Museum of American PoeticsExhibits

Troubadours

These exhibits highlight torch singers of the oft high flying, mysterious, and vast folk traditions that form American roots music lyric expression.

    Robert Johnson
The Robert Johnson Notebooks
    Child Ballads
Child Ballads
   
Stagger Lee Files
Stagger Lee Files
   
  Ma Rainey
Gertrude "Ma" Rainey Tribute
 
Huddie Ledbetter
Huddie Ledbetter
   
  Harry Smith
The Harry Smith Archives
Dixie Hummingbirds
Dixie Hummingbirds
 
Swan Silvertones
Swan Silvertones
   
Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Elizabeth Cotten
Elizabeth Cotten:
"Freight Train"
 
    Hank Williams Sr.
Hank Williams
Luke The Drifter
Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger Songs
 
Billy Holiday
Billy Holiday:
"Strange Fruit"
   
    Lord Buckley
Lord Buckley
Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters:
"Rollin’ Stone"
   
       
Dixon
Willie Dixon
     
      David Amram Scrapbook
David Amram Scrapbook
  Ken Nordine
Ken Nordine
 
moore
Rudy Ray Moore
     
  Holland-Dozier-Holland
Holland-Dozier-Holland
James Brown
James Brown:
"Say It Loud,
I’m Black
and I’m Proud"
   
      Joe Strummer
Joe Strummer:
The Future Is Unwritten
   

Bob Dylan's Songs
Bob Dylan's Songs
     
  csn
Crosby, Stills, and Nash
 
John Trudell
John Trudell
   
  Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John Lennon
John Lennon:
"Give Peace A Chance"
 
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
     
  B.B. King: "The Thrill Is Gone"
B.B. King:
"The Thrill Is Gone"
 
Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder:
"Happy Birthday"
   
      Patti Smith
Patti Smith Lyrics
  Public Enemy Lyric Archive
Public Enemy Lyric Archive
 
Leonard Cohen
The Leonard Cohen Files

   
     
Robert Hunter: Handwritten Lyrics Collection
Robert Hunter:
Handwritten Lyrics Collection
   
      Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix:
"Like A Rolling Stone"
    Rolling Stones
Rolling Stones:
"Street Fighting Man"
   
Neil Young
Neil Young:
"Keep On Rockin'
In The Free World"
     
  Prince
Prince:
"Purple Rain"
(Superbowl 2007)
 
  Bruce Springsteen Lyrics
Bruce Springsteen Lyrics
 
      Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
    Lou Reed
Lou Reed
   
Tom Pacheco
Tom Pacheco