Hindenburg disaster, "Doom & Gloom"

Hindenburg disaster 1937, it simply HAS to be in this blog:



This compilation was released a few months ago:

From the introduction to "Doom and Gloom - Early Songs of Angst and Disaster 1927-1945" compilation, released by Trikont:

"The modern age, driven by science and technology, made a promise: to put an end to all the evils of the past, once and for all. At last mankind would be freed from the horrors of disease, fire, plague, drought, floods and earthquakes. But progress also produced new horrors. Mega-technology in transport, and a drive towards ever larger capacity and higher speeds unleashed catastrophes on a scale previously unknown. Now a railway crash, a blazing zeppelin or a shipping disaster could inflict not dozens, but hundreds or even thousands of casualties. In the 1920s and 30s a series of disasters created a climate of fear, affecting the psyche in a way similar to today, when wars, fanaticism, terrorism, natural disasters, global warming, bird flu, tsunami, hurricanes and tornados all contribute to a gloomy atmosphere of uncertainty and constant dread. Hillbilly and blues musicians in the 1920s and 30s expressed the general mood in a poignant way. They sang of catastrophes and disasters, whether far away or on their doorstep. They talked of the effects these events had on the lives of ordinary people; they described what happened when disaster struck, as seen through the eyes of the victims. Perhaps the articulation of these awful events in songs helped to ease feelings of despair, offering a crumb of comfort to those listeners dealing with the brutal reality."

FEATURING:

BLIND WILLIE JOHNSON - ROY ACUFF AND HIS CRAZY TENNESSEEANS - CHARLIE POOLE WITH THE NORTH CAROLINA RAMBLERS - BIG BILL BROONZY - THE CARTER FAMILY - COFER BROTHERS - CAROLINA TWINS - THE DIXON BROTHERS - THE ALLEN BROTHERS - RICHARD ("RABBIT") BROWN - CASEY BILL WELDON - BESSIE SMITH - CHARLEY PATTON - and many more.

Review of the album:

VILLAGE VOICE, 28. August 2007
"Man, I almost didn’t want to remove this one from the plastic, such was my sweet anticipation: a picture of what is presumably the Hindenburg airship disaster on the sleeve; 24 songs (with none of this crap digital cleaning up of sound; but none of this crap ‘crackles and all’ stuff, either—pristine, in the right way) with titles like ‘When The Atom Bomb Fell’, ‘High Water Everywhere—Part 1,' ‘Sinking Of The Titanic’ and ‘School House Fire’ by artists like Bessie Smith, Charley Patton, Blind Willie Johnson and Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie. . . how could this even remotely, even possibly fail?. And how could anyone—any fan of music or of human suffering and pain, and furthermore loving a good tale well-spun within a song—resist an album like this once they’d stumbled across it? Don’t bother answering that: if you’re cynical ‘bout this, there ain’t no helping you." Everett True