Deep River Of Song: Mississippi - The Blues Lineage (Musical Geniuses Of The Fields, Levees, And Jukes)
Release Date: August 17, 1999.
Recording Time: 60 minutes.
Recording Date: April 13, 1936 - July 24, 1942.
Release Info: Compilation (Rounder 11661-1825-2) Studio Recording.
Styles: Acoustic Blues, Country Blues, Delta Blues, Field Recordings, Folk Blues, Traditional Folk, Work Songs.
Sixteen country-blues cuts, recorded between 1936 and 1942 by folklorists Alan and John A. Lomax for the Library of Congress at plantations, penitentiaries, tourist camps, and elsewhere (actually the two songs by William Brown were done near Mississippi, in Arkansas). Deep River of Song: Mississippi - The Blues Lineage is a more pleasurable compilation than most folk field recordings of the era are (whether by the Lomaxes or others), due to the tight and focused performances. A couple of the names will be familiar to any blues fan (and to some non-blues fans). Muddy Waters, then playing acoustic Delta blues as McKinley Morganfield, contributes "I Be Bound to Write to You" and "You Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone"; Son House, about to disappear from the public eye for a couple of decades, does four songs, including his famous "Walking Blues" (which is six minutes here, with accompaniment from other musicians on mandolin, guitar, and harmonica). Most of the tracks are entertaining and academically important, as well as illustrative of some differences in Mississippi blues styles. Some of these are blues that are more upbeat than the Delta stereotype, as in David "Honeyboy" Edwards' "Wind Howlin' Blues" and Lucious Curtis (who never recorded before or after his 1940 recordings on this disc), whose sharp guitar picking has some ragtime and boogie flavor. ~ Richie Unterberger
Credits: Dallas Bartley - Composer; Matthew Barton - Release Preparation; William Brown - Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Willie Brown - Guitar, Primary Artist; Sam Carter - Performer, Primary Artist, Vocals; Lucious Curtis - Guitar, Performer, Primary Artist, Speech, Speaker, Speaking Part, Vocals; Gideon D'Arcangelo - Series Consultant; Mike Donaldson - Transfers; David "Honeyboy" Edwards - Composer, Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Dr. David Evans - Liner Notes; Frank Evans - Guitar, Performer, Primary Artist, Vocals; Willie Ford - Guitar, Performer, Primary Artist; Jeffrey A. Greenberg - Collection; Ellen Harold - Editorial Assistant; Bess Lomax Hawes - Series Consultant; Leo Hickman - Composer; Son House - Composer; Robert Johnson - Composer; Lewis Jones - Engineer, Original Recording Producer; Louis Jordan - Composer; Phil Klum - Mastering; Alan Lomax - Engineer, Original Recording Producer, Photography, Primary Artist, Research; John A. Lomax - Speech, Speaker, Speaking Part; Ruby T. Lomax - Engineer, Original Recording Producer; Pete Lowry - Executive Producer, Research; Fiddlin' Joe Martin - Mandolin, Performer, Primary Artist, Speech, Speaker, Speaking Part; McKinley Morganfield - Guitar, Vocals; Bill Nowlin - Series Coordinator; Jim O'Neal - Photography; Johnny Parth - Composer; Jack Rogers - Primary Artist, Vocals; Steve Rosenthal - Mastering Producer, Restoration; Dinah Washington - Primary Artist; Leroy Williams - Primary Artist; Leroy Williams - Harmonica, Performer; John W. Work III - Engineer, Original Recording Producer.
Tracklist:
01. Ragged And Dirty - William Brown
02. Mississippi Blues - William Brown
03. County Farm Blues - Eddie "Son" House
04. High-Rolling Sergeant - Sam Carter, Jim Mickles, Eddie Miles, Jack Rogers
05. Early In The Morning - Hollis "Fat Head" Washington
06. The Jinx Blues (No. 2) - Eddie "Son" House
07. I Be Bound To Write To You - McKinley "Muddy Water" Morganfield
08. You Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone - McKinley "Muddy Water" Morganfield
09. Wind Howlin' Blues - David "Honeyboy" Edwards
10. High Lonesome Hill - Lucious Curtis, Willie Ford
11. Payday - Willie Ford, Lucious Curtis
12. Train Blues - Lucious Curtis
13. Santa Field Blues - Willie Ford
14. Low Down Dirty Dog Blues - Eddie "Son" House
15. Red River Blues - Frank Evans
16. Walking Blues - Eddie "Son" House, Fiddlin' Joe Martin, Willie Brown, Leroy Williams
Personnel: William Brown - Guitar (1, 2, 16), Vocals (1, 2); Eddie "Son" House - Guitar, Vocals (3, 6, 14, 16); Eddie Miles, Jack Rogers, Jim Mickles, Sam Carter - Vocals (4); Hollis "Fat Head" Washington - Vocals (5); McKinley "Muddy Water" Morganfield - Guitar, Vocals (7, 8); David "Honeyboy" Edwards - Guitar, Vocals (9); Willie Ford - Guitar (10, 11, 13), Vocals (11, 13); Lucious Curtis - Guitar (10, 11, 12), Vocals (10, 12); Frank Evans - Guitar, Vocals (15); Leroy Williams - Harmonica (16); Fiddlin' Joe Martin - Mandolin, Voice (16).
Tracks 1, 2 rec. 7/16/1942 Sadie Beck's Plantation, AR.
Tracks 3, 6, 14 rec. 7/17/1942 Robinsonville, MS.
Track 4 rec. 4/14/1936 Parchman Penitentiary, MS.
Track 5 rec, 5/24/1939 Parchman Penitentiary, MS.
Tracks 7, 8 rec. 7/24/1942 Stoval, MS.
Track 9 rec. 7/22/1942 Delta Tourist Camp, Clarksdale, MS.
Tracks 10 to 13 rec. 10/19/1940 Natchez, MS.
Track 15 rec. 4/13/1936 Parchman Penitentiary, MS.
Track 16 rec. 9/3/1941 Clark Store, Lake Cormorant, MS.