The Bahamas: Islands of Song

Various Artists SFW40405

This compilation of music from the Bahamas includes goombay rake-and-scrape dance bands (goombay refers to both the skin drum and the ensemble as a whole), spirituals, and fingerpicking guitar music. All the performers on this recording participated in the 1994 Festival of American Folklife, an annual event presented on the Mall in Washington, D.C., by the Smithsonian Institute’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. They were recorded in Nassau on 2 and 3 February 1995.
Country(s) Bahamas
Culture Group(s) Bahamian
Keyword(s) World music
Instrument(s) ; Accordion; Banjo; Drum; Goat Skin drum; Goombay rake and scrape band; Goombay; Guitar; Musical saw; Saw, musical; Vocals; Vocals, group
Language(s) English

Year of Recording 1997
Record Label Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Source Archive Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Credits Recorded by Pete Reiniger ; Liner Notes by Gail Saunders ; Liner Notes by Kayla Olubumni Lockhart Edwards ; Produced by Pete Reiniger ; Recorded by Pete Reiniger

Download Liner Notes

101	You ain't hurryin' me	Dicey Doh Singers	2:32
102	Girl, if I write you	Nat Saunders	2:35
103	Watermelon is spoilin' on the vine	Thomas Cartwright and the Boys	2:44
104	Rain children	Sons of Andros	2:10
105	When I get inside	Cat Island Mites and Friends	1:31
106	I'm going home on the morning train	Israel Forbes	2:46
107	Big belly man polka	Ed Moxey's Rake 'n Scrape	2:22
108	All in the woods	Avis Armbrister and Almeda Campbell	3:19
109	Let the church roll on	Dicey Doh Singers	2:08
110	Lynn	Nat Saunders	2:46
111	Went to the bight	Cat Island Mites	1:36
112	Nobody's darling but mine	Thomas Cartwright and the Boys	2:37
113	Christian automobile	Sons of Andros	2:15
114	Let me call you sweetheart	Israel Forbes	2:25
115	Sloop John B	Dicey Doh Singers	2:10
116	Jimmy bend a tree while it's young	Thomas Cartwright and the Boys	2:45
117	Round and round the bar room	Nat Saunders, Huelon Newbold, and Orlando Turnquest	3:30
118	Roll of pin	Alvis Armbrister and Almeda Campbell	4:29
119	Dry bones	Sons of Andros	3:01
120	Bid you goodnight	Cat Island Mites	2:59
121	The Timestable	Ed Moxey's Rake 'n Scrape	2:14
122	God sent Jonah	Israel Forbes	2:50
123	Liar	Dicey Doh Singers	2:13

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