Release Date: 1990.
Recording Time: 74 minutes.
Recording Date: March 1928 - November 1930.
Release Info: Compilation (DOCD-5002) Studio Recording, Reissue, Remastered.
Styles: Acoustic Blues, Country Blues, Delta Blues, Pre-War Blues, Pre-War Country Blues, Regional Blues, Slide Guitar Blues.
Complete Recorded Works of Son House & The Great Delta Blues Singers isn't entirely devoted to Son House - there are cuts by several other musicians, including Willie Brown, Garfield Akers, Rube Lacey and Joe Calicott -- but this disc, which contains a complete 1930 session, is the best place to get his earliest songs ("My Black Mama," "Preachin' the Blues," "Dry Spell Blues"), which remain among his masterworks. ~ Thom Owens
Abridged from this album's original booklet notes by Bob Groom. Have you ever put an album into a player and been shocked as a surge of intensity, both beautiful and at the same time disturbing hits you like nothing before? You're mesmerised, finding it hard to believe that this is a man, relying on little more than his relentless, pounding rhythmic guitar playing and his own dark, rich, voice. These are the first few seconds of Son House‘s My Black Mama Part 1 recorded for Paramount in 1930 and just a hint to what is to come. This album is not just an album of singers. It is a snapshot of some of the finest bluesmen to have recorded. This is the blues un-distilled; raw, hard hitting, being exorcised and torn like a demon from man's tormented soul. This is undoubtedly the best collection of vintage Mississippi blues singers guitarist available. After being in the Document catalogue for over twenty-six years it is still one of our best sellers. Blues fans certainly know a classic when they see one. Son House was rediscovered and feted in the 1960s as the greatest surviving Delta Blues singer. The recordings that Son House made for Paramount label in 1930 are rightly considered classics of their kind. These are deep voiced, solo performances, with Son House brilliantly accompanying himself on guitar, using a slide to produce that special Mississippi Delta sound. The tracks that Son House recorded were My Black Mama (1 & 2), Preachin' The Blues (1 & 2), Dry Spell Blues (1 & 2) and most remarkably featured here is a test pressing of Walking Blues discovered in an attic in 1985! This previously unissued recording by Son House also features a second guitarist, almost certainly Willie Brown, a musical associate of House and Charley Patton, who recorded at least four solo performances at the same session. The fiery delivery of Son House's blues with his razor sharp bottleneck guitar playing is contrasted by the more delicate playing of Willie Brown (Immortalised as "my friend Willie Brown" by the recording of Crossroads Blues by Robert Johnson). Friends of Charley Patton both House and Brown can be heard together on Walking Blues. Garfield Akers' recordings for the Vocalion label are pure Mississippi blues with his guitar providing an insistent, pulsating rhythm, his vocals only being a step away from a field holler style. The more obscure names provide no less in the power of their performances including Blind Joe (Willie) Reynolds' Outside Women Blues which was later covered by the sixties super group Cream. This is solid country blues from beginning to end. ~ Bob Groom, 1990 Document Records.
Credits: Garfield Akers - Composer, Guitar, Performer, Primary Artist, Vocals; Gary Atkinson - Cover Art, Executive Producer; Kid Bailey - Composer, Guitar, Performer, Primary Artist, Vocals; Sidney Brown - Composer; Willie Brown - Composer, Guitar, Performer, Primary Artist, Vocals; Joe Calicott - Composer, Guitar, Performer, Primary Artist, Vocals; Bob Groom - Liner Notes; Son House - Composer, Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Robert Johnson - Composer; Reverend Rubin Lacy - Composer, Guitar, Performer, Primary Artist, Vocals; Ralph Lembo - Vocals; Johnny Parth - Compilation Producer, Producer; Arthur Reynolds - Composer; Blind Joe Reynolds - Composer, Guitar, Performer, Primary Artist, Vocals; Blind Willie Reynolds - Guitar, Performer, Primary Artist, Vocals; Jim Thompkins - Composer, Guitar, Performer, Primary Artist, Vocals; Kevin Witt - Graphics.
