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Various Artists:
Mississippi Blues - Rare Cuts 1926-1941 |
| Formats and Pricing |
CD
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List Price: $29.98
Price: $28.00
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| Description |
The majority of the music on these discs was first made as much as eighty 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. These titles, along with an unmastered version of 'Walkin' Blues' that made an eloquent connection between House and Robert Johnson, are among the building blocks of blues history.
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 - there were gifted individuals like Richard 'Hacksaw' Harney, heard accompanying Walter Rhodes, and Mississippi John Hurt.
Most of these musicians were itinerants, their lives undocumented, whose arrival in front of a microphone was often a matter of chance. Some of the earliest to get their chance included Freddie Spruell and Sam Butler. Spruell grew up in Chicago, but even so, he's regarded as a Mississippi bluesman not least for his recording of 'Low-Down Mississippi Bottom Man'. Sam Butler may have been from Alabama but he too is an honorary Mississippian. He was also known as Bo Weavil Jackson; he cut sessions using each name for Paramount and Vocalion within a month of one another in 1926 and was never heard from again.
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. Speir was instrumental in getting Jim Jackson to record and Jackson in turn brought several musicians to Memphis for the same purpose in September 1929. Among them were Garfield Akers and Joe Calicott. The two played ultra-tight rhythm on Akers' two-part 'Cottonfield Blues', while Calicott recorded a solo piece as yet unissued. Kid Bailey, an associate of both Tommy Johnson and Charley Patton, cut 'Mississippi Bottom Blues' right after Calicott. The following year Akers and Calicott returned, both recording solo, along with Mattie Delaney, a rare female guitarist who cut a version of Tommy Johnson's 'Big Road Blues', as well as 'Tallahatchie River Blues', her only recordings. Geeshie Wiley was Delaney's equal artistically; she made two records of her own and another with Elvie Thomas. She's thought to have been from around Natchez; at one stage she spent three months in Jackson, taking up briefly with Charlie McCoy. Wiley failed to capitalise on her talent and returned to obscurity. Likewise, Jim Thompkins cut just two titles in February 1930, of which only 'Bedside Blues' was issued. How such a superior artist is represented by just one impressive song is a mystery. As late as 1941, it was still possible for a highly individual performer to emerge, as Willie '61' Blackwell did. Blackwell had no great instrumental talent but his lyrics took an original line on otherwise mundane events and emotions. Just to underline the diversity of Mississippi's musical traditions, it's worth focussing on the Mississippi Jook Band. It consisted of brothers Blind Roosevelt Graves, his brother Aaron and the enormously talented pianist Cooney Vaughn, whose only four recordings are here. With titles like 'Hittin' The Bottle Stomp', 'Skippy Whippy' and 'Barbecue Bust', it's not hard to assess the nature of the Jook Band's music but even so, the element of surprise is very much in evidence. |
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Track Listing
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Disc 1
Cottonfield Blues Pt 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 Tk 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 - Buddy Boy Hawkins
4A Highway - Freddie Spruell
Times Has Done Got Hard - King Solomon Hill
Disc 2
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 Fog 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 - Elvie Thomas & 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 - Freddie Spruell
Rowdy Blues - Kid Bailey
Disc 3
My Buddy Blind Papa Lemon - King Solomon Hill
Snatch It Back Blues - 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 - Joe McCoy
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 - Charlie McCoy
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 Time - Joe Stone
Your Good Man Is Gone - Freddie Spruell
Cold Woman Blues - Blind Joe Reynolds
Disc 4
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 - Buddy Boy Hawkins
Tell Me Baby - King Solomon Hill
Little Boy Blue - Robert Lockwood
Cottonfield Blues Pt 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 |
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| Label |
JSP |
| Number |
7781 |
| Subsidiary Artists: |
Garfield Akers
Jim Thompkins
Kid Bailey
Sam Butler
William Harris
Mississippi Jook Band
Geeshie Wiley
Blind Willie Reynolds
Freddie Spruell
Joe Calicott
Arthur Petties
Willie Blackwell
Joe McCoy
Sam Collins
Robert Lockwood
Robert Johnson
Charlie McCoy
Mattie Delaney
Mississippi Bracey
Mose Andrews
Buddy Boy Hawkins
King Solomon Hill
Son House
Jelly Jaw Short
Otto Virgial
Mississippi Moaner
Bogus Ben Covington
Walter Rhodes
Elvie Thomas
George Torey
Joe Stone |
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