ABSTRACT
You have already heard about the spirituals that came from the experiences of the Negro in slavery and the secular songs that told of his worldly problems under freedom. I want to present a group of songs that in point of time overlapped both the other groups: first, the reels or dancing songs made by rural Negroes and, second, the work songs sung in rhythmic labor activity in Africa, later under slavery, and, finally, on construction jobs all across the South.
