This is the second volume of a collection that with the tittle “Destination Jail, Volume Two” (the first one was devoted to hillbilly and rockabilly), presents a selection of very popular songs together with some rather unknown ones, framed in styles like rhythm and blues, spirituals, doo-woop, rock and roll and blues. As in the first volume, all songs have been selected according to the specific background of that compilation, and move around the elements of US penitentiary world, like county farms, jail, chain gang, cells, prisons and everything related to penitentiaries.

These topics are recurrent in Afro-American music. That is the reason why Bear Family Records has decided to take an approach to all these aspects, presenting in a plain and simple way, an amazing selection of songs that deal with this complex and delicate issue. According to many experts, Afro-American population has been the one which has had the highest percentage among imprisoned people and those who received the most inhumane treatment too. According to one statistic, one in five black men born in 2001 has a high probability of to be in prison at least one time during their lifetime.

Twenty-four songs have been selected to give shape to this impressive album that, musically speaking, displays the just mentioned styles. Some lyrics express hope feelings, some others present a hurtful irony that can be defined as it is better to laugh than cry, others communicate sadness, despair and even violence and discrimination, but always show a wide range of the most real human feelings.

It would be long to mention all the excellent artists and impressive songs selected for this superb album. Just mention some of them like Sonny Knight, Wynonie Harris, Lonesome Sundown, Eddie Boyd, Ottilie Patterson, Roosevelt Sykes, Billy Boy Arnold, Josh White, T-Bone Walker, Wynona Carr, Magic Sam, Fats Domino or The Prisonaires and, only as an example, highlight some of the suggestive song titles like “Good Morning Judge”, “Jailhouse Rock”, “My Home Is A Prison”, “Jail Bird”, “Ball And Chain Blues”, “Please Mr. Jailer”, “Riot in Cell Block Number 9” or “When I Leave These Prison Walls”, to realize the undeniable interest of an album that, in addition, includes a very interesting well documented booklet about the context and black people life conditions in most prisons.