Release Date: February 16, 1993.
Recording Time: 70 minutes.
Release Info: Studio Recording.
Styles: Country Blues, Acoustic Blues, Blues Revival, Early American Blues, Pre-War Country Blues.
Expertly compiled, annotated, and in most cases recorded) by pioneering blues researcher Samuel Charters, this volume explores all areas of the blues' origins. Featuring devastating recordings of prison work hands, native African music to Texas prison songs, this is as hard core a collection as you're likely to find, yet still very accessible to the average fan. - Review by Cub Koda.
Credits: Sister Dora Alexander - composer, performer, primary artist; Rich Manuel "Rich" Amerson - composer, performer, primary artist; Fula Flutist - performer, primary artist; Equila Hall - performer, primary artist; Lightnin' Hopkins - composer, performer, primary artist; Ivory Joe Hunter - performer; Joe Hunter - composer, primary artist; Eddie "One String" Jones - performer, primary artist; Furry Lewis - composer, performer, primary artist; Mandingo Griot Society - performer, primary artist; Mobile Strugglers - performer, primary artist; George "Daddy Hotcakes" Montgomery - composer, performer, primary artist; Ethel Perkins - performer, primary artist; J.D. Short - composer, performer, primary artist; Jali Nyama Suso - performer, primary artist; Texas Prison Camp - performer, primary artist; Traditional - composer; Robert Pete Williams - composer, performer, primary artist.
Tracks: 1) Kedo - Jali Nyama Suso; 2) Tutu Jara - Mandingo Griots; 3) Bengsimbe - Fula Flutist; 4) You're My All Night Steady - Robert Pete Williams; 5) Pearlee Blues - Furry Lewis; 6) My Soul Will Be Saved - Ethel Perkins & Equila Hall; 7) A Child Will Rise - Ethel Perkins; 8) Rolling and Tumbling Blues - One String; 9) Slidin' Delta - J.D. Short; 10) Black Woman - Rich Amerson; 11) Go Down Old Hannah - Texas Prison Camp Work Gang; 12) Russia, Let God's Moon Alone/Times Done Changed - Sister Dora Alexander; 13) Well, I've Been Bown to Memphis - Daddy Hotcakes; 14) Raise a Ruckus Tonight - The Mobile Strugglers; 15) Have You Ever Been Mistreated - Joe Hunter; 16) Penitentiary Blues - Lightnin' Hopkins.