Historical America in Song, released in 1950 by Encyclopædia Britannica

Encyclopædia Britannica

The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...

 Films, is an album set by folk singer Burl Ives

Burl Ives

Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....

. Each of the six albums consists of five 12-inch vinylite records, for a total of thirty 78 rpm records. Each album has its own cover with a drawing of the Washington Monument on it (see the illustration).

The album set was designed to be used in four types of academic courses: music appreciation, American history, literature, and social studies. Each song was selected and is introduced by Ives. The introductions "establish the songs in mood, time, and place" and "point up the significance of the songs and highlight their most important elements."

The following albums make up the set: Songs of the Colonies, Songs of the Revolution, Songs of North and South, Songs of the Sea, Songs of the Frontier, and Songs of Expanding America.

Track listing

Record 1, Side 1 (B.I.301)

1. Psalm 3
2. Confess Jehovah
3. Mother Goose Songs

Record 1, Side 2 (B.I.302)

1. Little Mohee
2. The Tailor and the Mouse

Record 2, Side 3 (B.I.303)

1. Barbara Allen

Record 2, Side 4 (B.I.304)

1. Lord Thomas
2. Robin He Married

Record 3, Side 5 (B.I.305)

1. Lord Randall
   Lord Randall
   "Lord Randall", or "Lord Randal", is an Anglo-Scottish border ballad, a traditional ballad consisting of dialogue. The different versions follow the same general lines: the primary character is poisoned, usually by his sweetheart; this is revealed through a conversation where he reports on the...
   
   
2. The Bold Soldier

Record 3, Side 6 (B.I.306)

1. Edward
2. Black Is the Color

Record 4, Side 7 (B.I.307)

1. The Squire’s Son
2. The Riddle Song
   The Riddle Song
   "The Riddle Song," also known as "I Gave My Love a Cherry" is an English folk song, apparently a lullaby, which was carried by settlers to the American Appalachians. It descends from a 15th-century English song in which a maiden says she is advised to unite with her lover. It is related to Child...
   
   

Record 4, Side 8 (B.I.308)

1. Foggy, Foggy Dew
2. The Fox
   The Fox (folk song)
   The Fox is a traditional folk song. It is also the subject of at least two picture books, The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night: an old song, illustrated by Peter Spier and Fox Went out on a Chilly Night, by Wendy Watson...
   
   

Record 5, Side 9 (B.I.309)

1. Brennan on the Moor
2. Billy Boy

Record 5, Side 10 (B.I.310)

1. Queen Jane
2. Turtle Dove

Track listing

Record 1, Side 1 (B.I.311)

1. The Escape of John Webb
2. I Know Where I'm Going
   I Know Where I'm Going (song)
   "I Know Where I'm Going" is a traditional Scottish or Irish ballad about a woman pining for her "bonnie" lover Johnny. It is Roud number 5701. It was recorded by Burl Ives on 31 March 1941 for his debut album Okeh Presents the Wayfaring Stranger...
   
   

Record 1, Side 2 (B.I.312)

1. My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free
2. On Springfield Mountain
3. Chester

Record 2, Side 3 (B.I.313)

1. What a Court Hath Old England
2. Ballad of the Tea Party
3. The Boston Tea Tax

Record 2, Side 4 (B.I.314)

1. White Cockade
2. Free America
3. Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier

Record 3, Side 5 (B.I.315)

1. Yankee Doodle
   Yankee Doodle
   "Yankee Doodle" is a well-known Anglo-American song, the origin of which dates back to the Seven Years' War. It is often sung patriotically in the United States today and is the state anthem of Connecticut...
   
