Label: Document Records.
Release Date: 1991.
Recording Time: 71 minutes.
Release Info: Compilation.
Recording Date: August, 1926 - January, 1932.
Styles: Acoustic Chicago Blues, Country Blues, Piedmont Blues, Pre-War Country Blues, Regional Blues.
Over the course of four discs (each are sold individually as well), Document presented everything Blind Blake recorded in the late '20s and early '30s for Paramount Records. During that time, he was one of the most popular bluesmen in Chicago, and these 80-plus sides show why. Blake had a unique guitar style that influenced a number of successive generations. For that reason alone, Complete Recorded Works, Vols. 1-4 would be of interest, but the music itself is compelling and gripping. However, the length and comprehensiveness of the set makes it a collection that only musicologists and dedicated fans would find necessary. For more casual listeners, Yazoo's Ragtime Guitar's Foremost Fingerpicker is a better purchase, since it distills all of his classic tracks to one disc. ~ Thom Owens
Credits: Alan Balfour - liner notes; Blind Blake - guitar, guitar (rhythm), primary artist, speech/speaker/speaking part, vocals; Althea Dickerson - piano; Reverend Charlie Jackson - banjo, speech/speaker/speaking part, vocals; Papa Charlie Jackson - banjo, vocals; Tiny Parham - piano; Johnny Parth - compilation producer, producer; Laura Rucker - vocals; Irene Scruggs - accordion, vocals; Studio Klement - remastering.
Tracks, Disc 1: 1) Dying Blues – Blind Blake & Leola B. Wilson; 2) Ashley Street Blues – Blind Blake & Leola B. Wilson; 3) Early Morning Blues (2668) – Blind Blake; 4) West Coast Blues – Blind Blake; 5) Early Morning Blues (3057-1) – Blind Blake; 6) Too Tight (Drag) – Blind Blake; 7) Blake's Worried Blues – Blind Blake; 8) Come On Boys Let's Do That Messin' Around (take 2) – Blind Blake; 9) Tampa Bound Blues – Blind Blake; 10) Skeedle Loo Doo Blues (Take 1) – Blind Blake; 11) Skeedle Loo Doo Blues (Take 2) – Blind Blake; 12) Stonewall Street Blues – Blind Blake; 13) State Street Men Blues – Blind Blake & Leola B. Wilson; 14) Down The Country – Blind Blake & Leola B. Wilson; 15) Black Biting Bee Blues – Blind Blake & Leola B. Wilson; 16) Wilson Dam Blues – Blind Blake & Leola B. Wilson; 17) Buck-Town Blues – Blind Blake; 18) Black Dog Blues – Blind Blake; 19) One Time Blues – Blind Blake; 20) Bad Feeling Blues – Blind Blake; 21) Dry Bone Shuffle (Take 3) – Blind Blake; 22) That Will Never Happen No More – Blind Blake; 23) Brownskin Mama Blues (Take 2) – Blind Blake; 24) Hard Road Blues – Blind Blake; 25) Hey Hey Daddy Blues – Blind Blake; 26) Sea Board Stomp – Blind Blake.
