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Frederic Ramsey audio recordings

Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Object Details

Shared Stewardship of Collections
The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acknowledges and respects the right of artists, performers, Folklife Festival participants, community-based scholars, and knowledge-keepers to collaboratively steward representations of themselves and their intangible cultural heritage in media produced, curated, and distributed by the Center. Making this collection accessible to the public is an ongoing process grounded in the Center's commitment to connecting living people and cultures to the materials this collection represents. To view the Center's full shared stewardship policy, which defines our protocols for addressing collections-related inquiries and concerns, please visit https://doi.org/10.25573/data.21771155.
Creator
Ramsey, Frederic, 1915-1995
Place
Southern States -- Music
Topic
Blues (Music)
Music -- African-American
African American musicians
Jazz musicians
Jazz -- Louisiana -- New Orleans
Jazz
Provenance
This collection was donated by Frederic Ramsey's daughter Alida Porter in 1996.
Creator
Ramsey, Frederic, 1915-1995
See more items in
Frederic Ramsey audio recordings
Summary
This collection contains open reel recordings made by noted jazz scholar Frederic Ramsey during his tour of the American South in the 1950s.
Biographical / Historical
Frederic Ramsey Jr. (1915-1995), son of painter Charles Frederic Ramsey, was a jazz scholar and author who worked with a number of musicians in the South and the New York/New Jersey area, notably Lead Belly. After receiving a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1953, Ramsey undertook a tour of the South in order to explore and document the African-American music environment. His goal was to record the speech and music of persons at least sixty years of age or older in an attempt to trace the evolution of the musical genre that would become jazz. Ramsey produced a number of recordings for the Folkways label in the 1950s-1960s. [From Jeff: Frederic Ramsey Jr. (1915-1995) was a jazz critic, scholar, fieldworker and record producer. He was the author of a number of books on jazz, including Jazzmen (with Charles Edward Smith) and the Jazz Record Book. He became one of the main producers for Moses Asch at Asch, Disc, and Folkways Records of jazz and blues. Ramsey was one of the first to deploy an open reel tape recorder using it in New York City in 1949 to record Lead Belly in a set of sessions at his apartment, that were to be Lead Belly's last. What was noteworthy about this is that a reel to reel deck allowed one to record a longer recording than the previous 4 minutes on instantaneous discs. This allowed Led Belly to stretch out and do his extended rhymes and longer songs and to tell stories of his life. It was released by Folkways as a 2 LP 2-records each set. Each side was one track so more material could be fit in. The new LP format allowed for Folkways to create anthologies of music with multiple tracks per side. This allowed Ramsey the ability to create a 11-volume anthology of jazz in the early 1950s. It was the first of many anthologies for Folkways. He also received a Guggenheim fellowship in 1954-56 to go to Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana to record vernacular African American music. This included field hollers, spirituals, and brass bands. It was Ramsey's desire to find the roots of jazz in early African-American music forms. He recorded hundreds of tapes they make up the bulk of Ramsey Tape Collection. A 10 LP set Music from the South was released from these trips. Also, there was a book Been Here and Gone with his magnificent photographs from the trip. Other notable recordings released by Folkways include an interview album of Baby Dodds, a box set of shape-note singing, and recordings of a, then, teenaged Michael Hurley. In 1975, with other grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Ford Foundation, he researched the life of Buddy Bolden. After the death of Frederic Ramsey Jr., folklorist Kip Lornell arranged the donation of Ramsey's tape and record collection to the Smithsonian.]
Extent
8.83 Cubic feet
Date
1945-1959
Archival Repository
Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
Identifier
CFCH.RAMS
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Citation
Frederic Ramsey audio recordings, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Arrangement
The tapes are organized and shelved by accession number.
Processing Information
Prepared by Jeff Place and revised by Stephanie Smith.
Rights
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Scope and Contents
The collection includes 400? Open reel audio tapes. They are from Ramsey's fieldwork and various projects, many for Folkways Records. The bulk of the recordings come from Ramsey's fieldwork in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana in 1954-56.
Restrictions
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Related Materials
Frederic Ramsey's personal papers are available at Rutgers University Institute of Jazz Studies. Ramsey's photograph collection (many from the same field projects) can be found in the collections of the Hogan Jazz Archive at Tulane University.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1649109300700-1649109308066-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk5ebc883ed-96f3-4f1b-9e4b-1b8fde86e4f4

In the Collection

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  • Long Steel Rail

  • He Didn't Have the Know How No-How/Down in the Cellar

  • Ramsey Recordings: Sterling Brown

  • Lullaby in Rhythm/Birdland

  • Dancing Fool/Georgia Grind

  • Scots Folk Songs

  • (CDR copy)

  • Animals, Vol. 1

  • Odyssey Show, Brass Bands, OCT 17 1956 (CDR copy)