   
2. Riflemen’s Song at Bennington

Record 3, Side 6 (B.I.316)

1. The Battle of the Kegs

Record 4, Side 7 (B.I.317)

1. Battle of Saratoga

Record 4, Side 8 (B.I.318)

1. Cornwallis Country Dance
2. Sir Peter Parker

Record 5, Side 9 (B.I.319)

1. Yankee Man O’War

Record 5, Side 10 (B.I.320)

1. Skip to My Lou
2. Careless Love
   Careless Love
   "Careless Love" is a traditional song of obscure origins.Blues versions are popular; the lyrics change from version to version, but usually speak of the heartbreak brought on by "careless love." Frequently, the narrator threatens to kill his or her wayward lover.The song's melody also is used in...
   
   
3. Wayfaring Stranger
   The Wayfaring Stranger (song)
   "The Wayfaring Stranger" , Roud 3339, is a well-known American spiritual/folk song likely originating in the early 19th century about a plaintive soul on the journey through life. It became one of Burl Ives's signature songs, included on his 1944 album The Wayfaring Stranger...
   
   

Track listing

1. Ye Parliaments of England
2. The Constitution and the Guerriere
3. Patriotic Diggers
4. Hunters of Kentucky
5. The Hornet and the Peacock
6. Hey Betty Martin
7. Old Dan Tucker
   Old Dan Tucker
   "Old Dan Tucker", also known as "Ole Dan Tucker", "Dan Tucker", and other variants, is a popular American song. Its origins remain obscure; the tune may have come from oral tradition, and the words may have been written by songwriter and performer Dan Emmett...
   
   
8. Blue Tail Fly
   Blue Tail Fly
   "Blue Tail Fly", "De Blue Tail Fly", or "Jimmy Crack Corn" is thought to be a blackface minstrel song, first performed in the United States in the 1840s that remains a popular children's song today....
   
   
9. The Abolitionist Hymn
10. Nicodemus
11. Old Abe Lincoln
12. All Quiet along the Potomac Tonight
13. John Brown
14. Dixie
    Dixie (song)
    Countless lyrical variants of "Dixie" exist, but the version attributed to Dan Emmett and its variations are the most popular. Emmett's lyrics as they were originally intended reflect the mood of the United States in the late 1850s toward growing abolitionist sentiment. The song presented the point...
    
    
15. Bonnie Blue Flag
16. Goober Peas
    Goober Peas
    "Goober Peas"is a traditional folk song mostly known in the Southern United States. It was popular with Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War, and is still sung frequently in the South to this day. It is frequently covered by pop singer Elton John during live shows, though has yet to...
    
    
17. The Battle of Bull Run
18. Johnny Comes Marching Home
    When Johnny Comes Marching Home
    "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" is a popular song of the American Civil War that expressed people's longing for the return of their friends and relatives who were fighting in the war.-Origins:...
    
    
19. Lorena
20. Keemo-Kimo
21. Beautiful Dreamer
22. Where You There When They Crucified My Lord?
23. Burying Ground
24. Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen

Track listing

1. Golden Vanity
2. High Barbaree
3. Maid of Amsterdam
4. Henry Martin
5. Hullabaloo Baley
6. Blow the Man Down
   Blow the Man Down
   Blow the Man Down is a sea shanty. The lyric "Blow the man down" refers to the act of knocking a man to the ground.-Lyrics:The full lyrics areChorus:Oh, blow the man down, bullies, blow the man downWay aye blow the man down...
   
   
7. Blow Ye Winds
8. Away Rio
9. The Whale
10. Sacramento
11. Crocodile Song
12. Early in the Morning
13. Boston Come All Ye
14. Haul Away Joe
15. Venezuela
16. Shenandoah
17. Erie Canal
18. Eddystone Light

Track listing

1. Ox-Driving Song
2. Sweet Betsy from Pike
   Sweet Betsy from Pike
   "Sweet Betsy from Pike" is an American ballad about the trials of a pioneer named Betsy and her lover Ike who migrate from Pike County to California. This Gold Rush-era song, with lyrics written by John A. Stone before 1858, was recorded by Burl Ives on February 11, 1941 for his debut album Okeh...
   
