Label: Blue Horizon Records.
Release Date: January 15, 2007.
Recording Time: 113 minutes.
Release Info: Studio Recording (88697041792).
Recording Date: July 21, 1968.
Styles: Acoustic Blues, Acoustic Memphis Blues, Country Blues, Regional Blues, Delta Blues, Blues Revival, Folk-Blues, Songster.
In the mid-'60s blues fans, collectors, and scholars began to realize that some of the artists who sang on their favorite old country-blues 78s from the 1920s and '30s might well still be alive and playing, and any number of deep South blues players found themselves "rediscovered" and rolled out to perform and play for mostly white audiences at folk clubs and festivals, including Skip James, Booker White, Mississippi John Hurt, and the two singers whose rediscovery sessions for Blue Horizon Records are combined here in one package, Walter "Furry" Lewis and Mississippi Joe Callicott. Both Lewis and Callicott were recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis in July of 1968, and if neither could be said to be at their absolute peak as musicians at these sessions, they were still quite able to perform, and the clear sound quality, relaxed atmosphere, and intimate feel of these recordings makes them wonderful historical documents, plus there are numerous alternate takes and previously unreleased tracks that weren't on the original LPs when they were released in the '60s. For Lewis, the highlights include a trio of great train songs, "Waiting for a Train," "Casey Jones." and "John Henry," while Callicott shines on "Dough Roller Blues," "Poor Boy Blues." and "Worried Now in a Tennessee Town." Wonderfully intimate, these two discs give real meaning to the term "living history," which, of course, is what everyone, musician or not, is really doing in their lives. In this case, tape was rolling, and we're the luckier for it. ~ Steve Leggett
Credits: Bill Barth - Guitar; Mississippi Joe Callicott - Arranger, Composer, Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Simon Cantwell - Art Direction; Duncan Cowell - Digital Mastering, Transfers; John Fry - Engineer, Photography; Terence Ibbott - Original Cover Photography, Original Sleeve Design; Walter "Furry" Lewis - Arranger, Primary Artist, Guitar, Vocals; George Mitchell - Photo Courtesy; Mike Rowe - Photography; Sid Selvidge - Photography; Seymour Stein - Executive Producer; Traditional - Composer; Mike Vernon - Liner Notes, Photography, Producer, Reissue Producer; Richard Vernon - Release Coordinator; Bukka White - Whistle (Human).
Tracklist:
1-01. Judge Harsh Blues - Furry Lewis
1-02. Let's Shake Hand In Hand - Furry Lewis
1-03. Waiting For A Train - Furry Lewis
1-04. Let Me Call You Sweetheart - Furry Lewis
1-05. Big Chief Blues - Furry Lewis
1-06. Casey Jones - Furry Lewis
1-07. Take Your Time Rag - Furry Lewis
1-08. John Henry - Furry Lewis
1-09. Skinny Woman - Furry Lewis
1-10. See That My Grave Is Kept Clean - Furry Lewis
1-11. Glory Hallelujah, When I Lay My Burden Down - Furry Lewis
1-12. Furry's Monday Morning Blues - Furry Lewis
1-13. Furry Lewis Blues - Furry Lewis
2-01. You Don't Know My Mind - Mississippi Joe Callicott
2-02. Dough Roller Blues - Mississippi Joe Callicott
2-03. War Time Blues - Mississippi Joe Callicott
2-04. Joe's Troubled Blues - Mississippi Joe Callicott
2-05. On My Last Go Round - Mississippi Joe Callicott
2-06. Hoist Your Window And Let Your Curtain Down - Mississippi Joe Callicott
2-07. Married Woman Blues - Mississippi Joe Callicott
2-08. Poor Boy Blues - Mississippi Joe Callicott
2-09. Frankie And Albert, Take 1 - Mississippi Joe Callicott
2-10. Frankie And Albert, Take 2 - Mississippi Joe Callicott
2-11. Leavin' Town Blues - Mississippi Joe Callicott
2-12. Going Away Blues - Mississippi Joe Callicott
2-13. Worried Now In A Tennessee Town - Mississippi Joe Callicott
2-14. Lost My Money In Jim Kinnane's - Mississippi Joe Callicott
2-15. Worried Blues - Mississippi Joe Callicott
2-16. You Don't Know My Mind — Alternative Take - Mississippi Joe Callicott
Notes:
All tracks recorded at Ardent Studios, Memphis, Tennessee on Sunday 21st July 1968.
CD1: Tracks 1-1 to 1-11 originally released on the album Furry Lewis - Presenting The Country Blues (Blue Horizon 7-63228). "Judge Harsh Blues" erroneously titled "Grand Central Station" on the vinyl release whilst "Furry's Monday Woman Blues" originally listed in the files as "Furry's Blues - Take 1" and "Furry Lewis Blues" listed incorrectly as "Furry's Blues - Take 2." Tracks 1-12 and 1-13 previously unreleased.
CD2: Tracks 2-1 to 2-8 originally released on the album Mississippi Joe Callicott - Presenting The Country Blues (Blue Horizon 7-63227). "Worried Now In A Tennessee Town" originally listed in the files as "Memphis, Tennessee Blues" whilst "Lost My Money In Jim Kinnane's" erroneously titled "Lost My Money In Gym Kanan" in the same files. Tracks 2-9 to 2-16 previously unreleased.
Blue Horizon unissued:
Chief Police Blues - Mississippi Joe Callicott
The story of why 'Chief Police Blues' hasn't been reissued on Sony / Blue Horizon CD 88697041792 (2007) as told by Mike Vernon in his notes to that CD set:
"This particular item, with Bill Barth playing second guitar, is, to say the least, somewhat shambolic. Only four vocal verses exist and both the beginning and the end are untidy. Neither guitarist make the same chord changes at the same time and there is a distinct feeling that Joe is attempting to tutor 'Billy' as they go along. Uncharacteristically, Barth sounds lost. In The end, both give up and the song comes to an abrupt stop. At the time that I was compiling this package, this presented a real dilemma for me as I had planned to include absolutely everything that had been committed to tape. However those plans were scuppered, when it became obvious that it would be impossible to include everything as the eighty minutes maximum on a CD barrier would have been pushed into overload. After careful thought and a discussion with one or two good friends 'in-the-know' I took the decision to drop that item from the programme. Maybe, when the day looms to compile Vol. 2 of 'The Blue Horizon Story', I might well reconsider that decision."