Release Date: 2013.
Recording Date: 1920s - 1930s.
Release Info: BCD 17229, 2 x CD, Compilation, Remastered.
Styles: Acoustic Blues, Country Blues, Delta Blues, Pre-War Blues, Pre-War Country Blues, Pre-War Gospel Blues.
Bear Family begins Acoustic Blues, their 2015 companion set to their 2012 Electric Blues series, in the two decades prior to World War II: the 1920s and 1930s. Each decade gets a disc on this double-CD compilation and producer/annotator Bill Dahl has a sharp eye for both major figures and standards, providing just enough well-known songs to serve as mile-markers between the lesser-known sides. This is, after all, designed as a textbook, a quick yet thorough voyage through the past that serves simultaneously as introduction and instruction. Dividing the collection into specific decades helps untangle some of the mangled threads of history, particularly for listeners who tend to group prewar acoustic blues into the same group. Here, it's easy to hear how particular styles developed on record, to realize that the '20s were devoted primarily to solo recordings and supporting instruments surfaced in the '30s, such as the violin on Mississippi Sheiks' "Sitting on Top of the World." Also, the sequencing makes the introduction of the now-familiar lower-string shuffle on Johnnie Temple's "Lead Pencil Blues (It Just Won't Write)" a revelation, just like Robert Johnson's appearance toward the end of the collection helps place his rise in context; he may have been an integral part of acoustic blues' foundation, but he was not the start, he was part of the continuum. What is so valuable about Acoustic Blues, Vol. 1 is that it illustrates that continuum through expert song selection and annotation, providing an immersion that is illuminating and entertaining. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Credits: Artwork - Retrograph; Mastered By - Christian Zwarg; Reissue Producer, Liner Notes - Bill Dahl.
Tracklist:
Disc One: The 1920s
01. Guitar Blues - Sylvester Weaver
02. Shake That Thing - Papa Charlie Jackson
03. Mr. Johnson's Blues - Lonnie Johnson
04. Match Box Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson
05. Mississippi Heavy Water Blues - Barbecue Bob
06. Billy Lyons And Stack O'Lee - Furry Lewis
07. Jim Jackson's Kansas City Blues, Pt. 1 - Jim Jackson
08. Dark Was The Night - Cold Was The Ground - Blind Willie Johnson
09. Downtown Blues - Frank Stokes
10. Frankie - Mississippi John Hurt
11. So Lonesome - Ramblin' Thomas
12. Ham Hound Crave - Rube Lacy
13. Bull Doze Blues - Henry Thomas
14. Kokomo Blues - Scrapper Blackwell
15. Canned Heat Blues - Tommy Johnson
16. The Four Day Blues - Ishman Bracey
17. Statesboro Blues - Blind Willie McTell
18. No No Blues - Curley Weaver
19. Roll And Tumble Blues - Hambone Willie Newbern
20. Cairo Blues - Henry Spaulding
21. Pony Blues - Charley Patton
22. When The Levee Breaks - Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie
23. Little Hat Blues - Little Hat Jones
24. Diddie Wa Diddie - Blind Blake
25. Last Time Blues - Charlie McCoy
26. That's No Way To Get Along - Robert Wilkins
27. Henry's Worry Blues - Henry Townsend
28. Ice And Snow Blues - Clifford Gibson
29. Outside Woman Blues - Blind Joe Reynolds
Disc Two: The 1930s
01. Sitting On Top Of The World - Mississippi Sheiks
02. Dough Roller Blues - Garfield Akers
03. My Black Mama, Part 1 - Son House
04. M & O Blues - Willie Brown
05. Stack O'Dollars Blues - Charley Jordan
06. Howling Wolf Blues, No. 1 - "Funny Paper" Smith
07. I'm So Glad - Skip James
08. Times Has Done Got Hard - King Solomon Hill
09. Long Tall Mama - Big Bill
10. Good Gal - Joshua White
11. Black Angel Blues - Tampa Red
12. Midnight Special - Lead Belly
13. Chickasaw Train Blues (Low Down Dirty Thing) - Memphis Minnie
14. Milk Cow Blues - Kokomo Arnold
15. Lead Pencil Blues (It Just Won't Write) - Johnnie Temple
16. Someday Baby Blues - Sleepy John Estes
17. Cross And Evil Woman Blues - Blind Gary
18. Rag, Mama, Rag - Blind Boy Fuller
19. Crow Jane - Carl Martin
20. Baby Please Don't Go - Joe Williams' Washboard Blues Singers
21. Somebody Changed The Lock On My Door - Casey Bill
22. Lone Wolf Blues - Oscar Woods
23. Cross Road Blues - Robert Johnson
24. Black Ace - Black Ace
25. Prowling Night-Hawk - Robert Lee McCoy
26. Shake 'Em On Down - Bukka White
27. Old Devil - Bo Carter
28. This Train - Sister Rosetta Tharpe
29. Bottle It Up And Go - Tommy McClennan