100 extremely rare early blues recordings. When Mississippi blues is mentioned, it's most often associated with the Delta, with its supposed prevalence of slide or bottleneck guitar playing. In reality, this was but one of many styles to be found within the state's boundaries. At least as prevalent was the rhythm-based approach favoured by musicians from the hill country to the east of the state. These men infiltrated the Delta. Most of these musicians were itinerants, their lives undocumented, whose arrival in front of a microphone was often a matter of chance. Other musicians made their way to Jackson, MS, to seek H.C. Speirs' music shop. Speir recorded them on his basic equipment, sent dubs to northern record companies and for the chosen, arranged their travel to sessions. The majority of the music on these discs was first made as much as 80 years ago. Some tolerance should be exercised when listening to what are sometimes the only copies of records close to mythical status. A case in point is Son House's "Mississippi County Farm Blues", recorded in May 1930. This and "Clarksdale Moan" were known to have been released but only in the last couple of years has a copy, luckily in reasonable condition, been found. This music, vital and entertaining, is also a record of the world these musicians inhabited, its sites, its events, its people - a compendium of knowledge important in its day. These titles are among the building blocks of blues history. Extensive notes tell as much as is known about the background to the recordings.
TRACKS
- Cottonfield Blues Part 1 - Garfield Akers
- Bedside Blues - Jim Thompkins
- Mississippi Bottom Blues - Kid Bailey
- Poor Boy Blues - Sam Butler
- I'm Leavin' Town - William Harris
- Hittin' The Bottle Stomp - Mississippi Jook Band
- Last Kind Words Blues - Geeshie Wiley
- Third Street Woman Blues - Blind Willie Reynolds
- Muddy Water Blues - Freddie Spruell
- Fare Thee Well Blues - Joe Calicott
- That Won't Do - Arthur Petties
- Four O'Clock Flower Blues - Willie '61' Blackwell
- Evil Devil Woman Blues - Joe McCoy
- The Jail House Blues - Sam Collins
- Black Spider Blues - Robert Lockwood
- Traveling Riverside Blues Take 1 - Robert Johnson
- Baltimore Blues - Charlie McCoy
- Down The Big Road Blues - Mattie Delaney
- You Scolded Me And Drove Me - Mississippi Bracey
- Milk Cow Blues - Freddie Spruell
- Ten Pound Hammer - Mose Andrews
- Noiseless Motor Blues - Willie '61' Blackwell
- Jailhouse Fire Blues - Walter 'Buddy Boy' Hawkins
- 4A Highway - Freddie Spruell
- Times Has Done Got Hard - King Solomon Hill
- Mississippi County Farm Blues - Son House
- When The Levee Breaks - Joe McCoy
- Ninety Nine Blues - Blind Joe Reynolds
- Snake Doctor Blues - Jelly Jaw Short
- Little Girl In Rome - Otto Virgial
- It's Cold In China Blues - Mississippi Moaner
- Bald Eagle Blues - Willie '61' Blackwell
- Boodle-De-Bum Blues - Bogus Ben Covington
- Bull Frog Blues - William Harris
- Dangerous Woman - Mississippi Jook Band
- Shaggy Dog Blues - Buddy Boy Hawkins
- Devil In The Lion's Den - Sam Collins
- Quarrellin' Mama Blues - Arthur Petties
- Devil And My Brown Blues - Sam Butler
- Take A Little Walk With Me - Robert Lockwood
- Last Time Blues - Charlie McCoy
- Dough Roller Blues - Garfield Akers
- The Crowing Rooster - Walter Rhodes
- Motherless Child Blues - Geeshie Wiley
- Married Woman Blues - George Torey
- She's Young And Wild - Willie '61' Blackwell
- Cherry Ball - Mississippi Bracey
- Bad Notion Blues - Otto Virgial
- Don't Cry Baby - Freddy Spruell
- Rowdy Blues - Kid Bailey
- My Buddy Blind Papa Lemon - King Solomon Hill
- Snatch It Back Blues - Walter 'Buddy Boy' Hawkins
- Machine Gun Blues - Willie '61' Blackwell
- Revenue Man Blues - Arthur Petties
- Mr Freddie's Kokomo Blues - Freddie Spruell
- Over To My House - Geeshie Wiley
- Barefoot Blues - Jelly Jaw Short
- Jumpin' And Shoutin' Blues - Garfield Akers
- Look Who's Coming Down The Road - Georgia Pine Boy
- Traveling Mama Blues - Joe Calicott
- Leavin' Here Blues - William Harris
- Got The Blues About Rome - Otto Virgial
- Young Heifer Blues - Mose Andrews
- Skippy Whippy - Mississippi Jook Band
- Yellow Dog Blues - Sam Collins
- You Can't Keep No Brown - Sam Butler
- Tallahatchie River Blues - Mattie Delaney
- Stered Gal - Mississippi Bracey
- Motherless And Fatherless Blues - Mississippi Mudder
- Don't Misuse Me, Baby - Willie '61' Blackwell
- I'm Gonna Train My Baby - Robert Lockwood
- Out On Santa Fe Blues - Arthur Petties
- It's Hard Times - Joe Stone
- Your Good Man Is Gone - Freddie Spruell
- Cold Woman Blues - Blind Joe Reynolds
- Clarksdale Moan - Son House
- Adam And Eve In The Garden - Bogus Ben Covington
- Lonesome Man Blues - George Torey
- Leaving Home Blues - Walter Rhodes
- Loving Lady Blues - Sam Collins
- Early Mornin' Blues - William Harris
- Number Three Blues - Walter 'Buddy Boy' Hawkins
- Tell Me Baby - King Solomon Hill
- Little Boy Blue - Robert Lockwood
- Cottonfield Blues Part 2 - Garfield Akers
- Chalk My Toy - Willie '61' Blackwell
- Barbecue Bust - Mississippi Jook Band
- Two Time Blues - Arthur Petties
- Back Door Blues - Joe Stone
- Way Back Down Home - Freddie Spruell
- Skinny Leg Blues - Geeshie Wiley
- Meat Cutter Blues - Joe McCoy
- Mississippi Moan - Mississippi Moaner
- Married Man Blues - Blind Willie Reynolds
- Jefferson County Blues - Sam Butler
- Rampaw Street Blues - Willie '61' Blackwell
- I'll Overcome Someday - Mississippi Bracey
- Good Boy Blues - Arthur Petties
- Grand Daddy Blues - Jelly Jaw Short
- Let's Go Riding - Freddie Spruell