Tracks, Disc 2: 1) You Gonna Quit Me Blues (Original You Gonna Quit Me Baby) – Blind Blake; 2) Steel Mill Blues – Blind Blake; 3) Southern Rag – Blind Blake; 4) He's In The Jailhouse Now – Blind Blake; 5) Wabash Rag – Blind Blake; 6) Doggin' Me Mama Blues – Blind Blake; 7) C.C. Pill Blues – Blind Blake; 8) Hot Potatoes – Blind Blake; 9) Southbound Rag – Blind Blake; 10) Pay Day Daddy Blues (20528) – Blind Blake with Elzadie Robinson; 11) Elzadie's Policy Blues (20534) – Blind Blake with Elzadie Robinson; 12) Goodbye Mama Moan – Blind Blake; 13) Tootie Blues – Blind Blake; 14) That Lovin' I Crave – Blind Blake; 15) That Lonesome Rave – Blind Blake with Bertha Henderson; 16) Terrible Murder Blues – Blind Blake with Bertha Henderson; 17) Leavin' Gal Blues – Blind Blake with Bertha Henderson; 18) No Dough Blues – Blind Blake; 19) Lead Hearted Blues – Blind Blake with Bertha Henderson; 20) Let Your Love Come Down – Blind Blake with Bertha Henderson; 21) Rumblin' And Ramblin' Boa Constricter Blues – Blind Blake; 22) Bootleg Rum Dum Blues – Blind Blake; 23) Detroit Bound Blues – Blind Blake; 24) Beulah Land – Blind Blake with Daniel Brown; 25) Panther Squall Blues – Blind Blake.
Tracks, Disc 3: 1) Elzadie's Policy Blues – Blind Blake with Elzadie Robinson; 2) Pay Day Daddy Blues – Blind Blake with Elzadie Robinson; 3) Walkin' Across The Country Blues – Blind Blake; 4) Search Warrant Blues – Blind Blake; 5) Ramblin' Mama Blues – Blind Blake; 6) That New Style Of Loving – Blind Blake; 7) Back Door Slam Blues – Blind Blake; 8) Notoriety Woman Blues – Blind Blake; 9) Cold Hearted Mama Blues – Blind Blake; 10) Low Down Loving Gal – Blind Blake; 11) Sweet Papa Low Down – Blind Blake; 12) Poker Woman Blues – Blind Blake; 13) Doing A Stretch – Blind Blake; 14) Fighin' The Jug – Blind Blake; 15) Hookworm Blues – Blind Blake; 16) Slippery Rag – Blind Blake; 17) Hastings St – Blind Blake; 18) Diddie Wa Diddie – Blind Blake; 19) Too Tight Blues No. 2 – Blind Blake; 20) Chump Man Blues – Blind Blake; 21) Ice Man Blues – Blind Blake; 22) Police Dog Blues – Blind Blake; 23) I Was Afraid Of That, Part 2 – Hokum Boys; 24) Georgia Bound – Blind Blake; 25) Keep It Home – Blind Blake.
Tracks, Disc 4: 1) Sweet Jivin' Mama – Blind Blake; 2) Lonesome Christmas Blues – Blind Blake; 3) Third Degree Blues – Blind Blake; 4) Guitar Chimes – Blind Blake; 5) Blind Arthur's Breakdown – Blind Blake; 6) Baby Lou Blues – Blind Blake; 7) Cold Love Blues – Blind Blake; 8) Papa Charlie And Blind Blake Talk About It, Part 1 – Blind Blake and Papa Charlie Jackson; 9) Papa Charlie And Blind Blake Talk About It, Part 2 – Blind Blake and Papa Charlie Jackson; 10) Stingaree Man Blues – Irene Scruggs ( as Chocolate Brown); 11) Itching Heel – Irene Scruggs ( as Chocolate Brown); 12) You've Got What I Want – Irene Scruggs ( as Chocolate Brown); 13) Cherry Hill Blues – Irene Scruggs ( as Chocolate Brown); 14) Diddie Wa Diddie No. 2 – Blind Blake; 15) Hard Pushing Papa – Blind Blake; 16) What A Low Down Place The Jailhouse Is – Blind Blake; 17) Ain't Gonna Do That No More – Blind Blake; 18) Playing Policy Blues – Blind Blake; 19) Righteous Blues – Blind Blake; 20) Fancy Tricks – Laura Laura Rucker; 21) Rope Stretchin' Blues, Part 2 – Blind Blake; 22) Rope Stretchin' Blues, Part 1 (take 2) – Blind Blake; 23) Champagne Charlie Is My Name – Blind Blake; 24) Depression's Gone From Me Blues – Blind Blake.