People Take Warning! is a three disc compilation of morbid songs from 1913-1938 housed in an absolutely lovely hardcover book.  The discs are divided into three general themes: songs about machinic disasters (shipwrecks, railroad catastrophes, etc.), natural disasters (floods, fires, etc.), and murder ballads.  The music is culled from original 78 recordings and represents a fine selection of America’s folk, country, and blues traditions.  If you think the freakfolk movement has the market cornered on Old Timey oddity, this collection will be a real eye opener.  The old timers did it first, and they did it best.  While most of the songs are fairly simple and often rough hewn, they’re also spirited and direct in a way that modern music frequently isn’t.

The compilation’s packaging is superb.  The oblong hardcover book that holds the discs is an anachronistic thing of beauty, even if the cover painting does depict something as depressive as the wreck of a steam liner.  The introduction, written by Tom Waits, is an excellent meditation on the role of the disaster song during a time when the fragility of life was everywhere apparent.  The liner notes gives just enough information on the individual tracks to ground them in a social and historical context, whetting the appetite but not overwhelming the reader with an obtuse history lesson.

Kudos to Tompkins Square for rescuing these recordings from obscurity and for giving them the rich presentation they deserve.

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