Music was the soundtrack to many of the 20th century's cataclysmic events, but none more so than the Civil Rights Movement. Time Life is proud to present a very special 3-CD box set "Let Freedom Sing" that tells the story of the movement in a completely new way, through music that inspired it and was inspired by it. The 58 songs bring the movement alive with more immediacy than any other medium, and when Let Freedom Sing is heard from beginning to end, one realizes what an incredible transformation has taken place.



The 58 songs bring the movement alive with more immediacy than any other medium, and when Let Freedom Sing is heard from beginning to end, one realizes what an incredible transformation
has taken place. And of course that transformation was capped in November 2008 by the election of Senator Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States.



Three years in the making, this historical box set traces a 70-year journey with songs that reflect the feelings of those at the heart of the movement as well as those just trying to make sense of a
troubled period in American history. Some songs are well-known (Respect, Change Is Gonna Come, Blowin' in the Wind, We Shall Overcome, Say It Loud I'm Black and I'm Proud, People Get Ready, Get up-Stand up) but we've also included extremely rare recordings such as Brother Will Hairston's account of the Montgomery bus boycott, The Alabama Bus, and Nat "King" Cole's unreleased protest song from that era, We Are Americans Too. And the grand scope of this story continues to the present day with artists such as Chuck D, who also wrote the introduction to the box set, and whose song, The Pride, is among the later recordings included.

Disc One:

1. Go Down Moses The Southern Sons
   
2. Strange Fruit Billie Holiday
   
3. Uncle Sam Says Josh White
   
4. No Restricted Signs The Golden Gate Quartet
   
5. Black, Brown, and White Brownie McGhee
   
6. The Hammer Song (If I Had a Hammer) The Weavers
   
7. The Death of Emmett Till, Parts 1 & 2 The Ramparts
   
8. When Do I Get to Be Called a Man? Big Bill Broonzy
   
9. The Alabama Bus Brother Will Hairston (Hurricane of the Motor City)
   
10. We Are Americans Too Nat King Cole
    
11. Why (Am I Treated So Bad)? The Staple Singers
    
12. I Shall Not Be Moved The Harmonizing Four
    
13. Oh Freedom Harry Belafonte with the Belafonte Folk Singers
    
14. Ride On, Red, Ride On Louisiana Red
    
15. Mississippi Goddam Nina Simone
    
16. Blowin' in the Wind Bob Dylan
    
17. We Shall Overcome Mahalia Jackson
    
18. Too Many Martyrs Phil Ochs
    
19. Alabama Blues J. B. Lenoir
    
20. Our Freedom Song The Jubilee Hummingbirds
    
21. A Change Is Gonna Come Otis Redding
    

Disc Two:

1. Forty Acres and a Mule Oscar Brown,Jr.
   
2. People Get Ready The Impressions
   
3. Nobody Can Turn Me Around The Mighty Clouds of Joy
   
4. I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel to Be Free) Solomon Burke
   
5. Respect Aretha Franklin
   
6. The Motor City Is Burning John Lee Hooker
   
7. Cryin' in the Streets, Part 1 George Perkins & the Silver Stars
   
8. Abraham, Martin, and John Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
   
9. The Prayer Ray Scott
   
10. Say It Loud I'm Black and I'm Proud, Part 1 James Brown
    
11. And Black Is Beautiful Nickie Lee
    
12. Sock It to 'Em, Soul Brother Bill Moss
    
13. Why I Sing the Blues, Part 1 B. B. King
    
14. I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door, I'll Get It Myself), Part 1 James Brown
    
15. Stand! Sly & the Family Stone
    
16. Message from a Black Man The Temptations
    
17. Is It Because I'm Black Syl Johnson
    
18. I Was Born Blue Swamp Dogg
    
19. Yes, We Can,Part 1 Lee Dorsey
    
20. We the People Who Are Darker Than Blue Curtis Mayfield
    
21. Young, Gifted, and Black Bob & Marcia
    

Disc Three:

1. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised Gil Scott-Heron
   
2. (For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People The Chi-Lites
   
3. Smiling Faces Sometimes The Undisputed Truth
   
4. Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) Marvin Gaye
   
5. Hercules Aaron Neville
   
6. Get Up,Stand Up Bob Marley and the Wailers
   
7. Fight the Power, Part 1 The Isley Brothers
   
8. Give the People What They Want The O'Jays
   
9. Black Is Black Jungle Brothers
   
10. Sister Rosa The Neville Brothers
    
11. The Pride Chuck D
    
12. Unity Sounds of Blackness
    
13. None of Us Are Free Solomon Burke
    
14. Eyes on the Prize The Sojourners
    
15. Down in Mississippi Mavis Staples
    
16. Free at Last The Blind Boys of Alabama