Our Souls Have Grown Deep Like the Rivers

Amazon.com
A very smartly assembled two-disc compilation of African American poetry, Our Souls Have Grown Deep Like the Rivers digs deep to unearth a wealth of unheard and rare material spanning almost the entire 20th century. The collection features some of the greatest names in black literature, and--as Al Young points out in the liner notes--it can be a revelation to hear, for instance, Harlem Renaissance leader Langston Hughes pronounce the word "Harlem" with utter pride and joy. Other notables include Ishmael Reed, Nikki Giovanni, Gwendolyn Brooks, Gil Scott-Heron, Maya Angelou, Rita Dove, W.E.B. DuBois, the Last Poets, Public Enemy, Wanda Coleman... You get the picture--it's sort of a greatest-hits of black spoken word. But it's too scattershot a set to be called definitive--anyone can bemoan the absence of this or that poet--but it is also a tremendously interesting document of hope and loss and rage and joy and perseverance--and, above all, remarkable poetry, works that each gain from the original authors' reading of their poem. Amiri Baraka's sonorous recitation of "Bang, Bang Outishly," a beat-era work dedicated to Thelonious Monk, is worth the price of admission by itself. --Mike McGonigal

Our Souls Have Grown Deep Like the Rivers,Various Artists,Rhino / Wea,Poetry,Political Rap,Pop,Spoken,Spoken / Comedy / Radio Shows,Spoken Word

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Average customer rating: Audie Award Winner The Ears Have It Spoken word at its finest! For Poets & Teachers, But Not the Lyricist Lounge crowd A Must Have for Poetry Fans

Our Souls Have Grown Deep Like the Rivers Various Artists Manufacturer: Rhino / Wea ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Poetry, Spoken Word & Interviews | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Poetry | Poetry, Spoken Word & Interviews | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Spoken Word | Poetry, Spoken Word & Interviews | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music General | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music Pop Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Rhino Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: The Voice of Langston Hughes Weary Blues Long Story Short Truth Is on Its Way Like a Ripple on a Pond ASIN: B00003Q5BW Release Date: 2000-01-18

Tracks:

1. The Negro Speaks Of Rivers - Langston Hugues
2. I, Too - Langston Hugues
3. The Atlanta Years (Excerpt) - W.E.B. DuBois
4. If We Must Die - Claude McKay
5. St. Isaac's Church, Petrograd - Claude McKay
6. The Tropics In New York - Claude McKay
7. The Creation - James Weldon Johnson
8. We To America - James Weldon Johnson
9. Nocturne At Bethesda - Arna Bontemps
10. Heritage - Countee Cullen
11. Dark Symphony - Melvin B. Tolson
12. Ma Rainey - Sterling Brown
13. Strong Men - Sterling Brown
14. For My People - Margaret Walker
15. Kissie Lee - Margaret Walker
16. The Mother - Gwendolyn Brooks
17. Dream Montage: Tell Me; Good Morning; Harlem (2); Same In Blues; Comment On Curb - Langston Hughes
18. We Real Cool - Gwendolyn Brooks
19. Those Winter Sundays - Robert Hayden
20. Frederick Douglas - Robert Hayden
21. Sepia Fashion Show - Maya Angelou
22. To A Man - Maya Angelou
23. Freedom Suite (For Sonny Rollins and Franz Kline) - Amiri Baraka
24. Crusoe's Island - Derek Walcott
25. Dahomey - Audre Lorde
26. In Memoriam: Martin Luther King Jr. - June Jordan
27. Run Nigger - The Last Poets
28. Admonitions - Lucille Clifton
29. Nikki-Rosa - Nikki Giovanni
30. A Dance For Militant Dilettantes - Al Young
31. Dear John, Dear Coltrane - Michael S. Harper
32. Rueben, Rueben - Michael S. Harper
33. My House - Nikki Giovanni
34. Flight To Canada - Ishamael Reed
35. Betty's Ball Blues - Ishamael Reed
36. Wounded In The House Of A Fridn (Set. No.2) - Sonia Sanchez
37. Song No.2 - Sonia Sanchez
38. A Poem For Players - Al Young

