Yonder Come The Blues
Yonder Come The Blues CDs Paul Oliver is internationally recognised as being one of the most prolific and authoritive writers of the history and development of blues music. In the early 1970s an excellent series of paperback books were published by Studio Vista known as “Blues Paperbacks”. The series covered many aspects of the music and included several biographies including a book on Charley Patton written by John Fahey, Tommy Johnson by Dave Evans and Peetie Wheetstraw by Paul Garon. The series also featured three books which looked at the development of the music; Savannah Syncopators by Paul Oliver, Blacks Whites and Blues by Tony Russell and Recording the Blues by the blues discographer Robert M.W. Dixon. To compliment his book Yonder Come the Blues, based on those three books, Paul Oliver personally invited Document to produce this CD illustrating many musical examples drawn upon in the book.

Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey DOUBLE CD
Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman asked Document Records to produce a CD which would be part of a life long ambition; to pay tribute to and share with others the music that he has loved and been influenced by, The Blues. This double CD, accompanied by a twenty-four page colour booklet, compliments the book, television documentary and DVD of the same name. It features some of the very best blues to have been recorded from the early Classic female blues and Country Blues of the nineteen-twenties through to the electric Down Home blues of Chicago. Whether you are a collector or just inquisitive about what the blues are and the history the music, this CD is one of the finest collections of vintage blues recordings available.

Rags, Breakdowns, Stomps & Blues
The secret weapon for many a string band was and still is the mandolin. This compilation brings together some wonderful blues, jazz, bluegrass and country performances, built around this small but potent instrument.

Troubled Hearted Blues - Nintage Guitar Blues (1927 - 1944)
Trouble Hearted Blues CDs Twenty four tracks of some of the finest blues guitar on record. Includes superb bottleneck guitar playing by Robert Lockwood, Gabriel Brown and Bukka White, stunning finger picking by George Torey, Robert Wilkins and Blind Lemon Jefferson and much more. Features the recently found and incredibly rare copy of Blind Joe Reynold’s Cold Woman Blues and Ninety Nine Blues recorded for Paramount. National Steel Guitars, Stella 12-strings and Martins, they’re all here

Rude Dudes DOUBLE CD
Rude Dudes CDs Banana In Your Fruit Basket, If It Don’t Fit Don’t Force It and He’s Just My Size? Well, no prizes for guessing what they’re all about. But what is a Southern Can, who is the Boy in the Boat and why a Man O’ War? This excellent double CD, with twelve page full colour booklet, is packed with some of the most intriguing and often humorous Hokum, Blues, Jazz and Boogie-Woogie pieces based on the subject of sex. Outrageous double entendres and curious metaphors are abound. If Bananas, Lollypops, Fish and Jelly be the food love, then play on!

Robert Nighthawk 'Prowling with the Nighthawk' (1937 - 1952)
Robert Nighthawk CDs Robert Nighthawk was one of the blues premier slide guitarists playing with a subtle elegance and a fluid, crystal clear style that was instantly recognizable. Nighthawk influenced a generation of artists including Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Earl Hooker and Elmore James...

Johnny Shines - Live In Europe 1975
The snow is falling, the temperature is only just above zero, and a native of the American Deep South is a long, long way from home. Johnny Shines was, in the 1970`s, resident in Holt, Alabama, not far from the city of Tuscaloosa, but often away on tour in the United States and overseas. He was now experiencing the "fairyland" of an Austrian Winter (February 1975), the farthest point east of a European tour, with a series of great performances at the `Jazzland` club in Vienna.

David Honeyboy Edwards - Blues Blues (1975)
A month previous to the time of writing, Dave "Honey Boy" Edwards made a guest appearance at the 22nd Chicago Blues Festival. In the August 2005 edition of MOJO Honey Boy's picture appears on the opening page of the top international rock magazine alongside pictures of post-punk band Young Knivesand the world music giant Ali Farke Toure. Not bad for a ninety year old country blues man from Mississippi. As his age suggests Honey Boy has been a survivor…

Blues, Blues Christmas 1925 - 1955
Now back in stock A double CD of festive goodies! Hurray for Christmas - exclaims Bessie Smith on her classic -At The Christmas Ball - which lays claim to being the first recorded Christmas Blues song. Little did Bessie know that a tradition was born and throughout the years there have been hundreds of Blues Christmas songs recorded by both well-established artists and a host of up-and-coming hopefuls.

Broadcasting The Blues - Compiled and edited by Paul Oliver
A 3-CD Box Set compiled and edited by Paul Oliver which documents the history of blues during the segregation era in America.

Mighty Day - 25 Gospel Greats (1928 - 1958)
Mighty Day 25 Gospel Greats CDs Godspel is an elision of 'God' and 'Spel'. Spel being old English for story. The concept of Gospel music is considered to have begun in America during the latter part of the 19th Century, first appearing in 1874 with the publication "Gospel Songs" by Phillip Bliss. As you will hear on this CD the music lifts the spirits with its emphasis on love, freedom, forgiveness, judgement and righteousness. It speaks of the human condition and to the human condition. Gospel music can bring the sublime to the world of the ridiculous. It was and is the music of soul. Despite it's Christian history it transcends any one religion to speak to us all.

