Finding recordings - Library of Congress

11 Jan 19 - 02:08 PM (#3971125)
Subject: Finding recordings - Library of Congress
From: Joe Offer

Can somebody please enlighten me? I'm looking for recordings of the murder ballad titled "Ellen Flannery" (the victim) or "Floyd Frazier" (the perp). Roud lists several sound recordings at the Library of Congress, but but I can't figure out how to access them.
I found the audio recordings search page at the Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/audio/
...but that's as far as I get. One recording I'm seeking for is #2782 B1 - collected by Herbert Halpert in 1939, a song titled "Ellen Flannery" sung by Mrs. Goldie Hamilton at Hamiltontown, Virginia. I found some of Halpert's recordings, but not this one.
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks.
-Joe-

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11 Jan 19 - 03:23 PM (#3971142)
Subject: RE: Finding recordings - Library of Congress
From: Thomas Stern

https://www.loc.gov/item/afc9999005.7773
https://www.loc.gov/resource/afc9999005.7775.0

these recordings do not appear to be available online
iirc purchasing copies gets expensive and requires permission from
performer/estate ???

cheers, Thomas.

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11 Jan 19 - 03:25 PM (#3971144)
Subject: RE: Finding recordings - Library of Congress
From: Thomas Stern

a checklist of recordings through 1940 was published, and is
now available online:
https://archive.org/stream/checklistofrecor01arch/checklistofrecor01arch_djvu.txt

Thomas.

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20 Mar 21 - 12:47 PM (#4098531)
Subject: RE: Finding recordings - Library of Congress
From: Rex

Joe, this is a great gift. I've heard some of these recordings
before but to hear Harry Stephens singing his own Night Herding
Song is something I had never imagined.
Thank you,

Rex

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15 May 21 - 10:37 PM (#4106201)
Subject: RE: Finding recordings - Library of Congress
From: pattyClink

Agreed, Joe, these recordings get squirreled away and essentially hidden. And to expect the public to access public recordings through commercial gatekeeper conduits is offensive.

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16 May 21 - 11:35 AM (#4106240)
Subject: RE: Finding recordings - Library of Congress
From: GUEST,M Dixon

Yes the Library of Congress collection has to be freed up. I'm currently accessing Edward Ives' field recordings from the Northeast that were mostly done in the 1950s to 1970s. They've never been made available to the public in any meaningful way and now, 60 years after the fact, there isn't as much of an audience for the material. AND because the content is owned by Universities and "collected" and "held" . . . this stuff didn't end up influencing or entering the vocabulary of later generations like it could have. There's a bit of a missed opportunity in all this.

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16 May 21 - 02:30 PM (#4106255)
Subject: RE: Finding recordings - Library of Congress
From: Lighter

All the recordings are "available to the public.'

The catch is that if you don't want to pay for a CD, you have to show up in Washington in person.

I suspect the Archive of Folk Culture would like nothing better than to put everything in line, but presumably the funds are just not there.

Maybe eventually....

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16 May 21 - 07:39 PM (#4106310)
Subject: RE: Finding recordings - Library of Congress
From: Joe Offer

Abby Sale reserved a tape at the Library of Congress before the Getaway a few years ago. He, Amos, Dani, and I went to the Archive of Folk Culture on our way to camp. We got our library cards and had a nice tour of the joint with a very nice folklorist - and we got to hear the tape. What a memorable day!

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