  • Twelfth Street Rag/Suey

  • Mamas and Papas - `Boys and Girls'

  • Sounds of Four Seasons, Winter Rough Cut, NOV 07 1967

  • Sweet Sue, Just You/Tin Roof Blues

  • Mike Hurley, First Songs MAR 27 1964

  • Ragtime dubbed from WBAI, MAY 31 1971 (CDR copy)

  • Ramsey Recordings: Lead Belly

  • Last Rose of Summer, The/El Miserere

  • Irish Ballads, Folk Songs and Lyrics Read by Siobhan McKenna

  • Jivin' the Vibres/Stomp

  • Jazz Odyssey

  • Benny Goodman and His Orchestra

  • Snatch it and Grab It/I Was Wrong

  • Voice of the Congo: Tribal Music of Central Africa

  • Bahuala/Hasta Otro Dia

  • Reflections in a Crystal Wind

  • Folk and Traditional Music of Turkey

  • Lead Belly WNYC Radio Shows

  • Sounds of Four Seasons, AUG 07 1953

  • Ebony Rhapsody/Saturday Night Function

  • Music from the South, Melton and the Star MAY 02 1954 (CDR copy)

  • Music from the South, Henrietta Tuner, SEP 28 1956 (CDR copy)

  • Ramsey Recordings: Sterling Brown

  • Ol' Joe Louis (He's Still the King of Them All)/Your Voice

  • Sounds of Four Seasons - Spring

  • Riverboat Shuffle/Eccentric

  • Best of Cream (without cover)

  • text in Greek

  • Lead Belly's Last Session

  • Squeeze Me/S.O.L. Blues

  • Maple Leaf Rag/Reincarnation

  • Sounds of Four Seasons, AUG 23 1964

  • Papa Celestin and His New Orleans Ragtime Band featuring Alphonse Picou

  • Music from the South, Horace Sprott Interview

  • Music from the South, Horace Sprott

  • I Can't Believe That You're in Love With Me/Cool Train

  • World Library of Folk and Primitive Music: British East Africa

  • I Got It/What's Your Story Morning Glory

  • Music from the South, Charlie Love

  • Imagination/Can't We Be Friends?

  • Flamingo/Let Me Off Uptown

  • Save It, Pretty Mama/Stompy Jones

  • Ellington Uptown

  • Fats Waller dub from WBAI Redbeans and Ri, OCT 22 1971

  • When the Wind Was Green/Leave it To Love

  • China Stomp/Rhythm, Rhythm

  • Last Sessions, OCT 15 1948 (CDR copy, also CDR 304)

  • Panama/Dipper Mouth Blues

  • Riverboat Shuffle/Lazy Daddy 1938

  • Ramsey Recordings: Odyssey Show

  • Just You, Just Me/Henderson Romp

  • Chicago Breakdown/Don't Jive Me

  • Original Dixieland One Step/Makin' Friends

  • A Gypsy Festival

  • Just Pretending/If I Didn't Have You

  • Roses of Picardy/Pick Yourself Up

  • Music from the South

  • Ohio Valley Ballads

  • Stavin' Chain Blues

  • Jeep's Blues/Rendezvous with Rhythm

  • Music from the South, Horace Sprott, MAY 1954 (CDR copy)

  • Hound Dog Taylor and the Houserockers 1971

  • Lead Belly Last Sessions, OCT 15 1948 (CDR copy- also CDR 301/302)

  • Happy Feet/Ol' Man River

  • Baby Won't You Please Come Home/That's the Last Straw

  • Breakfast Feud/I Found a New Baby

  • Ramsey Recordings: Mississippi Portrait transcription, NBC News

  • Voices of the Night: The Calls of 34 Frogs and Toads of the United States and Canada

  • Freiliche Nacht in Palestina, Die/Kollen

  • Georgia on My Mind/I'm Afraid of Myself

  • Electric Sleep

  • Cat-Iron

  • AJR, Rags, JAN 31 1965

  • Bugle Call Rag/Stumbling

  • High Tide/Lazy Lady Blues

  • 475 (CDR copy)

  • Classic Rags and Ragtime Songs

  • Here Comes Your Pappy/Come Back Sweet Papa

  • Music from the South, Horace Sprott Titanic

  • The Art of the Jug Band

  • Spring Flowers Waltz/Dill Pickles Rag

  • (CDR copy)

  • Vera Hall from WNYC Broadcast MAY 15 1948

  • Various Sides

  • Nancy Jane/The Dirty Dozens Cousins

  • Ramsey Recordings: Ragtime dubbed from WBAI

  • Brownsville Blues

  • Satchmo at Symphony Hall, Vol. 2

  • Misc., including AJR, Louis Armstrong

  • Musical Orchids

  • Lead Belly Last Sessions, NOV 05 1948 (CDR copy- also CDR 306)

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Studs Terkel's Weekly Almanac on Folk Music
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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