Prison work songs: It seems a long time ago now that I began to discover the deep well
of the blues. I was never alone in that sudden realisation of just how
profound its depth really is, and that the word 'Blues' merely scratches
the surface of its rich history.
My dear friend, the 'Doc', opened my eyes to a world beyond the bands
of today and their perception of the blues. As it is quite impossible
to define the blues, so it is equally impossible to fully acknowledge
and define its roots.
Collectors such as I have since uncovered this powerful prison music, born
within the oppressive prison system of the South, where men worked from
dawn to dusk.
These songs survived after the traditional work gangs
were broken up, finding their last refuge in road crews and prisons,
essential for both the spiritual and physical survival of the prisoners.
Their expression in song, chants, call and response - call it what you will is of misery, deprivation and despair that goes beyond
our understanding today, yet it has left us another rich legacy of the
Blues.
These songs go far beyond a means of making the work more bearable.
Many were based on Spirituals. They were used as a source of clandestine
worship, even as coded messages to arrange meetings or to escape from
the obscenity of slavery. If discovered, that could result in beatings
or worse.
Are these songs not voices from the past, telling us of the true spirit of the blues?