Release Date: 1991.
Recording Time: 60 minutes.
Recording Date: November 6, 1929 - December 8, 1930.
Release Info: Compilation (DOCD-5048) Studio Recording.
Styles: Country Blues, Pre-War Country Blues, Acoustic Blues, Pre-War Blues.
"Barbecue Bob"'s final recordings are on this third of three discs. Bob (whose name was actually Robert Hicks) died on October 21, 1931, at the age of just 29 from pneumonia. Since his last solo records were made during November 6, 1929, and April 17-December 5, 1930, there is no decline heard in his singing or playing. Barbecue Bob is heard on 13 unaccompanied numbers (including "She Move It Just Right," "Yo Yo Blues No. 2," "We Sure Got Hard Times," and "Atlanta Moan") and interacting with his brother Charlie Lincoln on the amusing two-part "Darktown Gamblin'." Barbecue Bob's final four recordings were made as part of the Georgia Cotton Pickers on December 7-8, 1930, a trio with guitarist/singer Curly Weaver and Buddy Moss on harmonica. Recommended, as are all three volumes of this valuable series. ~ Scott Yanow
Abridged from this album's original booklet notes.
Columbia's field recording trips to the South took place twice a year from 1925 to 1930, in the spring and the late fall; having collected eight songs (of which they issued six) from Barbecue Bob in November 1929, they returned as usual in April 1930. On this occasion, Bob's brother Charlie Lincoln made his only recorded appearance under his real name on the comic dialogues Darktown Gamblin', which were credited to Robert & Charlie Hicks. Barbecue Bob was still a hot property as far as Columbia were concerned, though they were shortly to find that his, like all blues records, were becoming a luxury that blacks could ill afford in those “hard times”. Similarly, Bob was concerned to keep in tune with trends in the entertainment industry; he recorded a follow up to Yo Yo Blues and continued to turn out variations on “It's Tight Like That”, including one which referred to that song by name. Twistin' Your Stuff was un-issued at the time. Monkey And The Baboon may have inspired Bob to write his own animal story, based on the fable of the spider and the fly. In December 1930, Columbia was back in Atlanta. Bob appeared as usual to record and began with the fiercely sung and played Jambooger Blues. Atlanta Moan and Doin' The Scraunch were rewrites of hit records. New Mojo Blues, though, confirmed that Bob's talent for original songs rooted in black culture was still going strong. That session was Barbecue Bob's last as a solo artist, but shortly afterwards he brought his long-time friend Curley Weaver and a 16 year old boy called Buddy Moss, to the Campbell Hotel. There they cut four magnificent sides as the Georgia Cotton Pickers, with Moss playing fiery harmonica, Weaver playing brilliant slide guitar and Bob contributing rhythm guitar and lead vocals. Their first two songs were versions of hits by the Mississippi Sheiks and Blind Blake, while She Looks So Good was hokum; She's Coming Back Some Cold Rainy Day was a well-known theme around Atlanta, and recorded by several of the local musicians. ~ Chris Smith, 1991 Document Records.
Credits: Gary Atkinson - Executive-Producer; Barbecue Bob - Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Primary Artist, Vocals; Georgia Cotton Pickers - Ensemble, Guest Artist; Charlie (Lincoln) Hicks - Guitar, Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part, Vocals; Robert Hicks - Composer, Guitar, Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part, Vocals; Hans Klement - Remastering; Charley Lincoln - Vocals; Buddy Moss - Harmonica; Johnny Parth - Producer; Chris Smith - Liner Notes; Curley Weaver - Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals; Hudson Whittaker - Composer.
Tracklist:
01. She Moves It Just Right - Barbecue Bob
02. Tellin' It To You - Barbecue Bob
03. Yo-Yo Blues, No. 2 - Barbecue Bob
04. She Shook Her Gin - Barbecue Bob
05. We Sure Got Hard Times - Barbecue Bob
06. Twistin' That Stuff - Barbecue Bob
07. Monkey And The Baboon - Barbecue Bob
08. Spider And The Fly - Barbecue Bob
09. Darktown Gamblin', Part 1 (The Crap Game) - Robert And Charlie Hicks
10. Darktown Gamblin', Part 2 (The Skin Game) - Robert And Charlie Hicks
11. Jambooger Blues - Barbecue Bob
12. It Just Won't Quit - Barbecue Bob
13. Atlanta Moan - Barbecue Bob
14. New Mojo Blues - Barbecue Bob
15. Doin' The Scraunch - Barbecue Bob
16. I'm On My Way Down Home - Georgia Cotton Pickers
17. Diddle-Da-Diddle - Georgia Cotton Pickers
18. She Looks So Good - Georgia Cotton Pickers
19. She's Coming Back Some Cold Rainy Day - Georgia Cotton Pickers
Recording date, location, matrix, catalog number:
01: November 6, 1929, Atlanta, 149397-2, Columbia 14546
02: November 6, 1929, Atlanta, 149398-2, Columbia 14546
03: April 17, 1930, Atlanta, Georgia, 150269-2, Columbia 14523
04: April 17, 1930, Atlanta, Georgia, 150270-2, Columbia unissued
05: April 18, 1930, Atlanta, Georgia, 150273-1, Columbia 14558
06: April 18, 1930, Atlanta, Georgia, 150274-2, Columbia unissued
07: April 23, 1930, Atlanta, Georgia, 150364-2, Columbia 14523
08: April 23, 1930, Atlanta, Georgia, 150365-2, Columbia 14558
09: April 23, 1930, Atlanta, Georgia, 150374-1, Columbia 14531
10: April 23, 1930, Atlanta, Georgia, 150375-2, Columbia 14531
11: December 5, 1930, Atlanta, Georgia, 151051-1, Columbia 14581
12: December 5, 1930, Atlanta, Georgia, 151052-2, Columbia 14614
13: December 5, 1930, Atlanta, Georgia, 151054-2, Columbia 14591
14: December 5, 1930, Atlanta, Georgia, 151055-2, Columbia 14581
15: December 5, 1930, Atlanta, Georgia, 151056-2, Columbia 14591
16: December 7, 1930, Atlanta, Georgia, 151086-2, Columbia 14594
17: December 7, 1930, Atlanta, Georgia, 151087-2, Columbia 14577
18: December 8, 1930, Atlanta, Georgia, 151105-2, Columbia 14594
19: December 8, 1930, Atlanta, Georgia, 151106-2, Columbia 14577
This is the third of three volumes.