Sounds of the South

Albones Barbecue

Sound recording of neckbones, a brisket, pork shoulders, ribs, and rib tips being cooked on an open bit barbecue. Open pit barbecue involves slowly smoking the meat, having the meat juices drop into the heat source, and then allowing the smoke to come back up and infuse the meat with the flavor.

PSYCHOacoustic99

Binaural sound recording of leaves rustling.

FOX Sports, RockyTopTN11

Excerpt of a video recording of cars speeding past the camera at a NASCAR race broadcast by FOX Sports, and uploaded to YouTube by RockyTopTN11.

Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt, and The Foggy Mountain Boys. Earl Scruggs, banjo; Lester Flatt, guitar.

A banjo solo by Earl Scruggs in his song, Foggy Mountain Breakdown which was first recorded in 1949. The distinctive, three-fingered picking style is created using thumb, fore, and middle fingers. This style revolutionized string band music and became the iconic sound of bluegrass.

Rev. Harden W. Stuckey (Performer), Herbert Halpert (Recorder)

Sound recording of a South Carolinian imitating the cries of a merchant from his hometown. Catchy tunes such as these were a common form of advertising in a society without digital media or amplification.

Ellabell Singleton (Performer), Herbert Halpert (Recorder)

Sound recording of a woman imitating the street cries of a Georgia watermelon merchant. The tune uses both snappy lyrics and exaggerated claims to market the product to passersby.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

The chorus to the patriotic spiritual used to rally Union troops during the American Civil War. The song was adapted from its original version, "John Brown's Body" (an American folk song composed by William Steffe), by Julia Ward Howe,. The lyrics were initially published in The Atlantic Monthly in February, 1862.

YouTube contributor Daniel Walton

Sound recording of cotton being harvested with a 'stripper-type' harvesters on a farm in North Carolina. A 'stripper-type' harvester is unique in that as it moves through a field it will strip an entire cotton plant from the ground.

David Stluka

Sound recording of tobacco growers in Stoughton, Wisconsin, using a small axe to cut down tobacco plants in preparation for harvesting.

Fred Lowery (whistle soloist); Earle Hagen and Herbert Spencer (writers)

Recording of The Andy Griffith Show theme song, "The Fishin' Hole."

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