Release Date: 1991.
Recording Time: 71 minutes.
Recording Date: April 21, 1928 - November 3, 1929.
Release Info: Compilation (DOCD-5047) Studio Recording.
Styles: Country Blues, Pre-War Country Blues, Acoustic Blues, Pre-War Blues.
"Barbecue Bob," whose complete output has been reissued on three Document CDs, was a fairly big star by the time he recorded the 23 numbers on Vol. 2. Based in Atlanta (where all of these performances, including a previously unreleased "Unnamed Blues," were recorded), Barbecue Bob (Robert Hicks) performed a friendly repertoire ranging from country blues to the new-fangled hokum music. Among the more memorable selections on this disc are "Mississippi Low-Levee Blues," "Midnight Weeping Blues" (one of two numbers that find him backing singer Nellie Florence), "Beggin' for Love," "It Just Won't Hay," "Black Skunk Blues," and "Me and My Whiskey." ~ Scott Yanow
Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes.
Think of the "rural blues" or "country blues" from Atlanta in the late 1920s and it is more than likely that the sound of the iconic twelve-string guitar comes to mind. One of the undisputable "Kings of the twelve-string" from the Atlanta area was Blind McTell, yet, if there was such a thing as the guitar sound of Atlanta at the time, it was that of Robert Hicks, better known as Barbecue Bob and his brother Charlie also known as Laughing Charlie.
Though Bob's guitar technique didn't have the same complexities and range as that of Willie Mctell, it was powerful, with the use of a hard, slapping, of the lower bass string, contrasted with the high ringing notes, produced, almost exclusively, on the high treble string. Usually, his accompaniments were delivered with a relentless, pulsating rhythm and this simple but winning formula was topped off by his dark, rich, captivating voice.
By the time that he recorded "Mississippi Low-Levee Blues", Barbecue Bob was a star among the record buying public, selling, on average, 6,000 copies per record for Columbia's "race series". His songs, sometimes written by others, often written by himself, cover the highs and lows of life. "Dollar Down Blues" is almost a documentary account of the perils of easy credit; "Freeze To Me Mama" is a love song for grownups; and "Trouble Done Bore Me Down" belies its titles with its witty observations:
"You got a large family, you don't need no more. The Doc drop by, you get four or five more."
As well as these blues and others like the fierce California Blues and Yo Yo Blues based on Curley Weaver's "No No Blues", by April 1929 Bob was adding a new style of music, one that took account of the craze for the sexually allusive "hokum blues" that had been sparked off by Tampa Red & Georgia Tom with "It's Tight Like That", recorded in September 1928. "It Just Won't Hay" takes close notice of the record though it is has an unmistakable Bob treatment. Even more so is "Honey Your Going Too Fast". As if to try and confirm that he was the master of new music crazes, not their servant, on "Red Hot Mama, Papa's Going To Cool You Off", he takes crazy liberties with the structure of this nominally 16 bar composition (but try to count them!) song.
By the end of 1929 the circumstances that lead to Bad Time Blues was under way. Nevertheless, Columbia were to persist with recording Barbecue Bob, for he had proven to be a good seller in economically happier times and his last recordings, made all through 1930, can be heard on Document's third volume of this great blues artist's work on Document DOCD-5048. ~ Chris Smith, 1991 Document Records.
Credits: Barbecue Bob (Robert Hicks) - guitar, laughs, primary artist, speech/speaker/speaking part, vocals; Nellie Florence - accompaniment, accordion, vocals; Johnny Parth - producer; Chris Frazer Smith - liner notes.
Tracklist:
01. Mississippi Low-Levee Blues - Barbecue Bob
02. Ease It To Me Blues - Barbecue Bob
03. Jacksonville Blues - Nellie Florence
04. Midnight Weeping Blues - Nellie Florence
05. She's Gone Blues - Barbecue Bob
06. Cold Wave Blues - Barbecue Bob
07. Beggin' For Love - Barbecue Bob
08. Bad Time Blues - Barbecue Bob
09. Meat Man Pete - Barbecue Bob
10. Dollar Down Blues - Barbecue Bob
11. It Just Won't Hay - Barbecue Bob
12. It's Just Too Bad - Barbecue Bob
13. Good Time Rounder - Barbecue Bob
14. Honey Your Going Too Fast - Barbecue Bob
15. Red Hot Mama Pap's Going To Cool You Off - Barbecue Bob
16. California Blues - Barbecue Bob
17. It's A Funny Little Thing - Barbecue Bob
18. Black Skunk Blues - Barbecue Bob
19. Yo Yo Blues - Barbecue Bob
20. Trouble Done Bore Me Down - Barbecue Bob
21. Freeze To Me Mama - Barbecue Bob
22. Me And My Whiskey - Barbecue Bob
23. Unnamed Blues - Barbecue Bob
Original Matrix Information:
1: Atlanta, Georgia, April 21, 1928 (146172-4, Columbia 14316)
2: Atlanta, Georgia, April 21, 1928 (146173-2, Columbia 14614)
3: Atlanta, Georgia, April 21, 1928 (146174-1, Columbia 14342)
4: Atlanta, Georgia, April 21, 1928 (146175-2, Columbia 14342)
5: Atlanta, Georgia, October 26, 1928 (147306-1, Columbia 14461)
6: Atlanta, Georgia, October 26, 1928 (147307-2, Columbia 14383)
7: Atlanta, Georgia, October 27, 1928 (147320-2, Columbia 14383)
8: Atlanta, Georgia, October 27, 1928 (147321-2, Columbia 14461)
9: Atlanta, Georgia, November 2, 1928 (147385-2, Columbia 14412)
10: Atlanta, Georgia, November 2, 1928 (147386-2, Columbia 14412)
11: Atlanta, Georgia, April 11, 1929 (148251-2, Columbia 14424)
12: Atlanta, Georgia, April 11, 1929 (148252-2, Columbia 14424)
13: Atlanta, Georgia, April 11, 1929 (148253-2, Columbia 14449)
14: Atlanta, Georgia, April 17, 1929 (148342-2, Columbia 14436)
15: Atlanta, Georgia, April 17, 1929 (148343-2, Columbia 14449)
16: Atlanta, Georgia, April 18, 1929 (148358-2, Columbia 14573)
17: Atlanta, Georgia, April 18, 1929 (148359-2, Columbia 14436)
18: Atlanta, Georgia, April 18, 1929 (148360-2, Columbia 14573)
19: Atlanta, Georgia, October 30, 1929 (149321-2, Columbia 14479)
20: Atlanta, Georgia, November 3, 1929 (149344-1, Columbia 14479)
21: Atlanta, Georgia, November 3, 1929 (149345-2, Columbia 14507)
22: Atlanta, Georgia, November 3, 1929 (149346-2, Columbia 14507)
23: Atlanta, Georgia, November 3, 1929 (149347-1, Columbia unissued)
This is the second of three volumes.