be expected of a compiling of underground Southern music of the late 50s and early 60s. Grandiosity really only pervades instrumentally on the Forrest City Joe & His Three Aces song "Drink On Me Little Girl" which incorporates electric guitar, harmonica and a brushed snare. However, the most striking recordings are of those who use the most nontraditional instrumentation: Bessie Jones & Group's "Reg'lar, Reg'lar, Rolling Under" consists of harmonizing call and response vocals, handclaps and flute, while artists like the United Sacred Harp Convention and Ollie Gilbert are completely a capella, yet are emotive and soulful on their own, and contribute to the novelty of these recordings.
The lyrical content is worth noting as well: playful storytelling, references to religion and love are prevalent throughout this release. This being a tradition in folk, though, justifies how prominent these lyrical styles were in this era. In a way, it equalizes the amount of variety and consistency by using its subject matter to tie the threads of these songs together.
From twangy folk to emotive chain gang spirituals to witty spoken word radio transmissions, this collection captures a great era of music. Every artist has a piece that is worth hearing in a full-length album presence, and offers their own unique take on the popularized music genres that influenced them. Though I can't acquire the money to afford the rest of this 5-part series, I'm almost certain that the full, 70-hour listen is an enthralling, insightful look at the sounds of the early 60s folk revival as well.
[Buy Wave The Ocean, Wave The Sea from Midheaven Mailorder]
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