Mississippi Blues Vol 1 1928 - 1937
DOCD-5157 Mississippi Blues Vol. 1 (1928-1937) Uncle Bud Walker, vocal guitar. “Big Road” Webster Taylor, vocal, guitar. Mattie Delaney, vocal, guitar. Louise Johnson, vocal, piano Mississippi Bracy (Caldwell Bracey), vocal, guitar. Geechie Wiley, vocal, guitar & Elvie Thomas, vocal, guitar. The Mississippi Moaner (Isaiah Nettles), vocal, guitar. Mose Andrews, vocal guitar. Genres: Mississippi Country Blues, Country Blues Guitar, Country Blues Piano. Country Blues Guitar Informative Notes by John Henry Vanco. Detailed discography. This collection brings together the complete recordings of a handful of obscure musicians associated with the Mississippi Delta. . . through their musical style, biographical information, or both. The music on this disc shows that African-American men, typically thought of as solely responsible for the Delta tradition, were only one - albeit vital - piece of the puzzle. The contributions of individuals on the periphery of blues, specifically women, and to a lesser degree, whites, have been largely ignored. There is little or nothing known for certain about most of the artists here. Perhaps it is these mysterious figures who best fit into the shadowy Delta mythology. Continued...

Mississippi Blues Vol 2 1926 - 1935

Memphis Blues 1927 - 1938
DOCD-5159 The Memphis Blues Vol 2 (1927-1928) Includes: Ollie Rupert, vocal, accompanied by possibly Will Weldon, guitar and possibly Will Shade, guitar. Walter Rhodes, vocal, accordion accompanied by “Pet” and “Can”, guitar duet. Pearl Dickson, vocal, accompanied by “Pet” and “Can”, guitar duet. Madelyn James, vocal accompanied by Judson Brown, piano; And others… Charlie “Bozo” Nickerson, vocal, piano Sam Townsend, vocal, guitar Hattie Hart, vocal, accompanied by Allen Shaw, vocal guitar; Willie Borum, vocal guitar. George Torey, vocal guitar. John Henry Barbee, vocal, guitar, accompanied by Willie Bee James; Unknown, stand-up bass Genres: Country Blues, Memphis Blues, Country Blues Guitar, Country Blues Piano, Informative booklet notes by Kip Lornell. Detailed discography. The city of Memphis has been linked with the blues since W.C. Handy updated 'Boss' Crump's political campaign song of 1909 and published it as 'The Memphis Blues' in 1912. This was, of course, a formal composition but when 'race' recordings really took off in the 1920's a whole underworld of blues activity was discovered to be in existence in the city, centred on the 'black' thoroughfare of Beale Street. Beale was rough; joints such as Pee Wee's, The Hole In The Wall and Jim Kanane's revelling in a reputation for having a man for breakfast' everyday - even though 'you never find a dead Nigger on Beale'; the implication being that bodies were quickly hauled out and dumped elsewhere. But there was another side to the Memphis Blues. It was born from the Country Blues, predominantly from the south, Tennessee and north Mississippi areas, which were drawn in by Afro-Americans from outlying rural areas looking for work and bringing their music with them. Memphis was evidently a lively town and that reflected in the music that could be found there, particularly in blues and jazz that could be found in the Beale Street area. The second of two powerful volumes (see also Document DOCD-5014), this CD presents another twenty five tracks of superb country blues from the “pre-war” period. Continued...

Georgia Blues & Gospel 1927 - 1931

Texas Blues 1927 - 1935
DOCD-5161 Texas Blues (1927-1935) Featuring: Coley Jones, vocal, guitar. “Bo” Jones, vocal, guitar. “Little Hat” Jones, vocal, guitar. “Oak-Cliff T-Bone” (Walker), vocal, poss. Guitar. Willie Reed, vocal, guitar. Genres: Texas Country Blues Informative booklet notes by Paul Garon. Detailed discography. This excellent and broad collection highlights many aspects of the Texas blues, from its ballad and folkloric components (Coley Jones' Drunkard's Special, Little Hat Jones' Kentucky Blues) to its tent show strands (Coley Jones' Army Mule In No Man's Land and Travelling Man), all combining to create the coarser weave of the Texas blues. The most familiar performer on this set is T-Bone Walker, represented by his first record, recorded under the name of Oak Cliff T-Bone. Continued...

