In 1947, musicologist Byron Arnold travelled around Alabama collecting recordings of traditional folk songs from 16 women. The children's songs he recorded have been collected by the Alabama Folklife Association as Bullfrog Jumped: Children's Folksongs from the Byron Arnold Collection. AllMusic talks up the unique nature of the recordings: "They were often recorded in the singers' own homes, and because of this the recordings often take on the quality of old snapshots: a bird sings in the background, a train whistle howls. They're glimpses of a then-vanishing America — a nation that still knew, often first-hand, the folklore, lullabies, and ballads handed down from the previous century...These songs serve as a window into the past, a glimpse of family life in an extinct America. These are deeply human relics."Misty yet? This release comes with a detailed 72-page booklet detailing the recording process and the singers involved. Buy it here.
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