RANDOLPH, Vance. Ozark Folksongs. 4 vols. Columbia: State Historical Society of Missouri, 1946-1950; reprint ed., 1980. 464, 448, 416, 414 pp.

"This monumental work shares with that of Frank C. Brown in North Carolina the honor of being the most extensive folklore collections on a particular region ever published. Edited by Floyd C. Shoemaker and Frances G. Emberson, it includes at least 900 ballads and songs from Missouri, but with variants, the total is closer to 1,700. About 800 of these have tunes. All are extensively documented in headnotes. Vol. I, English and related ballads, Vol. II, topical songs (including Civil War, Negro and pseudo-Negro songs, temperance), Vol. III, lighter songs and play parties, Vol. IV, religious songs, hymns, miscellaneous songs and sentimental ballads. There are indices of titles, first lines, contributors, and towns." (Terry Miller, Folk Music in America: A Reference Guide, Garland, 1986, p. 127)

~Masato