Tracks:

1. Muhammad Ali At The Ringside, 1985 - Wole Soyinka
2. Hard Rock Returns To Prison From The Hospital For The Criminal Insane - Etheridge Knight
3. The Idea Of Ancestry - Etheridge Knight
4. Bang, Bang Outishly - Amiri Baraka
5. Rhythim Blues - Amiri Baraka
6. Shazam Doowah - Amiri Baraka
7. The End Of Civilization As We Know It - Colleen J. McElroy
8. Cruelty - Lucille Clifton
9. Lucy (Part 6) - Lucille Clifton
10. Endangered Species List Blues - Jayne Cortez
11. I Live For My Car - Wanda Coleman
12. Nigger Rhythm Rhymes From The Blues Part Of Town (Part 4) - Wanda Coleman
13. Lester Leaps In - Al Young
14. Poem For Magic - Quincy Troupe
15. I Am She - Nikki Giovanni
16. Tuskegee Airfield - Marilyn Nelson Waniek
17. Facing It - Yusef Komunyakaa
18. Venus's-Flytraps - Yusef Komunyakaa
19. Rise Up Fallen Fighters (Okra Takes Up With A Rastafari Man/She Can't Hold Back/She Say Smilin) - Ntozake Shange
20. A Poem To Thrill The NAACP, Or A Black Family Moves To The Suburbs - Mbembe Milton Smith
21. The Near-Johannesburg Boy - Gwendolyn Brooks
22. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - Gil Scott-Heron
23. Helen - E. Ethelbert Miller
24. Helen And Martha - E. Ethelbert Miller
25. Martha And Helen - E. Ethelbert Miller
26. 1962: My Brother Richard Returns From The Monastery - E. Ethelbert Miller
27. Shakespeare Say - Rita Dove
28. After Reading Mickey In The Night Kitchen For The Third Time Before Bed - Rita Dove
29. Jamal's Lamentation - Rueben Jackson
30. Self Portrait, 1988 - Rueben Jackson
31. Barbie's Little Sister - Allison Joseph
32. The Slaughter - Kevin Young
33. Nocturne - Anthony Butts
34. Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos - Public Enemy
35. Project Princess - Tracie Morris
36. Ohm - Saul Stacey Williams
37. No Black Male Show - Carl Hancock Rux

Amazon.com

A very smartly assembled two-disc compilation of African American poetry, Our Souls Have Grown Deep Like the Rivers digs deep to unearth a wealth of unheard and rare material spanning almost the entire 20th century. The collection features some of the greatest names in black literature, and--as Al Young points out in the liner notes--it can be a revelation to hear, for instance, Harlem Renaissance leader Langston Hughes pronounce the word "Harlem" with utter pride and joy. Other notables include Ishmael Reed, Nikki Giovanni, Gwendolyn Brooks, Gil Scott-Heron, Maya Angelou, Rita Dove, W.E.B. DuBois, the Last Poets, Public Enemy, Wanda Coleman... You get the picture--it's sort of a greatest-hits of black spoken word. But it's too scattershot a set to be called definitive--anyone can bemoan the absence of this or that poet--but it is also a tremendously interesting document of hope and loss and rage and joy and perseverance--and, above all, remarkable poetry, works that each gain from the original authors' reading of their poem. Amiri Baraka's sonorous recitation of "Bang, Bang Outishly," a beat-era work dedicated to Thelonious Monk, is worth the price of admission by itself. --Mike McGonigal

Customer Reviews:

Audie Award Winner.......2002-01-07

This CD set won the 2001 Audie Award for Poetry from the Audio Publishers Association. This is the ONLY national award for poetry on audio and, in winning, "Our Souls Have Grown Deep Like the Rivers" beat some very hot competition, including movie stars (Al Pacino,Patrick Stewart, Kathleen Turner, Ruby Dee, etc.) reading Shakespeare sonnets. In addition, the collection was awarded an Earphones Award from "AudioFile" magazine.

