Sugar Land Recordings
Searching for authentic folk music, John A. Lomax made multiple trips to the Sugar Land area in the 1930s. First in 1933 and 1934, he and his son Alan visited the Central State correctional facility to document work songs of African American inmates. Then in 1939 he returned with wife Ruby Terrill Lomax and captured religious and traditional songs performed by a Mexican-American family.
The Lomaxes's visits to Central State -- once in 1933 and twice in 1934 -- resulted in the successful collection of more than 30 songs by African American inmates. In addition, the folklorists established relationships with two of their most prolific resources, James "Iron Head" Baker and Moses "Clear Rock" Platt.
Baker told the Lomaxes that he was a habitual offender who had been convicted six times. He explained that while at another prison he earned the nickname "Iron Head" when the branches of an oak tree fell on him and he just continued working. Baker had no serious conduct violations at Central and served as a trusty. In 1936, John appealed to Governor James Allred who granted Baker a furlough and "Iron Head" joined John on a tour of southern towns searching for worker songs at prisons, camps and docks. "Iron Head" received additional furloughs even after his travel with John ended, but he eventually returned to prison for committing burglaries.
Moses Platt, or "Mose" as the Lomaxes recorded his name, told John that he was nicknamed "Clear Rock" because he had thrown rocks at a group of men chasing him, apparently with such force and precision that three of the men were killed. During his time at Central State, "Clear Rock" shared ballads, works songs and several stories with the Lomaxes and later, after he was released, John and his wife Ruby located him in Taylor and recorded him in a room at the Blazilmar Hotel in 1939.
John and Ruby also returned to Central State in 1939, but Ruby wrote that the "trip was fruitless" because the "old crowd had scattered, the new boys sang fewer of the old songs and in performance imitated radio artists." They did not even set up the equipment.
During that trip, however, they did successfully record the Lopez family at their home not far from the prison. They had heard them perform an Easter play at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Houston, but their equipment was not working correctly so they made arrangements to visit them at their home near Sugar Land.
Gonzalo and Juana Lopez, several of their children, and other family members sang the story of Dimas, the Good Thief, who died with Jesus. They attributed the words and music to a teacher in Coahuila, Mexico, who taught it 50 years earlier to Lopez family members who shared it with future generations. Gonzalo also sang three traditional Mexican songs which the Lomaxes recorded in the Lopez's living room.
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Gonzalo Lopez, a farmer and native of Mexico, told John A. and Ruby T. Lomax that he had courted his wife Juana with the song, "Yo Ya Me Voy," recorded by the Lomaxes in 1939. Source: American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
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