Release Date: August 3, 2004.
Recording Time: 293 minutes.
Recording Date: July 1, 1927 - October 8, 1940.
Release Info: 4 x CD Compilation (JSP7730) Studio Recording, Reissue, Remastered.
Styles: Country Blues, Pre-War Country Blues, Pre-War Blues, Acoustic Blues, Acoustic Texas Blues, Louisiana Blues, Regional Blues, Slide Guitar Blues, Songster, Texas Blues.
Blind Lemon Jefferson was the first bona fide blues performer to be recorded when he sat down in front of a microphone in the spring of 1926, and the very first line of the first song that Jefferson tracked went "well, the blues come to Texas, lopin' like a mule," which is an apt description, since early Texas blues musicians were a varied and stubborn lot, but there was a certain joyful boldness in their playing, and as a group, they rivaled the more celebrated Mississippi Delta blues contingent. This four-disc set from Britain's JSP Records collects what is essentially the complete recorded works of several early Texas (and western Louisiana) blues performers who recorded in the 1920s and 1930s, including Henry Thomas, Pete Harris, Willard "Ramblin'" Thomas, Willie Reed, Oscar "Buddy" Woods, Smith Casey, Coley Jones, George "Little Hat" Jones, Jesse "Babyface" Thomas, and Black Ace (Babe Kyro Lemon Turner aka Lemon Turner). You can hear the strong influence of Blind Lemon Jefferson on several of these musicians, especially Pete Harris and Smith Casey (although Casey's proto-talking blues, "Army Mule in No Man's Land," included here, is as singular as they come), both of whom were recorded by Alan Lomax, but performers like Henry Thomas, who often featured pan pipes and a banjo-derived guitar style known as rapping, are closer to the archaic sound of traveling medicine show minstrels than to the emerging blues style of the time. There is a wealth of tracks here, but a couple of things stick out at first hearing, including the fine slide guitar tone of Ramblin' Thomas; the minor-chord, open-tuning lap slide style of Buddy Woods, who flirts with a kind of early form of Western swing; and the jauntiness of Little Hat Jones, whose songs "Kentucky Blues" and "Bye Bye Baby Blues" are simply a delight. Everything here is available elsewhere from labels like Yazoo and Document, but there is something to be said for having all of these early bluesmen together in one package, and that makes this set well worth seeking out for serious fans of early blues. ~ Steve Leggett
Credits: Black Ace - Primary Artist, Smith Casey - Composer, Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals, J. David - Composer, Kitty Gray - Piano, Joe Harris - Guitar, Pete Harris - Primary Artist, Pete Harris - Guitar, Vocals, Robert Johnson - Composer, Coley Jones - Composer, Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals, Dennis "Little Hat" Jones - Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals, Willie Reed - Primary Artist, Ed Schaffer - Guitar, Kazoo, Vocals, Shreveport Home Wreckers - Primary Artist, Neil Slaven - Compiled By, Liner Notes, Henry Thomas - Composer, Guitar, Primary Artist, Reed Pipes, Vocals, Jesse Thomas - Composer, Jesse Babyface Thomas - Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals, Ramblin' Thomas - Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals, Traditional - Composer, B.K. Turner - Guitar, Vocals, Babe Kyro Lemon Turner - Primary Artist, Wampus Cats - Primary Artist, Buddy Woods - Composer, Primary Artist, Oscar Woods - Composer, Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals.
