Una "prison song" registrata da John e Alan Lomax.

Da leggersi sia in chiave di evasione che antirazzista.

La prima incisione significativa fu quella di Leadbelly nel 1942, ma indimenticabile rimane quella della compianta Odetta in "Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues" del 1956.

"Take This Hammer (Roud 4299) is a prison work song. It was collected by John and Alan Lomax. The song Nine Pound Hammer has a few phrases in common with this song, and the same Roud number. Swannanoa Tunnel is similar, and this group of songs are referred to as 'hammer songs' or 'roll songs'. According to the Columbia State University, the earliest collected version was made by Newman Ivey White in 1915."

(Huddie Ledbetter / Alan Lomax)
recorded by : Billy Childish; Ry Cooder;
Tav Falco; Arlo Guthrie; Leadbelly; Taj Mahal;
Odetta; Pete Seeger.

SANS CRUCIFIX, SANS RELIGION
Chanson française de Marco Valdo M.I. - 2008

Tout est parti d'un article paru dans Micro-Mega – Micro-Mega online – Stato laico e crocifissi de Michele Martelli, qui relatait un jugement du juge Alejandre Valentin Sastre de Valladolid en Espagne. C'était là un excellent article, très stimulant et par ailleurs, il avait l'avantage de remettre certaines pendules à l'heure. Alors pour qu'on en garde la mémoire, car une chanson est plus diffuse, moins événementielle qu'un article de presse, Marco Valdo M.I. en a fait une de ses canzones, qu'en bonne logique, il dédie au juge Sastre de Valladolid (Espagne).

[1991]
Album: "Jack’s Crows"

[1992]
Album: "Temporary Road"

An Afro-American Spiritual folksong from late 19th Century
Canto popolare afroamericano (Spiritual) della II metà del XIX secolo
Recorded by Odetta in "Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues" (Spiritual Trilogy), 1956
Inciso da Odetta in "Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues (Spiritual Trilogy), 1956

"Oh, Freedom" is a post Civil War African American freedom song, notably recorded by Odetta as part of the Spiritual Trilogy, on her "Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues" album from 1956.

The fourth verse contains the line "No more tommin'" where the word tommin' denotes to black men's extreme submissiveness towards a white person or white people. The word seems to have been derived from Harriet Beecher Stowe's fictitious character Uncle Tom in Uncle Tom's Cabin.

“Oh, Freedom” è un canto di libertà afroamericano risalente a dopo la guerra di secessione, inciso in particolare da Odetta come parte della... (continuer)

Album: "Fading American Dream" (2006)