Label: Document Records.
Release Date: 1992.
Recording Time: 76 minutes.
Release Info: Compilation Studio Recording.
Recording Date: February 3, 1928 & February 4, 1932.
Styles: Delta Blues, Regional Blues, Pre-War Country Blues.
A native of Jackson, MS, Charlie McCoy (1909-1950) is remembered as a master of the blues mandolin and guitar. In 1992, Document Records Ltd released an unprecedented survey of early Charlie McCoy material in the form of a 24-track collection of rare recordings made during the years 1928-1932 and originally issued on the Victor, Columbia, Brunswick, Okeh, and Vocalion labels. On the first three tracks McCoy is heard backing Rosie Mae Moore, a powerfully expressive singer whose "Ha-Ha Blues" conveys a refreshing "screw you" attitude. "Hidin' on Me" and "Sweet Alberta," a pair of robust, old-fashioned singalong numbers, were performed in New Orleans in December 1928 by the Jackson Blue Boys, consisting of Charlie McCoy, Walter Vinson, and Bo Chatman. (Vinson and Chatman also made records together as the Mississippi Sheiks.) On September 22, 1929, the trio convened as Chatman Mississippi Hotfooters's at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis to sing "It Ain't No Good (Ain't No Way You Can Make It Fit Your Thing)." Before leaving the hotel, McCoy sang and strummed his guitar on his first solo record, the "Last Time Blues." The trio made a number of records in 1930, often with Chatman bowing a wheezy, gritty fiddle and sometimes billed either as the Mississippi Mud Steppers or the Mississippi Hot Footers. The "studio" chosen for most of these sessions was a room in the King Edward Hotel in Jackson, MS. This fascinating collection ends with two recordings made in New York City in early February 1932. Now presenting himself to the world as "Papa" Charlie McCoy, our hero performed duets with pianist Georgia Tom Dorsey and a guitarist who was either Tampa Red or Charlie's brother, Kansas Joe McCoy. The remainder of Charlie McCoy's discography (carefully researched and reissued by Document in various editions) includes sessions involving some of the people heard on this collection and quite a stylistic spread of recordings made in the company of his brother. The McCoys did some of their best work in 1936 as members of a swinging Chicago-based party band known as the Harlem Hamfats. ~ arwulf arwulf
Document BDCD-6018. Detailed discography.
The first recordings of Charlie McCoy show him as an accompanist with his mandolin. They were cut at the beginning of the famous session that produced the Johnson/ Bracey recordings, as a "warming up" so to speak. (The fourth title can be found on Bracey's CD - Document DOCD-5049.) The subsequent recording career of Charlie McCoy can be divided in two groups, the first one lasting till the end of 1930. In this period he played with members of the Mississippi Sheiks (Walter Vincson and Bo Chatman mostly) and he appeared under different names like Mississippi Mud Steppers or Mississippi Blacksnakes. Most of these recordings were made in Memphis, only one last session took place in his home town of Jackson, Mississippi. At least part of the songs were new versions of old successes: It Ain't No Good and It Is So Good are a mixture of 'Beedle Um Bum' (Georgia Tom) and 'It's Tight Like That' (Tampa Red). It's Hot Like That is, of course, a slightly rephrased version of the latter, and all these songs belong to the hokum genre. Another popular tune of the time, 'Cow Cow Blues', by Cow Cow Davenport, was recorded twice by Charlie, first as an instrumental version as Jackson Blues, then with lyrics of his own as the above mentioned That Lonesome Train Took My Baby Away. These lyrics are an outstanding example of blues poetry. In the last stanza of the song Charlie sings, as a summary and climax of the overall statement:
I walked down the track, when the stars refused to shine
Looked like every minute! was going to lose my mind
Now my knees was weak, my footsteps was all I heard
Looked like every minute I was stepping in another world
Here we have all the ingredients of great poetry: personification ("stars refused to shine"), the expression of complete loneliness ("my footsteps was all I heard") and a great metaphor ("stepping in another world") standing for utmost despair. In one of his last recordings in Jackson, Mississippi, Charlie McCoy stated, together with Bo Chatman, 'The Northern Starvers Are Returning Home'.
Personnel: Charley McCoy (also as "Papa" Charlie McCoy) - vocals, guitar, mandolin.
With contributions by: Walter Vincson - vocals, guitar; Bo Chatmon (Carter); And others.
Credits: Chatman's Mississippi Hot Footers - performer, primary artist; Bo Chatmon - performer, primary artist, vocals; Lonnie Chatmon - performer, primary artist, violin; Teddy Doering - liner notes; Georgia Tom - piano; Jackson Blue Boys - performer, primary artist; Charlie McCoy - composer, primary artist; Charlie McCoy - accordion, composer, guitar, mandolin, primary artist, vocals; Kansas Joe McCoy - guitar, performer, primary artist; Mississippi Hot Footers - performer, primary artist; Mississippi Mud Steppers - performer, primary artist; Rosie Mae Moore - accompaniment, accordion, composer, performer, primary artist, vocals; Johnny Parth - compilation producer, producer; Rudi Steager - executive producer; Tampa Red - guitar, performer, primary artist; Unknown Composer - composer; Walter Vinson - guitar, performer, primary artist, vocals.
Tracks: 1) Staggering Blues - Charlie McCoy with Rosie Mae Moore; 2) Ha-Ha Blues - Charlie McCoy with Rosie Mae Moore; 3) School Girl Blues - Charlie McCoy with Rosie Mae Moore; 4) Hidin' On Me - Jackson Blue Boys; 5) Sweet Alberta - Jackson Blue Boys; 6) It Ain't No Good, Part I - Charlie McCoy; 7) Last Time Blues - Charlie McCoy; 8) It Ain't No Good, Part II - Charlie McCoy; 9) Your Valves Need Grinding - Charlie McCoy; 10) It's Hot Like That - Charlie McCoy; 11) Glad Hand Blues - Charlie McCoy; 12) Blue Heaven Blues - Charlie McCoy; 13) Vicksburg Stomp - Mississippi Mud Steppers; 14) Sunset Waltz - Mississippi Mud Steppers; 15) That Lonesome Train Took My Baby Away - Charlie McCoy; 16) Always In Love With You - Charlie McCoy; 17) I've Been Blue Ever Since You Went Away - Charlie McCoy; 18) You Gonna Need Me - Charlie McCoy; 19) It Is So Good, Part 1 - Charlie McCoy; 20) It Is So Good, Part 2 - Charlie McCoy; 21) The Northern Starvers Are Returning Home - Charlie McCoy; 22) Mississippi I'm Longing For You - Charlie McCoy; 23) Times Ain't What They Used To Be - Charlie McCoy; 24) Too Long - Charlie McCoy.