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Dom Flemons American Songster Collection

Black Cowboys: Research for an Album

[Black Cowboys CD cover and draft of liner notes]. Dom Flemons American Songster Collection. Reproduction. Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives.

Dom Flemons’ album Black Cowboys was released in 2018 by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings as a part of the African American Legacy Series. The album Black Cowboys was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Folk Album, and for a Blues Music Award for best Acoustic Album. This thoroughly researched and well-constructed album features 18 songs and a 40-page booklet with liner notes written by The American Songster himself and Vania Kinard with an essay by Jim Griffith. This album tells the stories of the black pioneers of the Old West that have often been unrecognized in the public’s view. The collection and materials in this display shows the extensive research and successful aftermath of Dom Flemons’ album Black Cowboys. 

To view the published liner notes, visit this website and download the liner notes: https://folkways.si.edu/dom-flemons/black-cowboys.

Essay Drafts: In the archival collection, several drafts of the liner notes exist. Selected items for the display include edits made by Vania Kinard and edits to the lyrics for the final production of the booklet.  

[Black Cowboy essay drafts.] One page excerpted from the Dom Flemons American Songster Collection. Reproduction. Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives.

Liner Notes Research

Flemons’ conducted extensive research referencing newspaper articles, liner notes from published recordings, books, photographs, and webpages. The archive collection includes two folders full of research with highlighted passages. Here you will see a selected representations of Dom’s research for the album with highlighted passages. You can find the list of works cited, additional sources, and suggested listening on page 32 of the published liner notes.  

Additionally, a handwritten timeline of historic events was found listed on the back of a liner notes draft. The handwritten timeline can later be found in this archive as a typed and printed document. 

  • [Email between Dom Flemons and Stephen Winick “Home on the range field recording”], April 11, 2016. Dom Flemons American Songster Collection. Reproduction. Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives.
  • [Saving “Home on the Range”, May 19, 2014]. Dom Flemons American Songster Collection. Reproduction. Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives.
  • [The Deep River of Song liner notes]. Undated. Dom Flemons American Songster Collection. Reproduction. Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives.

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