Voices of Black America

Producers' Note: The recordings presented on this Playaway were made between 1908 and 1947 and, as might be expected, vary in quality. Rarity, condition, and the quality of the original recordings themselves all became major factors in their presentation. The Booker T. Washington, Charles Gilpin and J. Rosamond Johnson sides are extremely rare in their original form and can be found only on poor-quality shellac. To make matters worse, the copies available to us were not pristine. Robeson's Freedom Train may exist in only a few copies: the disc used was severely damaged, requiring computer technology to reduce excessive noise. Both of the sets included, James Weldon Johnson's God's Trombones and Poems by Langston Hughes, were transcribed from mint copies, though the former, as published, consisted of dubbings from instantaneous discs and the latter was pressed on inferior material. Similarly, Charley Case's Father as Scientist was released by Victor as a mechanical dubbing (designated S/8 in the wax) and could only be matched approximately to the sound of the other two sides recorded during the same session. Little was done initially to alter the sound of the original recordings but, ultimately, an effort to make them accessible to as large an audience as possible was seen as the most logical compromise. -- William Shaman and Peter Adamson