..recorded with outside's work conditions in Mississippi
State Penitentiary at Parchman in 1947..
..produced by ALBATROS Records-1977..
..illustration'paint by Peter-Paul RUBENS (1577-1640)..
****
Edited by Azizi Powell
The lyrics for this song are included in this post along with selected comments from the discussion thread for that YouTube sound file.
The content of this post is provided for folkloric, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are featured in this recording. Thanks also to Alan Lomax for collecting this and other songs. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube.
-snip-
This is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on 20th century African American prisoner work songs.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/06/early-in-morning-prison-work-song-1947.html Early In The Morning (Prison Work Song 1947-1948, lyrics & sound file) for another post in this series.
Also, click the African American prison work songs below for other posts in this series.
****
SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS YOUTUBE SOUND FILE'S DISCUSSION THREAD (Including this song's lyrics)
Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
Ol Alabama j´nes the state of Floridy,
Ol Alabama j´nes the state of Floridy,
At Mobile, Lawdy, at Mobile.
Old Alabama is a hog-killing country,(2)
Ev`y fal, Lawdy, Ev`y fall.
Did you hear `bout that water boy gettin` drownded(2)
In Mobile Bay, Lawdy, in Mobile Bay.
Did you hear `bout the men all gonna leave you (3)
Next pay day, Lawdy, next pay day?
Did you hear `bout Louella Wallace?(3)
Poor gal dead, Lawdy, poor gal dead.
**
[The following two comments are replies to another comment that gave the lyrics to this song]
**
2. Nelson MLK, 2021
"Someone knows what j’ines mean? And who’s Louella Wallace? I can’t find any informations on google"
**
Reply
3. lillingtoncr,2020
"@Nelson MLK It means joins."
-snip-
The word "Joins" in this song means “borders” . Part of the state of Alabama is geographical next to the state of Florida. For instance, Mobile, Alabama is located very close to Pensacola, Florida.
-snip-
"Louella Wallace" was the name of a Black woman who died (probably tragically).
The lyrics for these African American work songs were probably not as important as their tunes, tempo, and their accompanying motions. As such, their lyrics weren't fixed and probably changed at least slightly different times that the song was sung. As such, my guess is that the name "Louella Wallace" could have been changed for the name of another Black female or for the name of a Black male who also died tragically.
-snip-
My guess is that the verse "Did you hear `bout the men all gonna leave you" was lifted from a song that women sung.
**
4. monQsurlaKomod
"they were not litteraly 'working'....they were in a room of the penitentiary reproducing working conditions: that's what I translated from what was written in italian on the cover of the L.P"
**
5. Meufi1980
"Well, I copied the lyrics one to one from the booklet of my CD. I listen it twice after your comment and I guess they sing it like I wrote it, but I can be wrong - English is not my native language. And yes I agree with you: I forgot the end."
**
6. Steven Snowden
**
7.
"I remember this, or at least chaing
gangs, through 1964-65. I saw them, Yes, the inmates sang.
Humans can make other humans do brutal
things."
****
2010
7. SpeedyNeutrino43
"I remember seeing chain gangs alongside the roads in and
around Graceville, Florida, about 12 miles from the Alabama state line. Long time ago. I heard songs like this."
**
8. Ayaba Bey
"When we just had each other and the G-d and ancestors
within. Powerful metaphysically, spiritually and all wises. When we had wooden
churches and wooden floors and feet and hands that actually stomped and
clapped. This is the energy spirit of that time . My grand and great grandparents sang this way
in the church and wherever the spirit hit them. Thanks for preserving the time."
**
9. polomaster9 (Alejandro)
"Thanks for posting this, it has been a great discovery for
me, this song and others like it that are post it, are a great contribution to
african american roots and american history overall.
I wish people will stop making stupid racial comments (like
i've seen in other postings like this one), it only reflects their ignorance
and disrupts good clean informational comments."
**
10. theforgottenwork
"i wonder how many innocent men toiled away under the hot mississippi sun singing these songs."
**
11. Daniel Jassim
"Heart shattering."
2011
12. Jae Shep
"this is beautiful. there are times in church
where the old folks sound just like this. I don't want this type of soul to die
with the older generation. its so beautiful"
13. mixmixsim
"A great piece of Amercian history here. You can still get some of these old cultral ties
to the motherland in my neck of the woods(north
mississippi/delta) by going to certain churches prayer services. These old ways
are fastly leaving us though. An african freind from Senegal told me these old ways are also
leaving there as well.
