Release Date: June 17, 1997..
Recording Time: 68 minutes.
Recording Date: 1920's - 1930's.
Release Info: Compilation (Yazoo-2031) Studio Recording, Remastered.
Styles: Country Blues, Pre-War Blues, Old-Timey, Pre-War Country Blues, Regional Blues, St. Louis Blues, Traditional Country.
The folks at Yazoo have outdone themselves in two genres with this collection of love songs. This is a mixed blues and country release, except that it goes back to a point in the 1920s and 1930s when blues and country weren't always easy to distinguish from each other, so they fit together just fine. Solo bluesmen and white banjo pickers and fiddlers alternate -- St. Louis-based bluesman Clifford Gibson deftly picks "Old Time Rider," followed by a rollicking duet of white Virginia fiddler B.F. Grayson and guitarist Henry Whitter whooping it up on "Handsome Molly," and a journey with a westward tilt, for Ephraim Woody and the Henpecked Husbands doing "Last Gold Dollar," and then a coarser, rougher solo blues lament ("Built Right on the Ground") from Teddy Darby. Among the major luminaries featured are Canadian cowboy singer Wilf Carter (aka Montana Slim) doing "You Are My Sunshine" and Lonnie Johnson, who turns up twice, playing piano (while his Jelly Roll Anderson plays slide) behind Katherine Baker, the only woman privileged to appear here, whose mournful "My Man Left Me" leaves one asking for more, and then back on guitar with his brother James for the brooding, lusty "Baby Won't You Please Come Home." For guitar enthusiasts, the revelation of this album may be the work of Louis Lasky, an almost primordial Chicago bluesman, whose percussive guitar style and topical references make him unique for his era. The sound, except for Dock Boggs' "Lost Love," is generally very good, and the notes are nicely detailed. ~ Bruce Eder
Credits: Alfred & Orville Reed - Primary Artist; Will Batts - Performer, Primary Artist; Blue Ridge Mountain Singers - Primary Artist; Dock Boggs - Performer, Primary Artist; Wilf Carter - Performer, Primary Artist; Blind Teddy Darby - Composer, Performer, Primary Artist; Jimmie Davis - Composer; Ruth Day - Primary Artist; Clifford Gibson - Composer, Performer, Primary Artist; Grayson & Whitter - Performer, Primary Artist; G.B. Grayson - Composer; Roy Harvey - Primary Artist; Frank Jenkins & His Pilot Mountaineers - Primary Artist; Lonnie Johnson - Performer, Primary Artist; Karl & Harty - Primary Artist; Don Kent - Liner Notes; Louie Lasky - Composer, Performer, Primary Artist; Wade Mainer - Performer, Primary Artist; Lewis McDaniel - Primary Artist; Clayton McMichen - Performer, Primary Artist; Memphis Jug Band - Performer, Primary Artist; Charles Mitchell - Composer; Murphy Brothers Harp Band - Primary Artist; Richard Nevins - Producer, Remastering; Joan Pelosi - Art Direction, Photography; Red Fox Chasers - Performer, Primary Artist; Alfred Reed - Performer; Walter Smith - Primary Artist; Walter Smith - Performer, Primary Artist; Ruddy Thomas - Performer, Primary Artist; Warren Capplinger's Cumberlanad Mountain Entertainers - Primary Artist; Whitter - Performer; Henry Whitter - Composer; Ephraim Woodie - Performer, Primary Artist.
Tracklist:
01. Old Time Rider - Clifford Gibson
02. Handsome Molly - Grayson & Whitter
03. Last Gold Dollar - Ephraim Woodie & The Henpecked Husbands
04. Built Right On The Ground - Teddy Darby
05. George Collins - Roy Harvey & The North Carolina Ramblers
06. It's Hard To Leave You Sweet Love - Lewis McDaniel & Walter Smith
07. Cheatin Women - Will Batts
08. Little Sweetheart Pal Of Mine - The Red Fox Chasers
09. Grave In The Pines - Clayton McMichen
10. Tired Of You Driving Me - Memphis Jug Band
11. Little Bunch Of Roses - Murphy Brothers Harp Band
12. You'll Miss Me - Alfred Reed & Orville Reed
13. Experience Blues - Ruth Day
14. Once I Loved A Railroad Flagman - Frank Jenkins & His Pilot Mountaineers
15. I'll Remember You Love In My Prayers - Blue Ridge Mountain Singers
16. Saro - Warren Caplinger's Cumberland Mountain Entertainers
17. Teasin Brown Blues - Louis Lasky
18. Lost Love Blues - Dock Boggs
19. Look On And Cry - Wade Mainer
20. My Man Left Me - Katherine Baker
21. Tombigbee River Farewell - Karl And Harty
22. Baby Will You Please Come Home - Lonnie Johnson
23. You Are My Sunshine - Wilf Carter
Recordings from the collections of Richard Nevins, Frank Mare, Joe Bussard, Dave Freeman and Don Kent.