Release Date: January 1, 1992 (orig. release 1960).
Release Info: Studio Recording, OBCCD-517-2 (BV-1040).
Recording Date: 1949 (14,15) - September, 1956.
Recording Location: Atlanta, GA.
Recording Time: 32 minutes.
Styles: Acoustic Blues, Country Blues, East Coast Blues, Piedmont Blues, Regional Blues.
This recording has a less-than-stellar reputation, principally because it was done so late in McTell's career, and it is true that he lacks some of the edge, especially in his singing, that he showed on his other postwar recordings. On the other hand, his 12-string playing is about as nimble as ever and a real treat. McTell cut these sides for record store owner Ed Rhodes, who had begun taping local bluesmen at his shop in Atlanta in the hope of releasing some of it -- McTell took to the idea of recording only slowly, then turned up one night and played for the microphone and anyone who happened to be listening, finishing a pint of bourbon in the process -- the result was a pricelessly intimate document, some of the words slurred here and there, but brilliantly expressive and stunningly played. No apologies are needed for "The Dyin' Crapshooter's Blues," "Don't Forget It," or "Salty Dog," however. McTell lived a few more years but never recorded again, which is a pity because based on this tape he still had a lot to show people. Rhodes never did anything with the tapes, and might've junked them if he hadn't remembered how important the McTell material was -- they turned out to be the only tapes he saved, out of all he'd recorded. ~ Bruce Eder
Credits: Gary Atkinson - composer; Samuel Charters - liner notes, producer; Phil DeLancie - remastering; Dr. David Evans - liner notes; Kenneth S. Goldstein - producer; Papa Charlie Jackson - composer; Blind Willie McTell - composer, guitar, guitar (12 string), primary artist, vocals; Nick Perls - cover art, mastering; Edward Rhodes - engineer; Don Schlitten - design; Traditional - composer; Robert Vosgien - digital mastering.
Tracks: 1. Baby, It Must Be Love; 2. The Dyin' Crpshooter's Blues; 3. Don't Forget It; 4. Kill It Kid; 5. That Will Never Happen No More; 6. Goodbye Blues; 7. Salty Dog; 8. Early Life; 9. Beedle Um Bum; 10. A Married Man's a Fool; 11. A to Z Blues; 12. Wabash Cannonball; 13. Pal of Mine; 14. Kill It Kid; 15. Broke Down Engine Blues.