Label: Document Records.
Release Date: 1991.
Recording Time: 66 minutes.
Release Info: Compilation (DOCD-5017) Studio Recording.
Recording Date: December, 1925 - December, 1926.
Styles: Acoustic Blues, Acoustic Texas Blues, Country Blues, Field Recordings, Pre-War Gospel Blues, Regional Blues, Texas Blues.
90 performances by Blind Lemon Jefferson were reissued in chronological sequence as his "complete recorded works" by the Document label in 1994. The songs were parceled out neatly so that material from each successive year of his short recording career occupied a separate disc, with volume one containing 23 selections recorded between December 1925 and December 1926. Those who feel prepared to shed the shackles of convention and jettison preconceived notions of what the blues or music in general is supposed to sound like should seriously consider obtaining all four volumes, for listening to nearly every record known to have been made by Blind Lemon Jefferson can be a moving and transformationally rewarding experience. Born near the end of the 19th century in the village of Couchman, south of Dallas between Mexia and Corsicana in Freestone County, TX, he came up in a racially segregated environment where blindness lowered his already rock-bottom social status as a member of the African American underclass. The name Lemon, which is believed to have been bestowed upon him at birth, was a reference to the shape of his head. (A few years later, this playful aspect of the culture would cause saxophonist Coleman Hawkins to be dubbed "Bean" by his fellow musicians because they felt that his cranium resembled a haricot bean.) Legend has it that Lemon and the slightly younger Blind Willie Johnson, who grew up in Marlin a few miles southeast of Waco, would sometimes perform publicly on the streets of Marlin at the same time. This would have made for an intriguing if inadvertent near-rupturing of the socially constructed barrier between the sacred and the secular, for Willie sang nothing but spirituals and Lemon, who hung out with gamblers, hooch peddlers, pimps, and prostitutes, was and has since been solidly identified with the hedonistic genre of the blues. Lemon, however, cannot be so easily categorized, and the first record he ever cut was "I Want to Be Like Jesus in My Heart" b/w "All I Want Is That Pure Religion." Although historians usually pronounce these to be puzzling non-sequiturs, the obvious lesson is that Lemon sang exactly the songs that he felt he ought to sing, and that the profoundly spiritual component that exists in the heart and marrows of African-American culture continues to be underestimated and misunderstood by those who seek to evaluate the music from their own points of reference outside of that culture. As for the listening experience itself, bear in mind that these deliciously scratchy, acoustically recorded Paramount platters were meant to be experienced as single playbacks heard on a windup phonograph, not as nearly two dozen consecutive segments on a disc that takes about an hour to play through. What the CD compilation does accomplish, however, is to enable the listener to relax and surrender to what comes to resemble a sort of early 20th century African-American oratorio made up of beautifully honest reflections on what it's like to live in the world. Lemon's guitar and voice are utterly captivating, and an hour spent in his very special company can be positively magical. Those who yearn for "cleaner" audio should go directly to JSP's 94-track four-CD set, issued in 2003. And there's nothing wrong with consulting both sets so as to be able to compare differently remastered takes. ~ arwulf arwulf
Document Records (DOCD-5017)
Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. Pianist Sammy Price is credited with bringing Jefferson to the attention of Mayo Williams of Paramount Records, who were looking for other male blues artists to follow up their initial success with Papa Charlie Jackson. Curiously, these were two old spirituals which were later issued under the pseudonym ‘Deacon L. J. Bates‘. Perhaps the idea was to test the market for this unusual-sounding performer, however the recordings were held back for release until the following autumn. Certainly they lack the impact of Lemon's blues performances. A more passionate version of Pure Religion was recorded by Blind Gussie Nesbit in 1930 (Columbia 14576-D) while