Boogie Woogie Pioneers
Boogie Woogie Pioneers CDs

James Booker
James Booker CDs Features 13 tracks recorded at the Lake Hotel, Belle Vue, Manchester, 19th October 1977.

Reverend Gary Davis Manchester Free Trade Hall 1964
Reverend Gary Davis Live CDs Recorded live at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England, May 8th, 1964. All material has been digitally remastered in 2007.

Blues, Blues Christmas Volume 2
Blues Blues Christmas Volume 2 - (1926-1958) Various artists Double album with full colour 24 page booklet. DOCD-32-20-15 Also available; Blues Blues Christmas Volume 1- (1925-1955) Various artists Double album with full colour 20 page booklet. DOCD-32-20-9 Informative booklet notes for both volumes by Jeff Harris. Detailed discography The idea of Christmas themed blues and gospel numbers stretches back to the very dawn of the recorded genres. Hooray for Christmas exclaims Bessie Smith to kick off her soon to be classic At The Christmas Ball, which inaugurated the Christmas blues tradition when it was recorded in November 1925 for Columbia. A year later, circa December 1926, the gospel Christmas tradition was launched when the Elkins-Payne Jubilee Singers recorded Silent Night, Holy Night for Paramount Records. After these recordings it was off to the races with numerous Christmas blues numbers recorded by singers of all stripes, a pace that continued as blues evolved into R&B and then rock and roll. For some reason theres far fewer gospel Christmas songs although there were plenty of Christmas sermons in the 1920s and 1930s when recorded sermons rivalled blues in popularity among black audiences. Going hand in hand with Christmas is quite a number of New Years songs, a good vehicle for juxtaposing the problems of the past year with the glimmer of hope that the upcoming year will bring better fortune. Whether these artists sung these numbers as part of their regular repertoire is unclear but its almost certainly the case that many of these songs were recorded at the prompting of the record companies. Like any business they were always looking for a new angle or gimmick to sell records and advertised these boldly, often with full-page ads, in black newspapers like the Chicago Defender. Perhaps you think this is a bit cynical but then you probably still believe in Santa Clause and good will towards men! Well, sit back, tip a glass of holiday cheer and enjoy our survey of yuletide classics spanning the 1920s through the 1950s, a simpler, more wholesome time right!

Bankers Blues - A Study In The Effects Of Fiscal Mischief
Various Booklet notes by Gillian Atkinson Detailed discography. I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs. Thomas Jefferson - The Debate Over The Re-charter Of The Bank Bill (1809) This is Documents riposte to our Bankers HBOS and their profligate ways. Presented here are the words of sorrow, humour and wisdom of those that have been victims who have experienced and suffered hardship as the result of financial mischief. Many of the songs make it plain, however, what to do for yourselves; Dont get into debt, be self sufficient, remain cheerful and above all remember that aint it strange, nobody wants to know you when you are down and out. Document doesnt have the answers but whilst we still have the music please enjoy this budget line CD. If we could have given it away, we would have done, as a way of saying prepare, and for it to be part of your Anti-financial-mischief kit. If you have bought this new, then you have helped save a Heritage Blues Label from being chewed up and spat out by the fat cats and their shareholders who are far more interested in personal profit than understanding the preservation of a rich art and historical recordings.

Barrelhouse Blues
Barrelhouse Blues Location Recordings & The Early Traditions In The Blues Triple CD with 68 newly re-mastered tracks. Compiled complete with extensive, informative booklet notes by Paul Oliver. Detailed discography The beginnings of the blues are uncertain, shaded by myth and legend. To some this American musical idiom now seems to have emerged fully formed from the genius of a few pioneering innovators in the Mississippi Delta. But the truth is that without the quick and wise intervention of record companies during the 1920s throughout the South, the earliest iterations of the blues would be lost to us. Fired by the runaway success of the first blues records, emissaries from Okeh and Columbia Records lugged primitive recording equipment into makeshift studios in cities like Dallas, Atlanta and New Orleans. To preserve the music they brought in street singers, medicine show performers, pianists from the juke joints and barrelhouses. The music that circulated through the Southern work camps, prison farms and vaudeville shows would have vanished if it hadnt been captured on location by these performers and their recorders. Blues historian Paul Oliver uncovers these folk traditions and the circumstances under which they were recorded, unpacking the blues writings of Harlem scholar Alain Locke and the earliest recordings themselves to rescue the forebears of the blues who were lost before they even had a chance to be heard. A careful examination of the earliest recordings of the blues by one of its foremost experts, Barrelhouse Blues expands our definition of that most American style of music.