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Keywords: "The Gandy Dancers" (All words)
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Sunday performances at the 1993 Florida Folk Festival (Stage III) (Tape 5)

Sunday performances at the 1993 Florida Folk Festival (Stage III) (Tape 5)
Date
Description
One digital audio tape (DAT). Cornelius Wright, John Mealing, Charlie Vinson, Allen Jones, and Elder Brown discuss Gandy Dancing or railroad tie/rail installing and sing songs related to the work. Wright talks about his background, how he got into rail-laying and the process of rail-laying; the songs match the rhythm of laying rails. The theme for the 1993 Florida Folklife Area was transportation.
Collection
Sunday performances at the 1993 Florida Folk Festival (Stage III) (Tape 5)

Sunday performances at the 1993 Florida Folk Festival (Stage III) (Tape 5)
"Washboard" Bill Cooke interview at the 1993 Florida Folk Festival Folklife Area

"Washboard" Bill Cooke interview at the 1993 Florida Folk Festival Folklife Area
Date
1993-05-28
Description
Two audio cassette recordings. NKwanda Jah is the interviewer. On C93-3, Cooke tells stories about traveling the railroads as a hobo during the 1930s; beginning his career as a washboard musician after World War II in 1946; problems with living in Palm Beach; and working for the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, and the Florida East Coast Railroad. He tells a story about working in St. Lucie County for Reid and Lowe Railroad Contractors on the Florida East Coast Railroad, lasting only three days due to the mosquitoes. Some of what Cooke says it difficult to hear due to background noise. Wright and Brown of the Gandy Dancers join the conversation and discuss the differences between the railway workers and the machines used to replace them. Cooke reminisces about the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, his favorite line.
On C93-4, Cooke, the Gandy Dancers, and Jah discuss blues musicians including B.B. King, Elvis Presley, and Mississippi John Hurt. They talk about the African American background of many of Elvis's songs. They also discuss integration in Birmingham and the Apollo Theater; treatment of children in the company "quarters" in the 1940s; pay; foods and their cost of living at that time. The theme for the 1993 Florida Folklife Area was transportation.
Collection
"Washboard" Bill Cooke interview at the 1993 Florida Folk Festival Folklife Area

"Washboard" Bill Cooke interview at the 1993 Florida Folk Festival Folklife Area
Identifier Title Type Subject Thumbnail
a_s1576_43_d93-042Sunday performances at the 1993 Florida Folk Festival (Stage III) (Tape 5)SoundSingers
Folk festivals
Folklore revival festivals
Festivals
Special events
Performing arts
Music performance
Singing
Railroad work
Labor
Occupational folklore
Occupational groups
African Americans
Tools
Dancers
Railroads Employees		/fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_audio.jpg
a_s1576_30_c93-003"Washboard" Bill Cooke interview at the 1993 Florida Folk Festival Folklife AreasoundMusicians
Storytellers
Railway Workers
Folk festivals
Florida Folk Festival
African Americans
Railyway workers
Occupational folklore
Washboards (musical instruments)
Transportation
Hoboes		/fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/audio.jpg