the 1927 recording of I Want To Be Like Jesus In My Heart by Mississippi blues singer Sam Collins (Gennett 6291), with slide guitar accompaniment, offers a useful comparison with Lemon's recording. Early in 1926 Blind Lemon Jefferson was recalled to the studio to record some blues. The four sides from this session were used for his first two records. Booster Blues and Dry Southern Blues were issued around the beginning of April and sales were obviously good as Paramount quickly issued Got the Blues and Long Lonesome Blues. This second record was phenomenally successful, tapping a market thirsty for Southern-styled blues. Within a few weeks Got The Blues and Long Lonesome Blues were remade at the Marsh Laboratories and these new recordings were used for later pressings of Paramount 12354. Lines and verses from Jefferson's songs crop up in many later blues recordings. Robert Johnson adapted v.2 and v. 3 of Dry Southern Blues for his Love In Vain Blues and Walking Blues. The tremendous success of Lemon's Black Horse Blues probably inspired Tommy Johnson‘s Black Mare Blues and Charlie Patton to record his Pony Blues. Jefferson himself drew on the blues tradition extensively. Corinna Blues uses the tune and first verse of See See Rider, while Jack O'Diamonds is a straight version of an old gambling ballad, with Lemon playing knife-style slide guitar in an open tuning, for the only time on record. Another old-time number he recorded was Beggin' Back, a variant of the piece recorded by Frank Stokes as Take Me Back (Victor V-38531) in 1928, but composed as far back as 1898 by B. McMahon. In Old Rounders Blues, a celebration of dissolute living which opens with an ear-splitting cowboy yell, Lemon sings "ain't goin' to marry, ain't gonna settle down". However, he did have a wife down in Texas, Roberta, and one wonders what she made of lines like "I got a girl for Monday. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday too" (in Chock House Blues) as Blind Lemon Jefferson spent more and more time up north in Chicago. (Furry Lewis and Jim Jackson also made use of the "girl for every day in the week" idea on record.) Perhaps he was thinking of her when he sang (in Stocking Feet Blues) the striking verse "Somebody just keeps on followin' me, she got hair like a mermaid on the sea". That Black Snake Moan, with its strong sexual imagery, was a pre-Christmas hit, giving Lemon 6 successful releases in 1926. Victoria Spivey always claimed, with some justification, that Jefferson based his song on her Black Snake Blues (OKeh 8338). However, Lemon's song stands on its own merits and its popularity was such that he made no less than three later versions of the theme. Blind Lemon's first 1927 release coupled Wartime Blues, composed of floating verses but with a title verse that harked back to World War 1, and Booger Rooger Blues, which mentions various Dallas neighborhoods where he had lady friends. In March Paramount released Bad Luck Blues and Broke And Hungry, which probably inspired Sleepy John Estes‘ first Victor recording, Broken-Hearted, Ragged And Dirty Too, in September, 1929. In April Paramount put out the first Blind Lemon Jefferson record that bore the slogan "electrically recorded". Rabbit Foot Blues, which opens with the immortal line, "blues jumped a rabbit, run him one solid mile", and Shuckin' Sugar Blues, with its attractive melody and catchy title refrain. Jefferson's uncompromising approach and consistently high standard of performance ensured that his records continued to sell in large quantities until the end of the decade. ~ Bob Groom
Credits: Bob Groom - liner notes; Blind Lemon Jefferson - composer, guitar, primary artist, vocals; Lead Belly - composer; George Perkins - piano; Traditional - composer.
Tracks: 1. I Want To Be Like Jesus In My Heart; 2. All I Want Is That Pure Religion; 3. Got The Blues (2471); 4. Long Lonesome Blues (2472); 5. Booster Blues; 6. Dry Southern Blues; 7. Black Horse Blues; 8. Corinna Blues (take 2); 9. Got The Blues (1053); 10. Long Lonesome Blues (1054); 11. Jack O'Diamonds (Take 1); 12. Jack O'Diamonds (Take 2); 13. Chock House Blues; 14. Beggin' Back; 15. Old Rounders Blues; 16. Stocking Feet Blues (Take 1); 17. That Black Snake Moan (Take 2); 18. War Time Blues; 19. Broke And Hungry Blues (Take 2); 20. Shuckin' Sugar (Take 2); 21. Booger Rooger Blues; 22. Rabbit Foot Blues; 23. Bad Luck Blues.