Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order, Volume 2 (1930-1934) by Georgia Tom (Thomas A. Dorsey)
Release Date: August 15, 1992.
Recording Time: 69 minutes.
Recording Date: February 5, 1930 - March 22, 1934.
Release Info: Compilation (BDCD-6022) Studio Recording, Reissue, Remastered.
Styles: Acoustic Chicago Blues, Country Blues, Piano Blues, Regional Blues.
For completists and academics, Document's Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1930-1934) is an invaluable overview of Georgia Tom's early recordings. For less-dedicated listeners, the disc is a mixed blessing, with a few classic performances balanced by poor fidelity (all cuts are transferred from original acetates and 78s) and a lengthy track listing. ~ Thom Owens
Informative booklet notes by Howard Rye. Detailed discography.
In February 1930, Georgia Tom turned in another set of melancholy blues and hokum. Second Hand Love returns to the theme of Pig Meat Blues in disparaging older women, though in fairness Levee Bound Blues implies that forty-year old men are practically past it too. Second-Hand Woman Bluesis by contrast a straightforward warning against adultery. For the American Record Company two months later, Tom was given Big Bill Broonzy as accompanist. Broonzy appears on several 1930 recordings, his delicate filigree work particularly notable on Don’t Leave Me Blues and Been Mistreated Blues. The hyperbole of Six-Shooter Blues has a surreal quality: “If your woman mistreats you, shoot her, and grab a train and ride”.
Dorsey claims he foresaw that the hokum boom could not survive the economic recession and despite Tampa Red’s attempts to keep him in the business he began to look for an alternative source of income. He found it in the gospel. He did not immediately break with the past, If You Want Me To Love You, with its increasingly unreasonable demands and inspired guitar, is a worthy swansong. The following month, he recorded two gospel numbers to which his gentle approach seems ideally suited. Yet, a month later again he recorded M & O Blues – Parts 1 & 2 under the name “Railroad Bill” which may well be judged his best recorded blues performance.
Two years elapsed before Thomas A. Dorsey made another record, during which time he had founded The National Foundation of Gospel Choirs and Choruses, Inc. His career in secular music was over and his final pre-war recordings are vocal- group performances in which his own role is self-effacing both vocally and instrumentally. He made a few recordings as a gospel artist, perhaps preferring to concentrate on his publishing business, but in any case his reputation as a recording artist would still rest on the richly varied legacy of 1928-1934.
(BDCD-6022, 1992 Document Records)
Credits: Scrapper Blackwell - Guitar, Vocals; Big Bill Broonzy - Guitar; Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey - Composer, Ensemble, Piano, Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part, Vocals, Whistle (Human); Georgia Tom - Composer, Piano, Primary Artist, Train Whistle, Vocals, Voices, Whistle (Human); Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon - Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part, Voices; Hans Klement - Remastering; Johnny Parth - Compilation Producer, Producer; Howard Rye - Liner Notes; Rudolf Staeger - Executive Producer; Rudi Steager - Executive Producer; Tampa Red - Guitar.
Tracklist:
01. Six Shooter Blues - Georgia Tom
02. Mississippi Bottom Blues - Georgia Tom
03. Second-Hand Woman Blues - Georgia Tom
04. Maybe It's The Blues - Georgia Tom
05. Second-Hand Love - Georgia Tom
06. Levee Bound Blues - Georgia Tom
07. Gee, But It's Hard - Georgia Tom
08. My Texas Blues - Georgia Tom
09. Six Shooter Blues - Georgia Tom
10. Pig Meat Blues - Georgia Tom
11. You Got Me In This Mess (I Ain't Gonna Do It No More) - Georgia Tom
12. Mama's Leaving Town - Georgia Tom
13. The Duck's Yas Yas Yas - Georgia Tom
14. Then My Gal's In Town - Georgia Tom
15. Don't Mean To Mistreat You - Georgia Tom
16. Don't Leave Me Blues - Georgia Tom
17. Been Mistreated Blues - Georgia Tom
18. If You Want Me To Love You - Georgia Tom
19. How About You? - Thomas A. Dorsey (The Gospel Singer)
20. If You See My Saviour - Thomas A. Dorsey (The Gospel Singer)
21. M & O Blues, Part I - Railroad Bill
22. M & O Blues, Part II - Railroad Bill
23. If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again - Thomas A. Dorsey And The Gospel Singers
24. Singing In My Soul - Thomas A. Dorsey And The Gospel Singers
25. Georgia Tom Talking - Thomas A. Dorsey
Personnel: Georgia Tom Dorsey - vocals, piano, speech; Scrapper Blackwell - guitar; Big Bill Broonzy - guitar, Tampa Red - bottleneck-slide guitar; and others.
Recording date, location, matrix, catalog number:
01. February 5, 1930, Richmond, Indiana, 16219-, Champion 15950
02. February 5, 1930, Richmond, Indiana, 16220-, Gennett unissued
03. February 5, 1930, Richmond, Indiana, 16221-, Supertone 9647
04. February 5, 1930, Richmond, Indiana, 16222-, Champion 50054
05. February 5, 1930, Richmond, Indiana, 16223-, Champion 50054
06. February 5, 1930, Richmond, Indiana, 16224-, Decca 7362
07. February 5, 1930, Richmond, Indiana, 16225-, Decca 7362
08. April 7, 1930, New York, 9579-3, Oriole 8026
09. April 7, 1930, New York, 9581-1, Perfect 149
10. April 7, 1930, New York, 9582-2, Perfect 149
11. April 10, 1930, New York, 9605-1, Romeo 5009
12. April 10, 1930, New York, 9606-2, Oriole 8025
13. April 10, 1930, New York, 9607-1, Jewel 20014
14. April 11, 1930, New York, 9618-1, Jewel 20014
15. September 17, 1930, New York 10055-1, Perfect 187
16. November 20, 1930, Richmond, Indiana, 17289-A, Supertone 2560
17. November 20, 1930, Richmond, Indiana, 17290-, Champion 16237
18. February 5, 1932, New York, 11242-A, Vocalion 1682
19. March 17, 1932, New York, 11510-A, Vocalion 1682
20. March 17, 1932, New York, 11511-, Vocalion 1682
21. April 21, 1932, Chicago, JC-8590-A, Melotone 12373
22. April 21, 1932, Chicago, JC-8591-A, Melotone 12373
23. March 22, 1934, Chicago, CP-1026-2, Vocalion 1682
24. March 22, 1934, Chicago, CP-1027-1, Vocalion 1682
25. circa late-1950s, location not given, Riverside RM-8803 (LP)