Texas Black Country Dance Music 1927 - 1935
Dallas, is the focus for this anthology. Perhaps the most delighted musician of the bunch is Coley Jones, the guitar and mandolin playing leader of the exuberant Dallas String Band. This string ensemble played on the streets of Dallas in the mid-to-late 1920s, charming listeners with its repertoire of turn-of-the century popular songs (Chasin' Rainbows and I Used to Call Her Baby), ragtime (Dallas Rag), and blues songs (Sweet Mama Blues). Jones himself was an older songster whose own recorded repertoire included many song types found among late 19th and early 20th century songsters (DOCD 5161 and 5163). Continued...

Texas Girls 1926 - 1929
Lillian Miller Hattie Hudson Gertrude Perkins Ida May Mack Bobbie Cadillac And Coley Jones Includes accompaniment by Hersal Thomas, piano; Charlie Hill, guitar; Coley Jones, guitar; K.D. “44” Johnson, piano; Alex Moore, piano. Genres: Texas blues, Country blues, female blues vocal; Texas blues piano. Informative booklet notes by Paul Garon. Detailed discography. From the CDs booklet notes This assortment of Texas blues by Texas women contains a number of excellent pieces. Hattie Hudson's lilting "Doggone My Good Luck Soul" is backed with another song dealing with luck, "Black Hand Blues", and both are outstanding. Continued...

Harp Blowers 1925 - 1936

Alabama Black Secular & Religious Music 1927 - 1934
DOCD-5165 Alabama Black Secular & Religious Music (1927-1934) Wiley Barner, vocal; accompanied by Jimmy allen, piano; Will Jennings, guitar. Moses Mason (Red Hot ole Man Mose, Rev. Moses Mason), vocal, guitar, banjo. Edward Thompson (Tenderfoot Edwards), vocal guitar. Slim Duckett and Pig Norwood, vocal guitar duet. Marshall Owens, vocal, guitar. Tom Bradford, vocal, guitar. Genres; Pre-warCountry Blues, Country Blues Guitar. Guitar Evangelists. Informative booklet Notes by Ken Romanowsky Detailed discography. Alabama’s significance as a region supporting a fertile blues tradition has been somewhat overshadowed by the surrounding states of Mississippi, Georgia, the Carolinas, and even Tennessee. This is partly the result of the bias of latter-day historians and record collectors who have favoured the Mississippi guitarists and partly due to the strength of other aspects of the black vernacular tradition in Alabama. Birmingham, the state’s largest city was famous for its pianists - from the mysterious “Lost John” (who was credited by Perry Bradford with introducing the bass patterns associated with boogie woogie to Chicago) through Cow Cow Davenport and Pine Top Smith to Walter Roland. Another dominant musical force in Alabama in the period between the World Wars was a vocal quartet tradition, with groups like the Birmingham Jubilee Quartet recording far more frequently than any of the area’s blues artists. Still, with its pioneering pianists, two major rural harmonica stylists (Jaybird Coleman and George “Bullet” Williams), a guitarist as recognizable as Ed Bell/Barefoot Bill, and the distinction of having some of the earliest recorded blues performers hail from the vicinity (Lucille Bogan/Bessie Jackson, and Daddy Stovepipe), it is hard to fathom why Alabama is not better known for the blues. Continued...

Alabama Black Country Dance Bands 1924 - 1949
Alabama is the "deep" south. Along with the Mississippi Delta it was an area where blacks often lived in the cultural isolation of small, often all-black, rural communities where the African influence remained strong. It had its own blues tradition but this never saw the wide commercial exposure that was accorded to certain other strains before it became more-or-less submerged in the flood of recordings that took place with the economic revival and the attendant migrations to the cities which occurred as the century progressed. Continued...

String Bands 1926 - 1929

Carolina Blues 1937 - 1947
Review by Steve Leggett All Music Guide. Containing the complete recorded works of Piedmont guitarists Floyd Council and brothers Richard and Welly Trice, Carolina Blues features gentle melodic blues pieces that clearly show the pervasive influence of Blind Boy Fuller in the region. Council's major claim to fame is that his first name was taken by Syd Barrett and combined with the first name of another bluesman, Pink Anderson, to make the moniker Pink Floyd, although the British group has never had much, if anything, in common with East Coast blues. Richard and Welly Trice aren't a performing duo, and their selections feature each of them playing separately, with Welly emerging as the more interesting of the two. The real treat here may well be the eight tracks by Eddie Kelly's Washboard Band, a jug band-like ensemble featuring harmonica, kazoo, acoustic guitar, and washboard. The sheer messy joy in the group's playing makes the band a complete delight.