American Song is described as a history database that allows people to hear and feel the music from America's past. Historical events such as the Civil Rights movement, Prohibition, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and the California Gold Rush are documented in song. Hear examples of a broad array of music including country, folk, bluegrass, Western, old time, American Indian, jazz, blues, Tex-Mex, gospel, and shape note singing. Examples are The Man I Love by Mary Lou Williams, John Henry by Pete Seeger, Wonderous Love by the Old Harp Singers, Rain songs and dances of the Zuni and Navajo, Leave My Love Alone by Coleman Hawkins, Cotton-eyed Joe by Bill Monroe and Amor Bonito by Lydia Mendoza.
An important component of the database is its non-musical content, such as a reading of Tom Paine's Common Sense, Amir Baraka reciting Dope, Bobby Seale speaking on the Black Panther Party platform, interviews with participants of the Nashville lunch counter sit-in of 1960, and the Reverend Ralph Abernathy speaking in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. Although still expanding, the database is particularly strong on Civil Rights-era materials.
American Song is browseable in various ways, including by Genre (e.g., American Indian, Blues, Folk, Sacred), People, and Events. It currently includes 835 albums, approximately 14,000 tracks, and plans to grow to 50,000 tracks.
You can find this and other Music databases on SULAIR's databases pages. Select By Titles (A-Z) under "Show all Databases" or just enter the database name in the Databases search box at the top of the page and click on the Find Database button. It is also on the Music Library's Web site.
