UA’s W.S. Hoole Library Celebrates ‘Alabama Songbook’ with Music and Words

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama’s W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library will be the site of an exciting event in conjunction with The University of Alabama Press’ publication of “Alabama Songbook.”

The book, edited by Dr. Robert Halli Jr., dean of UA’s Honor’s College, is an authoritative presentation of 208 folksongs gathered in Alabama in the 1940s by Byron Arnold, an eager young music professor from The University of Alabama. His papers are housed in the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library and are the source material for this book.

On Nov. 9, from 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m., Halli will discuss his work and research on the project, and the famed Alabama string band, Flying Jenny will perform at the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, 2nd Floor, Mary Harmon Bryant Hall, 500 Hackberry Lane on the UA campus.

An exhibition of materials from the Byron Arnold Collection will be on display in the Hoole Library from Nov. 9 – Dec. 24, 2004.

Copies of the book, “An Alabama Songbook” will be on sale and available for signing.

The event will begin at 4:30 p.m. with refreshments, and an opportunity to see the exhibition, meet Halli, purchase a book, and listen and meet Flying Jenny. At 5:15 p.m., Halli will speak about his work on the book and answer questions, followed by a performance of Alabama folksongs by Flying Jenny. There will be ample opportunity to ask questions and sing along. Refreshments will be served.

“An Alabama Songbook” is the result of Arnold’s efforts and those of his informants across the state and has been shaped by Halli into a narrative enriched by more than 200 significant songs.

The songs include lullabies, Civil War anthems, African-American gospel and secular songs, fiddle tunes, temperance songs, love ballads, play-party rhymes and work songs.

In the tradition of Alan Lomax’s “The Folk Songs of North America” and Vance Randolph’s “Ozark Folksongs,” this volume will appeal to general audiences, folklorists, ethnomusicologists, preservationists, traditional musicians and historians.

Alabama is a state rich in folksong tradition, from old English ballads sung along the Tennessee River to children’s game songs played in Mobile, and from the rhythmic work songs of the railroad gandy dancers of Gadsden to the spirituals of the Black Belt. The musical heritage of blacks and whites, rich and poor, hill folk and cotton farmers – these songs endure as a living part of the state’s varied past.

In the mid-1940s, Arnold set out to find and record as many of these songs as he could and was rewarded by unstinting cooperation. Mrs. Julia Greer Marechal of Mobile, for example, was 90 years old, blind, and a semi-invalid, but she sang for Arnold for three hours, allowing the recording of 33 songs and exhausting Arnold and his technician.

Helped by such living repositories, the Arnold collection grew to more than 500 songs, augmented by field notes and remarkable biographical information on the singers. His papers are part of the collections of the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library.

Flying Jenny of Birmingham plays old-time string band music. This was the music of the American settlers from the British Isles and is a forerunner of bluegrass and country music. The music is part of Alabama’s rich musical tradition. It consists of lively fiddle tunes meant for dancing as well as old songs sung on front porches and in front of fireplaces when families and friends got together after the day’s work was done. Flying Jenny is named after an old-fashioned mule-powered carnival ride. The band plays breakdowns on fiddle, guitar, banjo and bass, and sings old songs, often comical, in three-part harmony.