Records 01

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Album for sale, and also have a copy of the program for the fair:

AMG REVIEW: Come to the Fair captures Tennessee Ernie Ford live at the Indiana State Fair during a 1960 performance that reportedly broke attendance records for that fair or any other. Made several months earlier than Hank Thompson's At the Golden Nugget, which is sometimes said to be the first commercially released live country album, Come to the Fair is musically slight but historically interesting. Singing along with an ensemble of local musicians that sounds like a Salvation Army band, Ford intros with "Back Home Again in Indiana" before touching upon sacred, pop, and country favorites aimed at the broadest possible demographic. Between songs he tells stories and jokes at a relaxed pace, and fully half of the album's content is spoken word. Ford even reads an inspirational poem after an electric performance of "Sixteen Tons," the only song in the program with which he is strongly identified. Like the whole-hog sandwiches and lemon shake-ups you'd find at the fair, this album is not fit for frequent consumption. — Greg Adams

1958 Indiana State Fair Program

With Bob Hope, Paul Anka, Everly Brothers, & More!

Here’s an original Official Program – Compliments of Kingan’s from the 1958 Indiana State Fair, held August 27 – September 4, 1958. It’s complete and includes the "Indiana Lincoln Foundation" two-page tear-out insert in the middle. Loaded with fair schedules and photos of the entertainment, including Bob Hope…Paul Anka…Everly Brothers…Tennessee Ernie Ford…Mills Brothers…Four Preps…Molly Bee…Betty Johnson…Arthur Godfrey…Jack Kochman’s Helldrivers…Jim Hetzer’s International Spectacular...Grand Circuit Harness Racing, and much more.

There's scuffing and small creases on the covers, but it's still in good condition for being 45-years-old!

AMG REVIEW: An album focusing on music of chain gangs, this record is as explosive and powerful as any in Belafonte's catalog. Accompanied again by the Belafonte Folk Singers and the occasional guitar and bass (with conductor |CORMAN')"Bob Corman credited under his real name, Robert De Cormier), Belafonte turns the hypnotic, rhythmic chants of Negro prisoners into riveting, passionate songs of unrelenting loneliness and shame ("Swing Dat Hammer"), torturous days laboring in the hot sun ("Go Down Old Hannah"), hatred for their captors ("Grizzly Bear") and even their guard dogs ("Here Rattler Here"). "Diamond Joe" features Belafonte expressing the prisoner's anger and despair as he faces an endless life on the rock pile. It is one of the most chilling performances of his career.

The finale is an atomospheric piece called "Talkin' an' Signifyin'" consisting of Belafonte telling stories and joking with other "prisoners" (members of the Folk Singers) as they lie in their bunkhouse after dark, with rain pelting down on the roof. The material was drawn from research of actual recordings and written fragments from prison life. Folklorists and purists who have decried Belafonte for "commercializing" folk music need look no further than this album to discover that Belafonte's translation of the traditional material into more commercial terms only intensifies the impact of the music. This is Belafonte at his best. — Cary Ginell

1. Look Over Yonder - 2:51

2. Bald Headed Woman - 3:30 3

3. Grizzly Bear - 3:27

4. Diamond Joe - 3:36

5. Here Rattler Here - 3:57

6. Another Man Done Gone (Hall/Lomax/Lomax/Tartt) - 2:21

7. Swing Dat Hammer - 4:38

8. Go Down Old Hannah - 3:47

9. Rocks and Gravel - 4:10

10. Talkin' an' Signifyin' - 5:08

This is a beautiful special LP & in Near Mint conditon. It includes all sheet music and lyrics for the music on the album with a yellow satin bookmark. The songbook is built into the front cover of the gatefold.

This album is in NM condition.

Songs include: Onward Christian Soldiers/Oh How I Love Jesus/The Church in the Wildwood/I Love to Tell the Story/The Home Over There/Count Your Blessings/All Hail the Power/There is Power in the Blood/When the Roll Call is Called Up Yonder/Shall We Gather at the River/Bringing in the SheavesBrighten the Corner Where You Are/Jesus Loves Me/What a Friend