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The Best Episodes of American Patchwork: Songs and Stories of America

Every episode of American Patchwork: Songs and Stories of America ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of American Patchwork: Songs and Stories of America!

From 1978 to 1985 Alan Lomax traveled the American South and Southwest with a television crew to document regional folklore with deep historical roots. From...
Genre:Documentary
Network:PBS

Best Episodes Summary

"Jazz Parades: Feet Don't Fail Me Now" is the best rated episode of "American Patchwork: Songs and Stories of America". It scored N/A/10 based on 0 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 7/6/1990. This episode scored NaN points higher than the second highest rated, "Cajun Country: Don't Drop the Potato".

  • Jazz Parades: Feet Don't Fail Me Now
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    #1 - Jazz Parades: Feet Don't Fail Me Now

    Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 7/6/1990

    A celebration of New Orleans’ musical culture — from its piano bars and barrelhouses to brass bands and street parades, with their colorful, riotous, and symbolic second lines, in which the community plays an essential part in the performance. Archival film footage, photographs, interviews with and performances by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Mardi Gras Indians, and Danny Barker tell the story of the New Orleans tradition.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Cajun Country: Don't Drop the Potato
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    #2 - Cajun Country: Don't Drop the Potato

    Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 7/13/1990

    The bayous of Louisiana have combined French, German, West Indian, native American and hillbilly ingredients into a unique cultural gumbo. Cajun Country investigates the Cajuns’ roots in Western France, visits their cattle drives, horse races, and fais do-dos in rural Louisiana, and listens to the salty tales and raunchy songs of its black, white, and Indian music-makers.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Land Where the Blues Began
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    #3 - The Land Where the Blues Began

    Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 7/20/1990

    Alan Lomax, John Bishop, and Worth Long explore the enduring African-American performance traditions of the Mississippi Delta. Featuring bluesmen R.L. Burnside and Jack Owens; tall-tale tellers, fife and drum bands, and diddley-bow players; and former prisoners, railroad workers, and roustabouts singing field hollers, work chants, and levee camp songs. (re-edited version of a 1979 film)

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Appalachian Journey
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    #4 - Appalachian Journey

    Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 7/27/1990

    Investigating the songs, dances, and religious rituals of the descendants of Scotch-Irish settlers of the Southern Appalachian mountains. Preachers, fiddlers, moonshiners, cloggers, and square dancers recount the good times and the hard times of rural life. Performances by Tommy Jarrell; Janette Carter; Ray and Stanley Hicks; Frank Proffitt, Jr.; Sheila Kay Adams; and Ray Fairchild, the man reputed to be the fastest banjo-picker in the world.

    Director: Mike Dibb, Mark Kidel

    Writer: N/A

  • Dreams and Songs of the Noble Old
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    #5 - Dreams and Songs of the Noble Old

    Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 8/3/1990

    Examining the talents and wisdom of elderly musicians, singers, and story-tellers, who perform not for fame or fortune but to preserve and share their culture. Stories told by Janie Hunter (80) of Johns Island, SC; ballads sung by ex-coal miner and union organizer Nimrod Workman (91), of Chatteroy, WV; fiddle tunes and tales of moonshining and feuds from Tommy Jarrell (83) of Toast, NC; and footage from the Alabama Sacred Harp Convention in Fyffe, AL, in which people of all ages gather to sing old-time shape-note hymnody.

    Director: Mike Dibb, Mark Kidel

    Writer: N/A