"Away, Rio" was a capstan or windlass chantey, used for taking in the anchor. It was often the first song sung on an outward-bound voyage, and was popular on both British and American ships. This performance is part of the Library of Congress’s online collection, California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties.

“Black is the Color” is one of our most well-known songs of love. This performance by Betty Smith, who accompanies herself on a psaltery, is from Folk-Legacy’s Songs Traditionally Sung in North Carolina.

“Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie” is one of the best known cowboy songs from the West. This performance by Sloan Matthews was recorded in Texas by John A. Lomax and is part of the Library of Congress’s Archive of American Folk Song.

“Can’t You Line It?” is a work song created by African American men who built railroads across the South (many in prison work gangs). Such songs provided the rhythm for a group to move together in the critical work of aligning the railroad track. This 1935 performance by A.B. Hicks was recorded in Florida by Alan Lomax, Zora Neale Hurston and Mary Elizabeth Barnicle. It forms part of the Library of Congress’s Archive of American Folk Song.

“Come By Here,” predecessor of the better known “Kumbaya,” forms part of the Library of Congress’s Archive of American Folk Song. This performance by Ethel Best and a group of prisoners at State Farm in Raiford, Florida was recorded in 1939 by John A. Lomax.

“The Dogie Song” was sung by cowboys about a “dogie”—a calf that has lost its mother before it was weaned—similar to the situation of young men who ran off to become cowboys. This performance is by Edmund Seymour, who reportedly learned it in 1882 in Wyoming. Recorded by Tony Kraber in 1941, it forms part of the Library of Congress’s Archive of American Folk Song.

“Dos y Dos Son Cuatro” is a popular Spanish singing game. In this variant, singers count to treinta y dos (32) by 2s, then 8s. Performed by Isabella Salazar in Texas in 1939 and recorded by John A. and Ruby T. Lomax, it forms part of the Library of Congress’s Archive of American Folk Song.

“Down by the Riverside” records a group of inmates hoeing in rhythm in a field in 1966 in Texas. Part of the film Afro-American Work Songs in American Prisons produced by Pete and Toshi Seager with Bruce Jackson, this song became well known as a protest song during the Vietnam War.

“El Alba” is a Spanish hymn that was sung at dawn to welcome the day. This performance by Rubén Cobos was recorded in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1963. It forms part of the John Donald Robb Collection at the Center for Southwest Research at the University of New Mexico.

“Fare Ye Well, My Darling” was performed by Minnie Floyd in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina in 1937. Also known as “The Soldier’s Farewell,” this dialogue between a soldier who is leaving for war and his sweetheart was sung during the Civil War. Recorded by John A. Lomax, it forms part of the Library of Congress’s Archive of American Folk Song.

“Farewell to the Warriors” was performed by Mrs. Charles Mee at the White Earth Reservation (Ojibwe) in Minnesota in 1908. Recorded by Frances Densmore on a wax cylinder, it forms part of the Library of Congress’s Archive of American Folk Song. Composer Charles Griffes used this melody as the basis for one of his Sketches of String Quartet Based on Indian Themes in 1914.

“Fight for Union Recognition” is a protest song created by Jack Latham during the cotton strike at Arvin, California in 1939. Performed by union organizers Bert and Ruby Rains, it is part of the Library of Congress’s online Voices from the Dust Bowl: The Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Workers Collection.

“Frog He Would a-Wooing Go” is one of the oldest Anglo-American folk songs, mentioned in “The Complaynt of Scotland” in 1549. Performer Gail Stoddard Storm stated that it was handed down through her family, who came to Massachusetts with the first settlers who arrived in Plymouth.

“Great Day” was performed by Eugene Blacker, Terrell Conley, Alvin Brown and William Brown at Huntsville, Texas in 1939. It was recorded by John A. and Ruby T. Lomax and forms part of the Library of Congress’s Archive of American Folk Song.

“I’m Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Bad” was performed by Gussie Ward (Stone) in 1940 at the FSA Camp in Arvin, California. The earliest recording of this song seems to be from 1923, long before its popularization by Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. It is part of the Library of Congress’s online Voices from the Dust Bowl: The Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Workers Collection.

“Jesse James” was performed by Mrs. Vernie Westfall in the FSA Camp in Shafter, California in 1940. A confederate guerrilla turned bank robber, James was seen as a Robin Hood-like figure after his death, due to the widespread popularity of this song. This song is part of the Library of Congress’s online Voices from the Dust Bowl: The Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Workers Collection.

“Oh Blue” was performed by Thelma, Beatrice and Irene Scruggs in Burnsville, Mississippi in 1939. Hunting dogs were highly prized by southern country people, and this recording, by three teenage girls, expresses the friendship many felt for their dog. It was recorded by Herbert Halpert and forms part of the Library of Congress’s Archive of American Folk Song.

“Railroader” was performed by Russ Pike at the FSA Camp in Shafter, California in 1941. Mr. Pike learned the song, of a girl rating occupations of potential husbands, from his grandmother in Missouri. This song is part of the online Library of Congress’s Voices from the Dust Bowl: The Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Workers Collection.

“Santy Anno” was performed by J. M. Hunt (“Sailor Dad”) in 1935 in Virginia. The song portrays the dual events of the discovery of gold in Alta California (1849) and the defeat of the Mexican General Santa Anna in the Mexican-American War (1846-48). It forms part of the Library of Congress’s Archive of American Folk Song.

“Stone River” was performed by Hallie May Preece in Austin Texas in 1937. It memorializes a Civil War battle, between the Union Army of the Cumberlands and the Confederate Army of Tennessee, fought in the final days of 1862. The ballad is based on “The Wounded Soldier,” a poem written by Lieutenant John McKee of the 74th Ohio regiment. It was recorded by John A. Lomax and is part of the Library of Congress’s Archive of American Folk Song.