14.
"this was recorded IN the penitentiary during special
recording sessions, and the prisonners re-created outside work conditions and
sing as if they were working like every day."
**
15. paul wells-cutler
"thank God someone recorded this ,so much to learn from and
so much blues"
**
16. Lila Sun
"So powerful. Haunting"
**
17. DarkGift1
... "Look up "Alan Lomax" on Amazon.
He did a lot of fantastic recordings of African American songs from the south.
There is a series of albums released called "Southern Journeys" or
chain gang songs, camp calls, and various other folk music and interviews. This
song is included on one of the albums, I can't remember which off hand. Lomax
also did extensive recording in the rural areas of Europe recording Italian,
Irish, etc. folk music. He was certainly way beyond his time."
**
18. Dee9158
"Thank you for sharing this song. I can feel my peoples pain
with every beat. Words cannot explain."
**
19. fozrockski
"Art History time - The portrait was painted by Sir Peter Paul
Ruben several hundred years ago. The Black male was his slave who Ruben did
several composites on the same canvas that were later divided and old
separately . As for the previous racial slurs, just ignore them. American Black
History is mostly verbal and brought down through art, songs and verbal. If
anyone is guessing, I'm not black. Ty for your time and please get along
****
2012
20. pnyxprez
"I am from alabama to and I apprecaite one fact ya'll are missing the singing was by these guys for these guys to encourage each other and it is beautiful and soulful for that reason is so enjoy it best way to remember them now "
****
2013
21. JD Nash
"Alan Lomax was the greatest collector of original folk and
blues ever. He traveled all over the
world recording. This is from his stay
at Mississippi State Penitentiary also known as Parchman Farm to record the
origins of the blues. The original
recordings were made in 1947, but many were re-engineered with better audio
quality years later. Amazing stuff."
**
22. Neverglades
... "These songs were definitely for encouragement and to break the boredom.
However, prison songs (and the slave work songs that they stem from) were also
to keep workers swinging scythes, hammers, etc. at the same pace. Unfortunately
the current rate black incarceration today is a direct legacy of slavery (look
for the fine-print in the Emancipation Proclamation)"
**
23. Paleface
"I bought this album (vinyl) in 1993 and I sill have it.
Trust me....it's 1947. This is about as real as music gets....."
***
2014
24. CaramelRhapsody & Jesse's life
"This is haunting my soul."
****
2015
25. Franx K
"We forgot too soon, we forgot too soon. Never forget your
history."
**
Reply
26. C Best, 2020
"The problem is we are not supposed to forget. "Dwell on the past and you'll lose an
eye. Forget the past and you'll lose both eyes." Russian proverb
****
2016
27. Sarah .C
"The black race has been through a lot.. They still stand strong though 💪🏽"
***
2018
28. roflmows
"study the past"
****
2019
29. PinckFloydEchoes
..."by the way, if any of you haven't seen "The Green Mile", you have to see it!! It's awesome!! Starring Tom Hanks and Michael Clarke Duncan. And this song, "Old Alabama" is right near the beginning of the film. From WIKI:The Green Mile is a 1999 American drama film directed by Frank Darabont. The film tells the story of Paul's life as a death row corrections officer during the Great Depression in the United States, and the supernatural events he witnessed."
30. Yiannis Gioukas
"Hair raising stuff. Total respect to those people."
**
31. Smoce Rolla
"Still standing strong 2020 we will Survive"
****
2021
32. BlackfyreHD
"You do know... Chain gangs are still used in some American prisons right? There is a documentary on it on Youtube
-snip-
Here's information about chain gangs from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_gang#:~:text=The%20system%20was%20notably%20used,states%20to%20abandon%20the%20practice.
"A chain gang or road gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work as a form of punishment. Such punishment might include repairing buildings, building roads, or clearing land.[1] The system was notably used in the convict era of Australia and in the Southern United States. By 1955 it had largely been phased out in the U.S., with Georgia among the last states to abandon the practice.[2] North Carolina continued to use chain gangs into the 1970s.[3][4] Chain gangs were reintroduced by a few states during the "get tough on crime" 1990s: in 1995 Alabama was the first state to revive them. The experiment ended after about one year in all states except Arizona,[5] where in Maricopa County inmates can still volunteer for a chain gang to earn credit toward a high school diploma or avoid disciplinary lockdowns for rule infractions.[6]"
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