   
3. Dreary Black Hills
4. Peter Gray
   Peter Gray (song)
   "Peter Gray" is an American ballad about a young man whose fiancee is sent out west after her father discovers their plan to wed. The man goes west and is scalped by Indians. The song appears to date back to at least 1858. It was recorded by Burl Ives on 3 March 1941 for his debut album Okeh...
   
   
5. Sioux Indians
6. Joe Bowers
7. What Was Your Name in the States
8. Buffalo Gals
   Buffalo Gals
   "Buffalo Gals" is a traditional American song, written and published as "Lubly Fan" in 1844 by the blackface minstrel John Hodges, who performed as "Cool White." The song was widely popular throughout the United States...
   
   
9. Greer County bachelor
10. Roving Gambler
11. Chisholm Trail
12. Old Paint
13. Sod Shanty
14. Git along Little Dogies
15. The Young Man who Wouldn’t Hoe Corn
16. I’ve Got No Use for Women
17. The Hand-Cart Song
18. Brigham Young

Track listing

1. Streets of Laredo
   Streets of Laredo (song)
   "Streets of Laredo" , also known as the "Cowboy's Lament", is a famous American cowboy ballad in which a dying cowboy tells his story to a living one. Derived from the English folk song "The Unfortunate Lad", it has become a folk music standard, and as such has been performed, recorded and adapted...
   
   
2. Billy the Kid
3. John Hardy
   John Hardy (song)
   "John Hardy" is a traditional American folk song based on the life of a railroad worker in West Virginia. The historical John Hardy killed a man during a craps game, was found guilty of murder in the first degree, and was hanged on January 19, 1894....
   
   
4. Jesse James
5. Drill Ye Tarriers
6. Blue Mountain Lake
7. Patrick on the Railroad
8. The Dying Hogger
9. John Henry
   John Henry (folklore)
   John Henry is an American folk hero and tall tale. Henry worked as a "steel-driver"—a man tasked with hammering and chiseling rock in the construction of tunnels for railroad tracks. In the legend, John Henry's prowess as a steel-driver was measured in a race against a steam powered hammer,...
   
   
10. Down in the Valley
    Down in the Valley (folk song)
    -External links:* -Bibliography:*Boas, Frank . The Journal of American Folk-Lore Vol. XXX No. CXVII. Lancaster, Pennsylvania: American Folk-Lore Society....
    
    
11. When I Was Single
12. Sourwood Mountain
13. Cotton-Eyed Joe
    Cotton-Eyed Joe
    "Cotton-Eyed Joe" is a popular American folk song known at various times throughout the United States and Canada, although today it is most commonly associated with the American South...
    
    
14. Cowboy’s Dream
15. Life Is Like a Mountain Railroad
16. Poor Boy
17. Old Blue
18. Midnight Special
    Midnight Special (song)
    "Midnight Special" is a traditional folk song thought to have originated among prisoners in the American South. The title comes from the refrain which refers to the Midnight Special and its "ever-loving light" ....
    
    
19. Big Rock Candy Mountain
    Big Rock Candy Mountain
    Big Rock Candy Mountain, first recorded by Harry McClintock in 1928, is a song about a hobo's idea of paradise, a modern version of the medieval concept of Cockaigne...
    
    
20. The Boll Weevil
21. St. John’s River

Further reading

• Robert C. Pooley, untitled review of Songs of the North and South, inThe English Journal, vol. 42, no. 2. (February 1953), pp. 117-118. "The range of material is too wide for the artistry of Burl Ives. He is excellent in the topical, humorous, and folk songs, but he lacks depth and conviction in the spirituals."
• Edwin B. Knowles, untitled review of Songs of the Sea, in The English Journal, vol. 42, no. 3 (March 1953), p. 176. "Musically speaking, most of these songs are a joy to listen to. Ives's abilities as a vocalist and guitar player are here up to par.... Here can be felt the haunting sadness and mystery of the sea, the contagious rolling rhythms of group labor, the sailor's dreams of sweethearts and gold, plus a saving touch of simple humor and Munchausen fantasy."