The Ears Have It.......2001-10-26

A few things I think you should know before you buy, and you ought to buy: this is an essential collection, by far, for anyone interested in where poetry comes from. (And you can take that any way you want to!) First, almost all the poets are American. Second, it's not a sloppy compilation; it runs mostly chronologically and has the river theme as metaphor for longevity and timelessness and unstoppable power, surprising at times. Some of it is political... or maybe all of it is. Third, and most important, a caveat: this is for your ears only. Although there are really informative liner notes (tho the font makes them difficult to get into), there is no "lyric sheet." No way for the eye to see what the poets also intended their work to do. Most of the poetry here was created mindful of the page, and works quite well on it, and certainly would help preserve some measure of the poet's stature were it available at hand. (As it is, the Norton Anthology of African American Literature has most of them. Get it same time you order this.) You'll find the rivers run deep here, through European traditions and jazz and humor and regionality, cascading past the rapids of so much social strata that you begin to finally catch onto why this country sets the pace it does for the rest of the world.

Spoken word at its finest!.......2001-07-28

I enjoyed this set for many reasons. It is filled with the pictures, portraits and prose of, about, and from the poets featured inside. When listening to the voices of Langston Hughes, W.E.B. DuBois, Claude McKay, James Weldon Johnson, Countee Cullen -- the list goes on -- it is amazing to hear the clarity, consciousness, power and range of emotions in their distinctive voices. Some of the pieces date as early as the 1930's (ie: The Creation by James Weldon Johnson) and that in itself is pure history.

There are 38 selections on the first disc and 37 selections on the second, with the most current pieces being recorded in the late 90s (Tracie Morris, Saul Williams, Nikki Giovanni, etc). If you are a lover of spoken word and cherish the story telling, teaching and emotions it invokes, this is the collection for you. Youth of today need to take the time to learn where rap artists get their "voice" and spirit from, and I'm not talking about the mainstream songs plastered on tv and spit out of the radio these days. Take a listen to Public Enemy's "Black Steel In the Hour of Chaos" (track 34, second disc)

Spoken word is where it all began and the ancestors of this art continue to move and "speak" through us today.

Peace. CLB.

For Poets & Teachers, But Not the Lyricist Lounge crowd.......2000-07-09

This is an excellent primer for poets and teachers, particularly if your interest lies in the development of the Black literary canon. A must have for slam-heads of any type. Very few of the fiery performances a lot of these poets are known to do. Incredible to hear some of the older poets (Langston Hughes, Arna Bontemps, Countee Cullen) reading their work, in light of the number of people who would (improperly) assume they would have frowned upon the current rave of spoken word/slamming.

It starts to peter out at the end, not necessarily catching the best work by some of the most recent additions (Saul Williams, Carl Hancock Rux, Tracie Morris), but I'd rather have these than nothing.

Not a lot of music...this isn't "Lyricist's Lounge" or the "SLAM" soundtrack, but excellent for anyone who claims to have a sense of where poetry's been and wants to see/hear how a solid poetry CD should be put together. More educational than fun, but an important collection nonetheless.

A Must Have for Poetry Fans.......2000-05-02

This is an amazing CD. The strongest selections include the readings by Amiri Baraka, Etheridge Knight, and Nikki Giovanni; Gil Scott-Heron's "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" (a must-have); Tracie Morris' "Project Princess"; and "Dark Symphony" by Melvin B. Tolson, which is utterly engaging, even if it sounds a bit insane. I was a bit disappointed by Langston Hughes' mundane and sentimental reading of "Harlem," and startled, both pleasantly and not, by Gwendolyn Brooks' offbeat reading of "We Real Cool." Still, Our Souls Have Grown Deep Like the Rivers is a remarkable journey, and a wonderful introduction to poetry. The CD also includes an interesting and informative booklet; all in all, the entire package may be a bit costly, but the price is more than worth it. Teachers will benefit highly from this CD, which serves as a wonderful accompaniment to any poetry unit. The CD's parts are great for that sort of thing, but they cannot compare to sum of its parts, a rich, spiritual journey into the heart and soul of poetry.

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