Release Date: 1991, 2000.
Recording Time: 68 minutes.
Recording Date: c. January, 1929 - September 24, 1929.
Release Info: DOCD-5020, CD, Compilation, Reissue, Remastered.
This is the fourth of four volumes.
Abridged from this album's original booklet notes.
Blind Lemon Jefferson started 1929 with a very strong pair of recordings: "Eagle Eyed Mama" repeats the title phrase in every verse, reinforcing the imagery like a pop song, while "Dynamite Blues" offers a violent solution to his woman trouble ("blow her up late at night"!) in a cathartic fantasy. "Peach Orchard Mama", the first of a block of seven masters made at his next session and the only one to feature a short guitar solo, was probably Jefferson’s last major hit. It was re-recorded in the summer, along with its "B" aide "Big Night Blues", but not released until September. Big Joe Williams successfully revived "Peach Orchard Mama" in 1941 (Bluebird B-8774). The session ended with "That Black Snake Moan No. 2", a comparatively lifeless reworking of his massive 1926 / 7 hit and the fourth time he had utilized the theme on record. Two notable titles sandwiched between the extremes were "Oil Well Blues" (complete with spoken introduction), its imagery most appropriate to a Texas-born blues singer, and "Tin Cup Blues" which evokes the hard time when Blind Lemon Jefferson entertained on street corners for small change in his home state before he became a star recording artist. Jefferson's last recording session was held in the Gennett studios in Richmond, Indiana in September, 1929 and produced an unprecedented twelve masters. Lemon's voice sounds thicker on these recordings and one could speculate that this was a result of declining health, perhaps due to heavy drinking, but there is no real evidence of this and it may only be the result of the different studio sound. The singing was still ear, catching, the guitar playing fluid and the songs imaginative. "Bed Spring Blues" provided the source for Rich Trice's 1937 "Trembling Bed Springs Blues" (Decca 7701). "Cat Man Blues" ultimately derives from the traditional folk song "Our Goodman" (a 1960s UK pop hit as "Seven Drunken Nights") about the cuckolded husband but Lemon's persona is more astute and threatens: "Catman, he's got nine lives, he gonna need them when I gets through". Three verses from the Jefferson recording reappear (in adapted form) in Blind Boy Fuller's 1936 "Cat Man Blues" (Vocalion 03134), "Bakershop Blues" and "Long Distance Moan" were coupled together for a November release that was probably the last in his lifetime. "That Crawlin' Baby Blues" is a remarkable piece in which infidelity is revealed by as infant. Having graphically described his problems with bed bugs and chinches in earlier blues, Lemon's brilliant "Mosquito Moan" recounts his persecution by those troublesome biting insects. Characteristically, on his last recording, "Bootin' Me 'Bout", Blind Lemon Jefferson is still chasing browns and getting into trouble: "He (her father) must think his girl is made of purest gold. Don’t want her to go near no man, pretty soon she’ll be too old." ~ Bob Groom, 1991 Document Records.
Document's Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 4 (1929) is the final volume in a series of Blind Lemon Jefferson collections, reissuing the last 23 tracks he recorded before his tragic death in December. Despite a raft of great performances (including "Long Distance Moan" and "Black Snake Moan No. 2"), the lengthy running time and poor fidelity make it of only marginal interest to the great majority of blues fans. ~ Thom Owens
Credits: Compiled By, Producer – Johnny Parth; Graphics – Kevin Witt; Liner Notes – Bob Groom; Vocals, Guitar – Blind Lemon Jefferson.
Tracklist:
- 01. Eagle Eyed Mama - Blind Lemon Jefferson [2:40]
- 02. Dynamite Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson [2:52]
- 03. Disgusted Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson [2:48]
- 04. Competition Bed Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson [2:44]
- 05. Sad News Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson [2:52]
- 06. Peach Orchard Mama - Blind Lemon Jefferson [3:01]
- 07. Oil Well Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson [2:44]
- 08. Tin Cup Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson [2:43]
- 09. Big Night Blues (21199) - Blind Lemon Jefferson [2:52]
- 10. Empty House Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson [2:56]
- 11. Saturday Night Spender Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson [2:59]
- 12. That Black Snake Moan No. 2 - Blind Lemon Jefferson [2:48]
- 13. Bed Spring Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson [3:03]
- 14. Yo Yo Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson [2:34]
- 15. Mosquito Moan - Blind Lemon Jefferson [3:05]
- 16. Southern Woman Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson [3:05]
- 17. Bakershop Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson [3:10]
- 18. Pneumonia Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson [3:20]
- 19. Long Distance Moan - Blind Lemon Jefferson [3:26]
- 20. That Crawlin' Baby Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson [2:39]
- 21. Fence Breakin' Yellin' Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson [3:00]
- 22. Cat Man Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson [3:12]
- 23. The Cheaters Spell - Blind Lemon Jefferson [3:17]
- 24. Bootin' Me 'Bout - Blind Lemon Jefferson [3:09]
01: Chicago, c. January 1929 (21095-3, Paramount 12739)
02: Chicago, c. January 1929 (21096-1, Paramount 12739)
03: Chicago, c. January 1929 (21110-2, Paramount 12933)
04: Chicago, c. January 1929 (21132-1, Paramount 12728)
05: Chicago, c. January 1929 (21133-1, Paramount 12728)
06: Chicago, c. March 1929 (21196-1/21400-2, Paramount 12801)
07: Chicago, c. March 1929 (21197-1, Paramount 12771)
08: Chicago, c. March 1929 (21198-1, Paramount 12756)
09: Chicago, c. March 1929 (21199-1/21402-2, Paramount 12801)
10: Chicago, c. March 1929 (21200-1, Paramount 12946)
11: Chicago, c. March 1929 (21201-2, Paramount 12771)
12: Chicago, c. March 1929 (21202-1, Paramount 12756)
13: Richmond, Indiana, September 24, 1929 (15664, Paramount 12872)
14: Richmond, Indiana, September 24, 1929 (15665, Paramount 12872)
15: Richmond, Indiana, September 24, 1929 (15666, Paramount 12899)
16: Richmond, Indiana, September 24, 1929 (15667, Paramount 12899)
17: Richmond, Indiana, September 24, 1929 (15668, Paramount 12852)
18: Richmond, Indiana, September 24, 1929 (15669, Paramount 12880)
19: Richmond, Indiana, September 24, 1929 (15670-A, Paramount 12852)
20: Richmond, Indiana, September 24, 1929 (15671, Paramount 12880)
21: Richmond, Indiana, September 24, 1929 (15672, Paramount 12921)
22: Richmond, Indiana, September 24, 1929 (15673, Paramount 12921)
23: Richmond, Indiana, September 24, 1929 (15674, Paramount 12933)
24: Richmond, Indiana, September 24, 1929 (15675, Paramount 12946)