Tracklist:
01. My Black Mama, Part 1 - Son House
02. My Black Mama, Part 2 - Son House
03. Preachin' The Blues, Part 1 - Son House
04. Preachin' The Blues, Part 2 - Son House
05. Dry Spell Blues, Part 1 - Son House
06. Dry Spell Blues, Part 2 - Son House
07. Walkin' Blues - Son House
08. M & O Blues - Willie Brown
09. Future Blues - Willie Brown
10. Mississippi Bottom Blues - Kid Bailey
11. Rowdy Blues - Kid Bailey
12. Cottonfield Blues, Part 1 - Garfield Akers
13. Cottonfield Blues, Part 2 - Garfield Akers
14. Dough Roller Blues - Garfield Akers
15. Jumpin' And Shoutin' Blues - Garfield Akers
16. Fare Thee Well Blues - Joe Callicott
17. Traveling Mama Blues - Joe Callicott
18. Bedside Blues - Jim Thompkins
19. Outside Woman Blues - Blind Joe (Willie) Reynolds
20. Nehi Blues - Blind Joe (Willie) Reynolds
21. Married Man Blues - Blind Joe (Willie) Reynolds
22. Third Street Woman Blues - Blind Joe (Willie) Reynolds
23. Mississippi Jailhouse Groan - Rube Lacy
24. Ham Hound Crave - Rube Lacy
Personnel: Son House, vocals, guitar; Willie Brown, vocals, guitar; Kid Bailey, vocals, guitar; Unknown, guitar; Garfield Akers, vocals, guitar; Joe Calicott, vocals, guitar; Jim Thompkins, vocals, guitar; Blind Joe Reynolds (same as Blind Joe Reynolds), vocals, guitar; Rube Lacy (Reubin Lacy), vocals, guitar; Ralph Lembo, 2nd vocals.
Original Matrix Information:
01: Grafton, Wisconsin, May 28, 1930 (L-408-2, Paramount 13042)
02: Grafton, Wisconsin, May 28, 1930 (L-409-2, Paramount 13042)
03: Grafton, Wisconsin, May 28, 1930 (L-410-1, Paramount 13013)
04: Grafton, Wisconsin, May 28, 1930 (L-411-1, Paramount 13013)
05: Grafton, Wisconsin, May 28, 1930 (L-425-4, Paramount 12990)
06: Grafton, Wisconsin, May 28, 1930 (L-426-2, Paramount 12990)
07: Grafton, Wisconsin, May 28, 1930 (9/2 #1, Paramount unissued)
08: Grafton, Wisconsin, May 28, 1930 (L-413-2, Paramount 13090)
09: Grafton, Wisconsin, May 28, 1930 (L-418-2, Paramount 13090)
10: The Peabody Hotel, Memphis, Tennessee, September 25, 1929 (M-209/10, Brunswick 7114)
11: The Peabody Hotel, Memphis, Tennessee, September 25, 1929 (M-211, Brunswick 7114)
12: The Peabody Hotel, Memphis, Tennessee, c. September 23, 1929 (M-201-, Vocalion 1442)
13: The Peabody Hotel, Memphis, Tennessee, c. September 23, 1929 (M-202-A, Vocalion 1442)
14: The Peabody Hotel, Memphis, Tennessee, c. February 21, 1930 (MEM-776-, Vocalion 1481)
15: The Peabody Hotel, Memphis, Tennessee, c. February 21, 1930 (MEM-777-A, Vocalion 1481)
16: Memphis, Tennessee, c. February 20, 1930 (MEM-778, Brunswick 7166)
17: Memphis, Tennessee, c. February 20, 1930 (MEM-779, Brunswick 7166)
18: Memphis, Tennessee, c. February 21, 1931 (MEM-780, Brunswick 7200)
19: Grafton, Wisconsin, c. November 1929 (L-144-3, Paramount 12927)
20: Grafton, Wisconsin, c. November 1929 (L-146-2, Paramount 12927)
21: Memphis, Tennessee, c. November 26, 1930 (64721-2, Victor 23258)
22: Memphis, Tennessee, c. November 26, 1930 (64724-2, Victor 23258)
23: The Lamar Life Insurance Building, Chicago, March 1928 (20419-2, Paramount 12629)
24: The Lamar Life Insurance Building, Chicago, March 1928 (20420-3, Paramount 12629)