Label: Arhoolie Records.
Release Date: June 25, 1996.
Recording Time: 79 minutes.
Recording Date: 1952 - 1959.
Release Info: Compilation (CD 419) Studio Recording.
Recorded at Angola State Penitentiary, Angola, Louisiana, between 1952 and 1959.
Styles: Acoustic Blues, Country Blues, Early American Blues, Acoustic Louisiana Blues, Blues Revival, Regional Blues, Adult Contemporary, Work Songs.
In the '50s, Harry Oster made several recordings of African-American inmates at the penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana. These sessions are primarily remembered for the discovery of Robert Pete Williams, but Oster also found several other acoustic blues performers of merit. Several of them are featured on this 20-track, 80-minute CD (which includes three tracks by Williams). Although these singers had hard daily lives and went through hard times before they were jailed, this is hardly a downer record. It's largely first-class acoustic blues with a relaxed (if sometimes sad) dignity. The lyrics are sometimes related to prison life, as in Robert Pete Williams' minor-keyed "Prisoner's Talking Blues" and Guitar Welch's "Electric Chair Blues." Yet much of the material is simply the usual songs of struggle and hope common to the blues, mixed in with some a cappella, spiritual-flavored cuts by female prisoners, and one male vocal group performance clearly derived from doo wop. Guitar blues is the predominant style, though, and country-blues fans will find much to enjoy here, whether they're interested in the folklore aspect or not. Thirteen of the tracks on the CD version were previously unreleased. ~ Richie Unterberger
Credits: Richard B. Allen - assistant engineer; Capella A Group - primary artist; Roosevelt Charles - composer, performer, primary artist, vocals; Paul B. Crawford - liner notes (musicological notes); Jody "Butterbeans" Edwards - composer, primary artist; W.C. Handy - composer; Thelma Mae Joseph - composer, performer, primary artist, vocals; Martha E. Koenig - composer; Odea Mathews - primary artist, vocals; Hogman Maxey - composer, guitar, guitar (12 string), performer, primary artist, vocals; Harry Oster - editing, engineer, liner notes, photography; Wayne Pope - artwork, photography; Johnny Shines - composer; Chris Stachwitz - editing, liner note art, release production; Chris Strachwitz - editing, liner notes, producer; Traditional - composer; Vocal Group - primary artist; Otis Webster - guitar, performer, primary artist, vocals; Guitar Welch - composer, guitar, performer, primary artist, vocals; Robert Pete Williams - composer, guitar, guitar (12 string), performer, primary artist, vocals; Spencer Williams - composer; Hally Wood - composer; Clara Young - composer, performer, primary artist, vocals.
Tracklist:
1. Prisoner's Talking Blues - Robert Pete Williams;
2. Stagolee - Hogman Maxey;
3. Electric Chair Blues - Guitar Welch;
4. Black Night Is Fallin' - Hogman Maxey;
5. Some Got Six Months - Robert Pete Williams;
6. I'm Gonna Leave You Mama - Guitar Welch;
7. I'm Lonesome Blues - Robert Pete Williams;
8. Angola Bound - Unknown Artist;
9. Worried Blues - Hogman Maxey;
10. Josephine - Guitar Welch;
11. Soldier's Plea - Clara Young;
12. The Moon Is Rising - Odea Mathews;
13. I'm Still In Love With You - Thelma Mae Joseph;
14. I Miss You So - Unknown Artist;
15. Hello, Sue - Butterbeans;
16. Fast Life Woman - Hogman Maxey;
17. Careless Love - Otis Webster;
18. Have You Ever Heard The Church Bells Tone - Roosevelt Charles / Otis Webster;
19. 61 Highway - Guitar Welch;
20. Strike At Camp I - Roosevelt Charles.