Label: Atlantic Records.
Release Date: February 8, 2005.
Recording Time: 44 minutes.
Release Info: Studio Recording (82366-2).
Recording Date: 1949.
Recording Location: Atlanta, GA.
Styles: Acoustic Blues, Country Blues, East Coast Blues, Piedmont Blues, Regional Blues.
In 1949, a brief flurry of interest in old-timey country blues resulted in this 15-song session by Blind Willie McTell for the newly formed Atlantic Records. Only two songs, "Kill It Kid" and "Broke Down Engine Blues," were ever issued on a failed single, and the session was forgotten until almost 20 years later. McTell is mostly solo here, vividly captured on acoustic 12-string (his sometime partner Curley Weaver may have been present on some tracks), and in excellent form. The playing and the repertory are representative of McTell as he was at this point in his career, a blues veteran rolling through his paces without skipping a beat and quietly electrifying the listener. Songs include "Dying Crapshooter's Blues," "The Razor Ball," and "Ain't I Grand to Live a Christian." ~ Bruce Eder
Credits: Herb Abramson - producer; Ahmet Ertegun - producer; Norman Gimbel - composer; Deni King - engineer; Blind Willie McTell - composer, guitar, primary artist, vocals; Simon A. Napier - liner notes; Pinetop Smith - composer; Stanislaw Zagorski - design.
Tracks: 1. Kill It Kid; 2. The Razor Ball; 3. Little Delia; 4. Broke Down Engine; 5. Dying Crapshooter's Blues; 6. Pinetop's Boogie Woogie; 7. Blues Around Midnight; 8. Last Dime Blues; 9. On the Cooling Board; 10. Motherless Children Have a Hard Time; 11. I Got to Cross the River Jordan; 12. You Got to Die; 13. Ain't It Grand to Live a Christian; 14. Pearly Gates; 15. Soon This Morning.