American Roots Music at Music Hills.com

Music CD 1

American Roots Music Theme - Ricky Skaggs with Earl Scruggs, James Cotton, and Marc & Ann Savoy
Waiting for a Train - Jimmie Rodgers
Wildwood Flower - The Carter Family
Take Me Back To My Old Carolina Home - Uncle Dave Macon
Wabash Cannonball - Roy Acuff
That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine - Gene Autry
Sitting on Top of the World - Bob Wills
Uncle Pen - Bill Monroe
Salty Dog Blues - Flatt and Scruggs
Nine-Pound Hammer - Merle Travis
Walking The Floor Over You - Ernest Tubb
If You've Got The Money, I've Got The Time - Lefty Frizzell
Cold Cold Heart - Hank Williams
It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels - Kitty Wells
Black Mountain Rag - Doc Watson
Earl's Breakdown - Earl Scruggs
Little Maggie - Ralph Stanley
Where Shades of Love Lie Deep - Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver
Stomping Grounds - Bela Fleck and the Flecktones

Music CD 2

The King Biscuit Time Theme - James Cotton
Crazy Blues - Mamie Smith
St. Louis Blues - Bessie Smith
Black Snake Moan - Blind Lemon Jefferson
Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues - Charley Patton
Cross Road Blues - Robert Johnson
Death Letter Blues - Son House
Another Night To Cry - Lonnie Johnson
Foldin' Bed - Whistler's Jug Band
Boogie Woogie Dream - Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson
Bye Bye Bird - Sonny Boy Williamson
Shake for Me - Howlin' Wolf
Got My Mojo Working - Muddy Waters
The Thrill is Gone - B.B. King
Take a Little Walk With Me - Robert Lockwood Jr.
Henry - Keb' Mo'

Music CD 3

Joshua Fit de Battle - Fisk Jubilee Singers
Precious Lord, Take My Hand - Thomas A. Dorsey
Blind Barnabus - The Golden Gate Quartet
Down By The Riverside - Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Move On Up a Little Higher - Mahalia Jackson
Sit Down Servant - The Staple Singers
Jesus Gave Me Water - Soul Stirrers
Oh Happy Day - Edwin Hawkins
This Land Is Your Land - Woody Guthrie
Goodnight Irene - Leadbelly
So Long Been Good to Know Yuh - The Weavers
The Soldier and the Lady - The New Lost City Ramblers
John Henry - Mississippi John Hurt
If I Had A Hammer ( The Hammer Song) - Peter, Paul and Mary
We Shall Overcome - SNCC Freedom Singers with Pete Seeter
The Times They Are A-Changin' - Bob Dylan

Music CD 4

Allons A Lafayette - Joe Falcon and Cleoma Breaux
Madame Atchen - Amede Ardoin and Dennis McGee
Port Arthur Blues - Dewey Balfa
I'm a Hog for You - Clifton Chenier
Dans la Louisianne - Marc and Ann Savoy
Ossun Two-Step - Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys
Mal Hombre - Lydia Mendoza
Muchacha Bonita - Narciso martinez
Rosalito - Valerio Longoria
Las Nubes - Little Joe y la Familia
Ring of Fire - Mingo Saldivar
Sorry Boy - Flaco Jimenez
Yeibichei Song - Unidentified Performers
Traditional Powwow - Renzel Last Horse and Kiyaksa
Jesus Loves Me - Everette Red Bear and Sandor Iron Rope of the Native American Church
Wounded Knee - Floyd Westerman
Enchantment Song - R. Carlos Nakai
The Dance - Robert Mirabal

Music reviews of American Roots Music

Music Review: Nearly Perfect
Rating: 4 Stars

Many of the problems in American Society and its youth today stem from a complete lack of pride and self-awareness. A quick survey of popular music and culture reveal a frightening level of ignorance of America's history, values, and ideals. In short, while the series focusses on America's musical traditions, it does a fantastic job of conveying a sense of America's "roots" in a positive, enriching manner.

The DVD documentary strikes a perfect balance between glossing over, and becoming bogged down in, the material. Unlike the Ken Burns' projects that exhaust the viewer's interest and collapse under their own weight, the series is informative and educational, yet entertaining. It is not MEANT to be an exhaustive treatise on the subject - and so some reviewers here are missing the point - that would take 40, not 4, episodes. Rather, it is an introduction and a sampler; peaking our curiosity and prompting us to investigate and research further the wonderful heritage of music out there. And in that, it succeeds marvelously.

What also impressed me was the documentary's remarkable objectivity. While it eschews political correctness, it doesn't necessarily candy coat anything either. What it does do is present the material in a respectful, thoughtful, intelligent, and unbiased manner - something so lacking in today's political and social discourse. So in this sense, folks looking for something with an "agenda" - conspiracies, skeletons in the closet, and historical revisionism - may be disappointed by the documentary.

The CD boxed set is equally well-done: a fantastic booklet, thorough liner notes, and collection of songs that is a music lover's dream. Again, it is intended to be a sampler - great songs by landmark artists - not an exhaustive account of American Roots music. And also like the documentary, its meant to be a enriching, uplifting - not deconstructing - experience.

If the series has a shortcoming, it is the absence of one of the major "roots" - Jazz - which was no doubt and most unfortunately excluded, because of the recent Ken Burns' PBS documentary. But to exclude Jazz from the discussion of American Roots music, means we do not have the entire picture. And so in that sense, the series is somewhat flawed.

Still, its hard to find any other fault with the series. This is a work that TRULY embraces and celebrates America's cultural diversity. Entertaining and enlightening, I would heartily recommend owning the box set and DVD for one's own edification as well as a way to help introduce friends and family to REAL American music - in all its forms.