Stephen D. Winick of the American Folklife Center has a nice article at the Huffington Post with audio for several songs from the LOC: Singing The News: How 20th Century American Folk Singers Sold The Titanic.

God Moves On The Water, performed by Lightnin' Washington and group. Recorded at Darrington State Prison, Sandy Point, TX, by John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax, December 1933.

The Sinking of the Titanic, performed by Clyde Spencer and Harry Fannin. Recorded in Crandon, WI, by Sidney Robertson Cowell, July 1937.

The Titanic, performed by Arlie Baker. Recorded in Pine Mountain, KY, by Alan and Elizabeth Lomax, Sept. 1937

Titanic Sinking, performed by Patrick Williams and unidentified group. Recorded in Nassau, Bahamas, by Alan Lomax and Mary Elizabeth Barnicle, July 1935.

Shine and the Titanic (story), spoken by O.C. King. Recorded in Clarksdale, MS, by Alan Lomax, summer 1942.

As with most things that become pop-culture icons, the Titanic refuses to mean just one thing. Titanic songs were as many and as varied as one can imagine; in the two years after the disaster, for example, about two hundred new songs on the theme were copyrighted, and that was (so to speak) the tip of the iceberg. By the 1930s, when fieldworkers started collecting such songs on discs, there had been enough time for singers to find the Titanic songs that best expressed their feelings about the story. As we pass the 100th anniversary of the disaster, let's think about the lessons of the Titanic, and choose our own songs with care.

Thanks, Nerd! (And the AFC on Facebook, as usual!)

~ Becky in Long Beach