Among Bach, Mozart, and global folk songs on the Voyager Golden Record sits a haunting blues track with no words—just raw emotion. Blind Willie Johnson’s “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground” was ...

American music flows from the influence of the Blues. Legendary bluesman Blind Willie Johnson is known for his soulful singing and slide guitar, which Rachel Barton Pine translates to the violin. A ...

Nobody's fault but mine--Motherless children--If I had my way--I'm gonna run to the city--Jesus is coming soon--Keep your lamp trimmed and burning--God don't ever change--Take your burden to the Lord ...

Moses and Frances Asch Collection, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution. Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph ...