During the 1960s, young and old people alike began to hear a new type of music blossom over the radio, and it soon became referred to as the "Motown sound." With the help of the legendary Berry Gordy, Motown churned out dozens of hits, many of them sung by emerging stars such as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Stevie Wonder, and the Supremes. What few people knew at the time that many of the...

This site, developed by the American Memory Project at the Library of Congress, draws on the voluminous collection of recordings made by John and Ruby Lomax on their three-month trip across the American South in 1939. The pair traveled over 6,500 miles and, along the way, recorded approximately 25 hours of folk music from over 300 performers. These gems of American musical culture include fiddle...