Ballads - Blues

VINYL FORMAT. One of the greatest American folk-blues singers of all time, Josh White (1914-1969) is perhaps the artist most responsible for introducing African American folk and blues to white America. By the time this intimate collection of lesser-known spirituals, prison blues and protest songs was released in 1957 for Elektra, Josh White was just beginning to make a comeback after having his career nearly destroyed by a McCarthy blacklisting. Although White was not a Communist, he was outspoken on issues of Civil Rights. In 1963 he was ranked America's third most popular folksinger (after Harry Belafonte and Pete Seeger) and performed at Martin Luther King, Jr.'s March On Washington. By his death in 1969 he was the best-known folk-blues musician in America.