Release Date: June 6, 2006.
Recording Time: 300 minutes.
Release Info: Compilation (JSP7759) Studio Recording.
Styles: Acoustic Blues, Blues Gospel, Country Blues, Folk-Blues.
In the Depression era 1930s and on into the 1950s, the blues and sacred music often went hand and hand like two sides of the same coin in the repertoires of street musicians, who clearly understood both the differences and similarities between Saturday night music and its Sunday morning counterpart. The two styles actually shared the same yearning for a better life and an almost blind hope in deliverance and redemption, and often just the change of a line or two could make a blues song sound sacred or a religious folk hymn sound like street-corner blues. This four-disc set features various street-corner guitar preachers working the sacred side of the street, and includes 17 tracks by the Rev. Gary Davis, along with a disc and a half of sides by Blind Joe Taggart, 15 cuts by Two Gospel Keys (Emma Daniels and Mother Sally Jones, a guitar and tambourine duo), and additional material by Elizabeth Phillips, Henry Green, Blind Willie Davis, Eddie Head, Brother Willie Eason, Rev. Charles White, Blind Gussie Nesbit, Bull City Red, Mother McCollum, and Sister Matthews. Among the highlights are a couple of versions of Taggart's "I Wonder Will My Mother Be on That Train?," his pointed "Scandalous and a Shame," Two Gospel Keys' gentle and kinetic "I Can't Tarry," Sister O.M. Terrell's odd "God's Little Birds," and Blind Gussie Nesbit's "Canaan Land." Also worth noting are Davis' amazing "Civil War March," which is neither blues nor sacred but is instead an instrumental guitar tour de force; Mother McCollum's bizarre and infectious "Jesus Is My Air-O-Plane"; and a strong pair of songs featuring electric guitar from Henry Green, "Storm Thru Mississippi" and the eerie "Strange Things." ~ Steve Leggett
Credits: Blind Joe Amos - Performer, Primary Artist; Bull City Red - Primary Artist; James Butler - Primary Artist; Blind Willie Davis - Primary Artist; Rev. Gary Davis - Primary Artist; Brother Willie Eason - Primary Artist; Henry Green - Primary Artist; Eddie Head and His Family - Performer, Primary Artist; Sister Mathews - Primary Artist; Mother McCollum - Primary Artist; Blind Gussie Nesbit - Primary Artist; Elizabeth Phillips - Primary Artist; Sister Elizabeth Phillips - Primary Artist; Sister Matthews - Performer, Primary Artist; Blind Joe Taggart - Primary Artist; Sister O.M. Terrell - Primary Artist; Two Gospel Keys - Primary Artist; George "Bull City Red" Washington - Primary Artist; Charles White - Primary Artist.
Tracklist:
1-01. I Will Not Be Removed - Blind Joe Taggart
1-02. Everything's Got To Be Tried - Blind Joe Taggart
1-03. I'll Be Satisfied - Blind Joe Taggart
1-04. Take Your Burden To The Lord - Blind Joe Taggart
1-05. I Wish My Mother Was On That Train - Blind Joe Taggart
1-06. Just Beyond Jordan - Blind Joe Taggart
1-07. Keep On The Firing Line - Blind Joe Taggart
1-08. The Half Ain't Never Been Told - Blind Joe Taggart
1-09. C & O Blues - Blind Joe Amos
1-10. The Storm Is Passing Over - Blind Joe Taggart
1-11. God's Gonna Seperate The Wheats From The Tares - Blind Joe Taggart
1-12. Been Listening All The Day - Blind Joe Taggart
1-13. Goin' To Rest Where Jesus Is - Blind Joe Taggart
1-14. There's A Hand Writting On The Wall - Blind Joe Taggart
1-15. Scandalous And A Shame - Blind Joe Taggart
1-16. I've Crossed The Separation Line - Blind Joe Taggart
1-17. Lord Don't Drive Me Away - Blind Joe Taggart
1-18. Religion Is Something Within You - Blind Joe Taggart
1-19. Mother's Love - Blind Joe Taggart
1-20. Wonder Will My Troubles Then Be Ove - Blind Joe Taggart
1-21. Strange Things Happening In The Land - Blind Joe Taggart
1-22. Waded In The Water Trying To Get Home - Blind Joe Taggart
1-23. He Done What The World Couldn't Do - Blind Joe Taggart
1-24. Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down - Blind Joe Taggart
