My Rough And Rowdy Ways (Early American Rural Music, Badman Ballads And Hellraising Songs), Classic Recordings Of The 1920s & 30s - Vol. 2 by Various Artists

Label: Yazoo Records.

Release Date: October 20, 1998.

Recording Time: 68 minutes.

Release Info: Studio Recording.

Recording Date: 1920's - 1930's.

Styles: Acoustic Blues, Country Blues, Old-Timey, Traditional Country, Field Recordings, Pre-War Country Blues, Pre-War Gospel Blues, Vaudeville Blues.

My Rough and Rowdy Ways, Vol. 2 features 23 songs from the '30s about badmen and hellraisers, by artists ranging from legends like Uncle Dave Macon, Mississippi John Hurt, and Big Bill Broonzy to obscure music pioneers like George Reneau and groups like the Haywood County Ramblers. The mix of white, country, and black, blues artists is one of the better in this series, the music meshing together to form a kind of audio panorama of story-songs dealing with life on the far side of law and order -- "Otto Wood the Bandit" by the Carolina Buddies, (aka Odell Smith [fiddle] and Norman Woodlief [guitar]), segues into Mississippi John Hurt's "Frankie," followed by Uncle Dave Macon's rip-roaring banjo workout "Railroadin' and Gamblin'" (anyone seeking a track that defines Macon's claw-hammer style of banjo playing need look no further than this cut). Among the too little heard bluesmen featured here are Sloppy Henry ("Canned Heat Blues") and Peg Leg Howell ("Skin Game Blues"), who also plays on Henry's cut, and Robert Wilkins, whose "Old Jim Canan's" features a superb guitar duet between the singer and Little Son Joe, later the husband of Memphis Minnie. Country highlights include Georgia based fiddle wildman Earl Johnson ("Nobody's Business") and George Reneau's "Jesse James," which features singing by future star crooner Gene Austin. Yazoo has done a generally good job of remastering these cuts, so the sound on most of it (David Miller's "That Bad Man Stackolee" and Uncle Dave Macon's "Late Last Night When Willie Come Home" are the big exceptions) holds together at a decent volume without any excessive artificial processing or distracting noise. The only drawback is the booklet, which is extremely confusing, since it refers extensively to artists and material on Vol. 1 of this collection, a separate CD. ~ Bruce Eder

Credits: Emry Arthur - performer, primary artist; Big Bill Broonzy - composer, performer, primary artist; Bob Campbell - performer, primary artist; The Carolina Buddies - performer, primary artist; Bill Cox - performer, primary artist; Vernon Dalhart - performer, primary artist; Eva Davis - primary artist; Rev. Gary Davis - composer; Garland Jubilee Singers - primary artist; The Georgia Crackers - primary artist; Porter Grainger - composer; Leothus Lee Green - primary artist; Hall Brothers Jazz Band - primary artist; The Hickory Nuts - performer, primary artist; Peg Leg Howell - composer, performer, primary artist; Mississippi John Hurt - composer, performer, primary artist; Earl Johnson - performer, primary artist; Dick Justice - performer, primary artist; Don Kent - liner notes; Uncle Dave Macon - performer, primary artist; Sam McGee - performer, primary artist; David Miller - primary artist; Richard Nevins - compilation producer, remastering; Joan Pelosi - design; George Reneau - primary artist; Everett Robbins - composer; Sloppy Henry - primary artist; T. J. Amall - composer; Traditional - composer; Robert Wilkins - performer, primary artist; Charles K. Wolfe - liner notes; Haskell Wolfenbarger - performer, primary artist.

Tracks: 1) Cocaine - Dick Justice; 2) Otto Wood the Bandit - The Carolina Buddies; 3) Frankie - Mississippi John Hurt; 4) Railroadin' and Gamblin' - Uncle Dave Macon; 5) That Bad Man Stackolee - David Miller; 6) Canned Heat Blues - Sloppy Henry; 7) Ain't Nobody's Business - Earl Johnson; 8) Skin Game Blues - Peg Leg Howell; 9) Late Last Night When My Willie Came Home - Uncle Dave Macon & Sam McGee; 10) Dice's Blues - Bob Campbell; 11) Sailing Out on the Ocean - Haskell Wolfenbarger; 12) Louisville Burglar - The Hickory Nuts; 13) Old Jim Canan's - Robert Wilkins; 14) Billy the Kid - Vernon Dalhart; 15) Georgia Black Bottom - The Georgia Crackers; 16) Ethan Lang - Emry Arthur; 17) The Wrong Road - Hall Brothers Jazz Band; 18) Wild Bill Jones - Eva Davis; 19) Bad Man Napper - Leothus Lee Green; 20) Jesse James - George Reneau; 21) My Rough and Rowdy Ways - Bill Cox; 22) Good Liquor Gonna Carry Me Down - Big Bill Broonzy; 23) This Train - Garland Jubilee Singers.