Tracklist:
1-01. John Henry - Henry Thomas
1-02. Cottonfield Blues - Henry Thomas
1-03. Arkansas - Henry Thomas
1-04. The Fox And The Hounds - Henry Thomas
1-05. The Little Red Caboose - Henry Thomas
1-06. Bob McKinney - Henry Thomas
1-07. Red River Blues - Henry Thomas
1-08. Honey, Won't You Allow Me One More Chance - Henry Thomas
1-09. Run, Mollie, Run - Henry Thomas
1-10. Shanty Blues - Henry Thomas
1-11. Woodhouse Blues - Henry Thomas
1-12. Jonah In The Wilderness - Henry Thomas
1-13. When The Train Comes Along - Henry Thomas
1-14. Bull Doze Blues - Henry Thomas
1-15. Don't Ease Me In - Henry Thomas
1-16. Texas Easy Street - Henry Thomas
1-17. Texas Worried Blues - Henry Thomas
1-18. Fishing Blues - Henry Thomas
1-19. Old Country Stomp - Henry Thomas
1-20. Charmin' Betsy - Henry Thomas
1-21. Lovin' Babe - Henry Thomas
1-22. Railroadin' Some - Henry Thomas
1-23. Don't Leave Me Here - Henry Thomas
1-24. Jack O'Diamonds - Pete Harris
1-25. Is You Mad At Me - Pete Harris
1-26. Blind Lemon's Song - Pete Harris
1-27. Carrie - Pete Harris
2-01. So Lonesome - Ramblin' Thomas
2-02. Hard To Rule Woman Blues - Ramblin' Thomas
2-03. Lock And Key Blues - Ramblin' Thomas
2-04. Sawmill Moan - Ramblin' Thomas
2-05. No Baby Blues - Ramblin' Thomas
2-06. Ramblin' Mind Blues - Ramblin' Thomas
2-07. No Job Blues - Ramblin' Thomas
2-08. Back Gnawing Blues - Ramblin' Thomas
2-09. Jig Head Blues - Ramblin' Thomas
2-10. Hard Dallas Blues - Ramblin' Thomas
2-11. Hard Dallas Blues (Take 4) - Ramblin' Thomas
2-12. Ramblin' Man - Ramblin' Thomas
2-13. Poor Boy Blues - Ramblin' Thomas
2-14. Good Time Blues - Ramblin' Thomas
2-15. New Way Of Living Blues - Ramblin' Thomas
2-16. Ground Hog Blues - Ramblin' Thomas
2-17. Shake It Gal - Ramblin' Thomas
2-18. Ground Hog Blues No. 2 - Ramblin' Thomas
2-19. Little Old Mama Blues - Ramblin' Thomas
2-20. Dreaming Blues - Willie Reed
2-21. Texas Blues - Willie Reed
2-22. Leavin' Home - Willie Reed
2-23. Goin' Back To My Baby - Willie Reed
2-24. Some Low Down Groundhog Blues - Willie Reed
2-25. All Worn Out And Dry Blues - Willie Reed
3-01. Fence Breakin' Blues - Oscar Woods
3-02. Home Wreckin' Blues - Oscar Woods
3-03. Evil Hearted Woman Blues - Oscar Woods
3-04. Lone Wolf Blues - Oscar Woods
3-05. Don't Sell It - Don't Give It Away - Oscar Woods
3-06. Muscat Hill Blues - Oscar Woods
3-07. Don't Sell It (Don't Give It Away) - Oscar Woods
3-08. Baton Rouge Rag - Oscar Woods
3-09. Jam Session Blues - Oscar Woods
3-10. Low Life Blues - Oscar Woods
3-11. Token Blues - Oscar Woods
3-12. Come On Over To My House Baby - Oscar Woods
3-13. Look Here Baby, One Thing I Got To Say - Oscar Woods
3-14. Sometimes I Get To Thinkin' (Take 1) - Oscar Woods
3-15. Don't Sell It - Oscar Woods
3-16. Sometimes I Get To Thinkin' (Take 2) - Oscar Woods
3-17. Boll Weevil Blues - Oscar Woods
3-18. Shorty George - Smith Casey
3-19. Santa Fe Blues - Smith Casey
3-20. Hesitating Blues - Smith Casey
3-21. Two White Horses Standing In Line - Smith Casey
3-22. Jack O'Diamonds - Smith Casey
3-23. Mournful Blues - Smith Casey
3-24. East Texas Blues - Smith Casey
4-01. Army Mule In No Man's Land - Coley Jones
4-02. Traveling Man - Coley Jones
4-03. Drunkard's Special - Coley Jones
4-04. The Elder's He's My Man - Coley Jones
4-05. New Two Sixteen Blues - Little Hat Jones
4-06. Two String Blues - Little Hat Jones
4-07. Rolled From Side To Side Blues - Little Hat Jones
4-08. Hurry Blues - Little Hat Jones
4-09. Little Hat Blues - Little Hat Jones
4-10. Corpus Blues - Little Hat Jones
4-11. Kentucky Blues - Little Hat Jones
4-12. Bye Bye Baby Blues - Little Hat Jones
4-13. Cross The Water Blues - Little Hat Jones
4-14. Cherry Street Blues - Little Hat Jones
4-15. Down In Texas Blues - Jesse Thomas
4-16. My Heart's A Rolling Stone - Jesse Thomas
4-17. Blue Goose Blues - Jesse Thomas
4-18. No Good Woman Blues - Jesse Thomas
4-19. Trifling Woman - Black Ace
4-20. Black Ace - Black Ace
4-21. You Gonna Need My Help Someday - Black Ace
4-22. Whiskey And Women - Black Ace
4-23. Christmas Time Blues - Black Ace
4-24. Lowing Heifer - Black Ace