Label: Legacy / Columbia.
Release Date: February 6, 1996.
Recording Time: 64 minutes.
Release Info: Studio Recording.
Recording Date: March 26, 1927 - December, 1947.
Styles: Acoustic Blues, Acoustic Chicago Blues, Acoustic Memphis Blues, Chicago Blues, Classic Female Blues, Country Blues, Jug Band, Piano Blues, Piedmont Blues, Pre-War Blues, Pre-War Country Blues, Regional Blues, St. Louis Blues.
Booze & the Blues is a thoroughly entertaining collection of 22 pre-war blues songs about wine, drinking, whiskey and blues. It's a gimmicky excuse for a collection, but it works, not only because the songs and performances are good, but because the tracks all have a similar spirit. Among the highlights are tracks by Memphis Minnie, Mississippi Sheiks, Robert Hicks, the Memphis Jug Band, Amos Easton, Lucille Bogan, Peetie Wheatstraw and Joshua White. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Credits: Black Bob - piano; Lew Black - guitar, vocals; Lewis Black - primary artist, vocals; Adam Block - project director; Lucille Bogan - composer, performer, primary artist, vocals; Big Bill Broonzy - composer, guitar, performer, primary artist, vocals; Charlie Burse - guitar, shouts, speech/speaker/speaking part; Robert Burse - drums; Leonard Caston - guitar, piano; Lonnie Chatmon - violin; Lawrence Cohn - photography, producer; Blind John Davis - piano; Bernardo Dennis - guitar; Willie Dixon - bass, string bass; Frank Driggs - photography; Amos Easton - performer, primary artist, vocals; Howard Fritzson - art direction; Bill Gaither - composer, performer, primary artist; Robert Hicks - guitar, performer, primary artist, vocals; Rosetta Howard - performer, primary artist, vocals; Peg Leg Howell - guitar; Black Bob Hudson - piano; Mark Humphrey - liner notes; Mark A. Humphrey - liner notes; Merline Johnson - performer, primary artist, vocals; Jab Jones - jug; Charley Jordan - guitar, performer, primary artist, vocals; Ransom Knowling - bass, String bass; Mary Mack - vocals; Horace Malcolm - piano; Kansas Joe McCoy - composer; Memphis Jug Band - performer, primary artist; Memphis Minnie - guitar, performer, primary artist, vocals; Mississippi Sheiks - composer, performer, primary artist; David Mitson - mastering; Kid Prince Moore - guitar, primary artist, vocals; Herb Morand - trumpet; Rev. W.M. Mosley - primary artist, vocals; Arnett Nelson - clarinet; Jack Newman - performer, piano, primary artist, vocals; Charlie Pierce - violin; Judge Riley - drums; Walter Roland - piano; Charles Saunders - drums; Will Shade - guitar, speech/speaker/speaking part, vocals; Sloppy Henry - primary artist; Charlie Spand - performer, piano, primary artist, vocals; State Sweet Swingers - composer, performer, primary artist; Walter Vinson - guitar, vocals; Washboard Sam - washboard; Casey Bill Weldon - guitar (steel), performer, primary artist, vocals; Peetie Wheatstraw - performer, piano, primary artist, vocals; Josh White - guitar, performer, vocals; Joshua "Pinetree Tom" White - guitar, performer, primary artist, vocals.
Tracks: 1. You Drink Too Much - State Sweet Swingers; 2. Cherry Wine Woman - Charley Jordan; 3. Drunken Barrel House Blues - Memphis Minnie; 4. Bootlegger's Blues - Mississippi Sheiks; 5. Me and My Whiskey - Robert Hicks; 6. Bug Juice Blues - Kid Prince Moore; 7. Rock and Rye - Charlie Spand; 8. Rukus Juice and Chittlin' - Memphis Jug Band; 9. Bad Whiskey Blues - Merline Johnson; 10. I Keep on Drinkin (To Drive My Blues Away), Pt. I - Amos Easton; 11. I Keep on Drinkin (To Drive My Blues Away), Pt. II - Amos Easton; 12. Moonshine by the Keg - Bill Gaither; 13. Drinking Blues - Lucille Bogan; 14. More Good Whiskey Blues - Peetie Wheatstraw; 15. Pigmeat and Whiskey Blues - Joshua "Pinetree Tom" White; 16. Give Me Another Shot - Casey Bill Weldon; 17. When I Been Drinking - Rosetta Howard; 18. Corn Liquor Blues - Lewis Black; 19. Canned Heat Blues - Sloppy Henry; 20. When I Been Drinking - Big Bill Broonzy; 21. Blackberry Wine - Jack Newman; 22. Drinking Shine - Rev. W.M. Mosley.