In Roosevelt's Blues Guido van Rijn documents more than a hundred blues and gospel lyrics that contain direct political comment about FDR. Altogether they convey the thought, spirit, and history of the African-American population during the Roosevelt era. Blacks had decidely become Democrats. He also has identified some 300 blues and gospel songs recorded from 1902 to 1945 with direct political references. Many of these lyrics, fully quoted here, cite the mistreatment of blacks and refer to the "Red Cross Store," which distributed relief supplies during the 1926 flood of the Mississippi. Others mention Roosevelt's "alphabet agencies"---CWA, RFC, PWA, CCC, and WPA--- and broach various topics of the World War II era: FDR's strong leadership, Hitler, Stalin, rationing, and the role of blacks in the armed forces.

Included in the book are recorded sermons by Rev. J. M. Gates and lyrics to songs recorded by such notable musicians as Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, Big Bill Broonzy, "Champion" Jack Dupree, Sonny Boy Williamson, Josh White, the Mississippi Sheiks, and many others. Using these sources, which have been neglected by historians, van Rijn documents Roosevelt's vast popularity among blacks.

Guido van Rijn, Ph.D. Leiden University, teaches English at Kennemer Lyceum in The Netherlands.

Twenty-four digitally remastered blues and gospel songs from the thirties and forties on President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, from Guido van Rijn's book of the same title.

In the 1936 presidential election African Americans abandoned en masse the Republican Party, hitherto their natural allegiance as the party of Abraham Lincoln. The reasons behind this so far permanent shift to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Democratic Party have remained obscure and unexamined. At the time there was almost no interest in interviewing black voters about their motivation. The lyrics of blues and gospel songs on the 78 rpm records of the time have seldom been used by historians. Paul Oliver has led the way with "Blues Fell This Morning" and other works, but the book this CD accompanies is the first to examine a discrete historical period from the perspective of the blues and gospel singers. It follows the events of the Roosevelt era from day to day, and enables us to answer the intriguing question of why Roosevelt was so popular with the black population. The profusely illustrated book, published by the University Press of Mississippi in its American Made Music Series, analyzes 128 lyrics, which are all transcribed in their entirety. This CD offers a representative selection of twenty-four songs.