Songs and Music

Civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., often acknowledged the importance of music and song to the success of the civil rights movement. Incorporating jazz, folk, rhythm and blues, and gospel, the songs of the civil rights movement were critical in motivating and galvanizing activists and ordinary citizens alike. Consequently, on this page are listed many of the popular songs and musical performances associated with the African American Freedom Movement, especially those from the period 1955-1972; when possible, direct links are also supplied. Many civil rights songs developed organically and extemporaneously: a number of them (including some of the ones mentioned here) are included in Bernice Johnson Reagon’s unpublished (but fairly accessible via some libraries) dissertation, Songs of the Civil Rights Movement 1955-1965, which also provides authoritative commentary. (Reagon was one of the original Freedom Singers.)

For other songs inspired at least in part by the civil rights movement, see also this NPR list. There were also songs that supported segregation and white supremacy: to hear some of them, search “Klan songs” in Google (or an equivalent query). Click here for an overview.

Angelou, Maya:

During January and February, 1960, Ms. Angelou organized a “Cabaret for Freedom” in order to raise funds for the Southern Christian Leadership Council.

 

Baez, Joan:

Baez, Joan and Bob Dylan at the March on Washington (1963)

“Birmingham Sunday” (1963-64)

“Oh Freedom” and “Turn Me Around” (1984)

“We Shall Overcome” (1963)

“Amazing Grace” (1976)

 

Belafonte, Harry:

“Oh Freedom” (1960)

 

Brown, Oscar:

Sin & Soul (an album, 1960).

 

Carawan, Guy:

“We Shall Overcome”  (1961)

“Ain’t You Got a Right to the Tree of Life” (1990)

In 2011, Guy Carawan and his wife, Candie, filmed an interview about their lives and music. During the interview Guy and Candie perform “We Shall Overcome,” “Eyes on the Prize,” and “Tree of Life.” This interview can be found here. 

 

Collins, Judy:

“It Isn’t Nice” (1965)

 

Coltrane, John:

“Alabama” (1963), a composition written in response to the 1963 bombing at 16th Street Baptist Church.

“A Love Supreme” was recorded by Coltrane’s quartet on December 9, 1964 and released in February of 1965.

 

Come by Here [Kumbaya]

 

Cooke, Sam:

“Blowin’ in the Wind” (1964)

“A Change Is Gonna Come” (1964)

 

Darby, Tom, and Jimmy Tarlton:

“Birmingham Jailhouse” (1927): According to Diane McWhorter’s Carry Me Back, lyrics to this song were adapted to civil rights purposes during the Birmingham Campaign of 1963.

 

Dylan, Bob:

 

 

 

“Ballad of Emmett Till” (1989)

“The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” (1964)

“Only a Pawn in Their Game” (1964): click here for a student’s analysis of this song and Bob Dylan’s performance of it at the March on Washington.

“Oxford Town” (1962)

“Paths of Victory” (1963)

“The Times They Are A-Changin‘” (1964)

“He Was a Friend of Mine” (1991)

 

Ellington, Duke:

 

 

 

“King Fit De Battle of Alabam”

 

 

Emmett, Daniel Decatur:

“Dixie” was written in 1859. Because of its nostalgia for the antebellum South, this song has often been employed by people resistant to the African American Freedom Movement.

 

Freedom Singers (Cordell Reagon, Rutha Mae Harris, Bertha Johnson, Charles Neblatt):

 

 

 

 

“Hallelujah I’m a-Travelling”

“Turn Me Around”

“Oh Pritchett, Oh Kelley” (1997)

“Freedom Now”

“We Shall Overcome” (2006)

 

Gober, Bertha:

“We’ll Never Turn Back”

Hamer, Fannie Lou:

“Go Tell It on the Mountain”

To learn more about Hamer’s contributions as a singer go here.

 

 

 

 

Hays, William Shakespeare:

“The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holiday, Billie:

“Strange Fruit” (1939)

 

 

 

 

 

The Impressions:

“People Get Ready” (1965)

 

Jackson, Mahalia:

“How Did I Make It Over”

“On My Way”

 

 

 

 

Jones, Matt:

“Ballad of Medgar Evers”

“In the Mississippi River” 

LiTTLE RICHARD:

“Greenwood” (1970)

“Freedom Blues” (1970)

Lightfoot, Gordon:

“Black Day in July”

Mccartney, paul:

“Blackbird” (1968): click here for a description of the song’s history, which was inspired by the Little Rock Nine.

Mingus, Charles:

“Fables of Faubus”  (1960)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ochs, Phil:

“Going Down to Mississippi” (mid-1960s)

“Here’s to the State of Mississippi” (1965)

“Talking Birmingham Jam”

“I’m Going to Say It Now”

“Love Me I’m a Liberal”

“Power and the Glory”

“Here’s to the State of Mississippi” 

 

Odetta:

 

 

Paisley, Brad, and LL Cool J:

“Accidental Racist”  (2013)

Paxton, Tom:

“Goodman, Schwerner, and Cheney” (1965)

Peter, Paul, and Mary:

“If I Had a Hammer” (1963)

 

 

 

 

 

 

PRESLEY, Elvis:

“If I Can Dream” (1968)

“In the Ghetto”(1969)

 

 

 

 

Reynolds, Malvina:

“It’s Not Nice”

Roach, Max:

We Insist!: Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite (an album)

 

 

 

 

Seeger, Pete:

“Black and White” (1956)

“It Could Be A Wonderful World”

“Michael, Row the Boat Ashore” (1960)

“The Ink Is Black The Page is White”

“We Shall Overcome”

 

 

 

 

Simone, Nina:

“Mississippi Goddam”

“Backlash Blues”

 

 

 

 

SNCC Freedom Singers:

“Got My Mind Set on Freedom”

“This Little Light of Mine”

Staple Singers:

“Freedom Highway” (1965)

Staples, Mavis:

“Down in Mississippi”

“We Shall Not Be Moved”

Three Dog Night:

“Black and White” (1972)

White, Joshua:

“Uncle Sam Says” (1941)

“Trouble” (1940)

“Defense Factory Blues” (1941)

Young, Neil:

“Alabama”(1972)

“Southern Man” (1970). Lynyrd Skynyrd’s  “Sweet Home, Alabama” (1974) responds to Young’s “Southern Man” and “Alabama.” “The Three Great Alabama Icons” (2001) by the Drive By Truckers is also in dialogue.