1-25. I Ain't No Sinner Now - Blind Joe Taggart
1-26. Pressin' Up That Shiny Way - Blind Joe Taggart
1-27. In That Pearly White City Above - Blind Joe Taggart
2-01. I Wonder Will My Mother Be On That Train? - Blind Joe Taggart
2-02. God's Gonna Seperate The Wheats From The Tares - Blind Joe Taggart
2-03. When I Stand Before The King - Blind Joe Taggart
2-04. I Ain't No Sinner Now - Blind Joe Taggart
2-05. Charity - Two Gospel Keys
2-06. I Love Travelling - Two Gospel Keys
2-07. I Want My Crown - Two Gospel Keys
2-08. We're Gonna Have A Good Time - Two Gospel Keys
2-09. Precious Lord - Two Gospel Keys
2-10. You've Got To Move - Two Gospel Keys
2-11. I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore - Two Gospel Keys
2-12. You've Got To Move (When The Lord Gets Ready) - Two Gospel Keys
2-13. Can't No Grave Hold My Body Down - Two Gospel Keys
2-14. When Jesus Met The Woman At The Well - Two Gospel Keys
2-15. Precious Lord - Two Gospel Keys
2-16. I Don't Wanna Go Down There Pt.1 - Two Gospel Keys
2-17. I Don't Wanna Go Down There Pt.2 - Two Gospel Keys
2-18. This Heart Of Mine - Two Gospel Keys
2-19. Every Man Got To Lay Down And Die - Two Gospel Keys
2-20. I Can't Tarry - Two Gospel Keys
2-21. A Little Old Fashioned - Sister Elizabeth Phillips
2-22. There Is Nothing Like The Holy Spirit - Sister Elizabeth Phillips
2-23. Storm Thru Mississippi - Henry Green
2-24. Strange Things - Henry Green
3-01. When The Saints Go Marching In - Blind Willie Davis
3-02. Rock Of Ages - Blind Willie Davis
3-03. Your Enemy Cannot Harm You - Blind Willie Davis
3-04. I've Got The Key To The Kingdom - Blind Willie Davis
3-05. Trust In God And Do The Right - Blind Willie Davis
3-06. I Believe I'll Go Back Home - Blind Willie Davis
3-07. Down On Me - Eddie Head And His Family
3-08. Lord, I'm The True Vine - Eddie Head And His Family
3-09. Trying To Get Home - Eddie Head And His Family
3-10. Within My Mind - Eddie Head And His Family
3-11. There'll Be No Grumblers There - Brother Willie Eason
3-12. I Want To Live ( So God Can Use Me) - Brother Willie Eason
3-13. How Long - Charles White (13)
3-14. Life Is A Problem - Sister O. M. Terrell
3-15. How Long Nashville - Sister O. M. Terrell
3-16. God's Little Birds - Sister O. M. Terrell
3-17. The Bible's Right - Sister O. M. Terrell
3-18. The Gamblin' Man - Sister O. M. Terrell
3-19. I'm Going To That City - Sister O. M. Terrell
3-20. Swing Low Sweet Chariot - Sister O. M. Terrell
3-21. Lord I Want You To Lead Me - Sister O. M. Terrell
3-22. Pure Religion - Blind Gussie Nesbit
3-23. Canaan Land - Blind Gussie Nesbit
3-24. Motherless Children - Blind Gussie Nesbit
3-25. I'll Just Stand And Wring My Hands And Cry - Blind Gussie Nesbit
4-01. I'm Throwing Up My Hands - Rev. Gary Davis
4-02. Cross And Evil Women Blues - Rev. Gary Davis
4-03. I Am The True Vine - Rev. Gary Davis
4-04. I Am The Light Of The World - Rev. Gary Davis
4-05. Oh Lord Search My Heart - Rev. Gary Davis
4-06. I Saw The Light - Rev. Gary Davis, George Washington (6)
4-07. You Can Come Home - Rev. Gary Davis
4-08. Twelve Gates To The City - Rev. Gary Davis
4-09. Have More Faith In Jesus - Rev. Gary Davis
4-10. You Got To Go Down - Rev. Gary Davis
4-11. I Belong to the Band-Hallelujah! - Rev. Gary Davis
4-12. The Great Change In Me - Rev. Gary Davis
4-13. Lord, I Wish I Could See - Rev. Gary Davis
4-14. Lord, Stand By Me - Rev. Gary Davis
4-15. The Angel's Message To Me - Rev. Gary Davis
4-16. Civil War March - Rev. Gary Davis
4-17. I Cannot Bear My Burden By Myself - Rev. Gary Davis
4-18. I'm Gonna Meet You At The Station - Rev. Gary Davis
4-19. I Want To See Him - Mother McCollum
4-20. When I Take My Vaction In Heaven - Mother McCollum
4-21. You Can't Hide - Mother McCollum
4-22. Jesus Is My Air-O-Plane - Mother McCollum
4-23. Oh! Lord I'm Your Child - Mother McCollum
4-24. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! - Mother McCollum
4-25. Stand By Me - Sister Mathews