Release Date: October 26, 2004.
Recording Time: 288 minutes.
Recording Location: Columbia, SC; New York, NY.
Recording Date: July 23, 1935 - October 29, 1938.
Release Info: Compilation (JSP7735) Studio Recording.
Styles: Acoustic Blues, East Coast Blues, Piedmont Blues, Regional Blues, Pre-War Blues, Country Blues.
Following Blind Blake, Blind Boy Fuller is probably the best known of the so-called Piedmont blues guitarists, a loose group of players from the Appalachian foothills of North Carolina, South Carolina, and upper Georgia who specialized in a flashy two- and three-finger picking style. Fuller was hardly in Blake's league, but his simple, crisp playing and easy singing style made him immensely popular, and he sold thousands of records for ARC (and a handful for Decca) until his death in 1941. This four-disc set from Britain's JSP Records collects everything Fuller did, 100 tracks in all, recorded in just a three-year span between 1935 and 1938, and features Fuller solo and with accompanists like guitarists Gary Davis (Fuller's guitar teacher, who may have been the greatest Piedmont picker of them all, but he steadfastly refused to do secular material) and Floyd Council, washboardist Bull City Red, and harmonica players Sonny Terry and Charlie Austin. Fuller worked off of a couple of well-used templates, generally fairly generic tunes with floating blues verses like "Tom Cat Blues," "Bulldog Blues," and "Weeping Willow," along with good-time rag pieces like "Rag, Mama, Rag" and "Piccolo Rag" (piccolo was seaboard slang for a jukebox), and hybrids between the two, like his signature piece, "Truckin' My Blues Away" (which is represented here in three versions, along with several variations on the theme under different titles). Truthfully, this is probably way more Blind Boy Fuller than most people will need, and a single-disc comp will work for most folks, but for serious collectors, having everything in one set may be just the ticket. ~ Steve Leggett
Credits: Fulton Allen - Composer; Charlie Austin - Harmonica; Floyd "Dipper Boy" Council - Guitar; Rev. Gary Davis - Guitar; Blind Boy Fuller - Composer, Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; W.C. Handy - Composer; Martha E. Koenig - Composer; J.B. Long - Composer; Neil Slaven - Liner Notes; Sonny Terry - Harmonica; George "Bull City Red" Washington - Washboard; Weaver - Composer; Spencer Williams - Composer.
Personnel: Gary Davis - Guitar (A04, A06, A07, A08); Bull City Red - Washboard (A06, A07, A08, B03, B04, B05, B06, B07, B08, B09, B18, D14, D15, D16, D21, D23); Floyd "Dipper Boy" Council - Guitar (B03, B18, C22, C25, D01, D02); Sonny Terry - Harmonica (C18, C19, C20, D03, D04, D05, D06, D17, D18, D19, D20, D21); Charlie Austin - Harmonica (D11); Unknown Artist - Kazoo (D23).
Tracklist:
Disc A: 1935 - 1936
1-01. Baby, I Don't Have To Worry - Blind Boy Fuller
1-02. I'm A Rattlesnakin' Daddy - Blind Boy Fuller
1-03. I'm Climbin' On Top Of The Hill - Blind Boy Fuller
1-04. Ain't It A Crying Shame - Blind Boy Fuller
1-05. Looking For My Woman - Blind Boy Fuller
1-06. Rag, Mama, Rag: Take 1 - Blind Boy Fuller
1-07. Rag, Mama, Rag: Take 2 - Blind Boy Fuller
1-08. Baby, You Gotta Change Your Mind - Blind Boy Fuller
1-09. Evil Hearted Woman - Blind Boy Fuller
1-10. My Brownskin Sugar Plum - Blind Boy Fuller
1-11. Somebody's Been Playing With That Thing - Blind Boy Fuller
1-12. Log Cabin Blues: Take 1 - Blind Boy Fuller
1-13. Log Cabin Blues: Take 2 - Blind Boy Fuller
1-14. Homesick And Lonesome Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
1-15. Walking My Troubles Away: Take 1 - Blind Boy Fuller
1-16. Walking My Troubles Away: Take 2 - Blind Boy Fuller
1-17. Black And Tan - Blind Boy Fuller
1-18. Keep Away From My Woman: Take 1 - Blind Boy Fuller
1-19. Keep Away From My Woman: Take 2 - Blind Boy Fuller
1-20. Baby You Got To Do Better - Blind Boy Fuller
1-21. Big Bed Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
1-22. Truckin' My Blues Away - Blind Boy Fuller
1-23. (I Got A Woman Crazy For Me) She's Funny That Way - Blind Boy Fuller
1-24. Cat Man Blues: Take 1 - Blind Boy Fuller
1-25. Cat Man Blues: Take 2 - Blind Boy Fuller
Disc B: 1936 - 1937
2-01. When Your Gal Packs Up And Leaves - Blind Boy Fuller
2-02. Mama Let Me Lay It On You - Blind Boy Fuller
2-03. If You Don't Give Me What I Want - Blind Boy Fuller
2-04. Boots And Shoes - Blind Boy Fuller
2-05. Trucking My Blues Away No. 2: Take 1 - Blind Boy Fuller
2-06. Trucking My Blues Away No. 2: Take 2 - Blind Boy Fuller
2-07. Sweet Honey Hole - Blind Boy Fuller
2-08. Untrue Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
2-09. Tom Cat Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
2-10. My Baby Don't Mean Me No Good - Blind Boy Fuller
2-11. Been Your Dog - Blind Boy Fuller
2-12. My Best Gal Gonna Leave Me - Blind Boy Fuller
2-13. Wires All Down - Blind Boy Fuller
2-14. Let Me Squeeze Your Lemon - Blind Boy Fuller
2-15. Death Alley - Blind Boy Fuller
2-16. Mamie: Take 1 - Blind Boy Fuller
2-17. Mamie: Take 2 - Blind Boy Fuller
2-18. New Oh Red! - Blind Boy Fuller
2-19. If You See My Pigmeat - Blind Boy Fuller
2-20. Stingy Mama - Blind Boy Fuller
2-21. Why Don't My Baby Write To Me - Blind Boy Fuller
2-22. Some Day You're Gonna Be Sorry - Blind Boy Fuller
2-23. You Never Can Tell - Blind Boy Fuller
2-24. Put You Back In The Jail - Blind Boy Fuller
2-25. Walking And Looking Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
Disc C: 1937
3-01. Bulldog Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
3-02. Where My Woman Usta Lay - Blind Boy Fuller
3-03. Working Man Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
3-04. Weeping Willow - Blind Boy Fuller
3-05. Corrine What Makes You Treat Me So - Blind Boy Fuller
3-06. Stealing Bo-Hog - Blind Boy Fuller
3-07. Worried And Evil Man Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
3-08. Bull Dog Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
3-09. Break Of Day Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
3-10. Oh Zee Zas Rag - Blind Boy Fuller
3-11. Throw Your Yas Yas Back In Jail - Blind Boy Fuller
3-12. Snake Woman Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
3-13. Mojo Hidin' Woman - Blind Boy Fuller
3-14. Steel Hearted Woman - Blind Boy Fuller
3-15. Ain't No Gettin' Along - Blind Boy Fuller
3-16. Careless Love - Blind Boy Fuller
3-17. New Louise Louise Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
3-18. Mistreater, You're Going To Be Sorry - Blind Boy Fuller
3-19. Bye Bye Baby Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
3-20. Looking For My Woman No. 2 - Blind Boy Fuller
3-21. Shaggy Like A Bear - Blind Boy Fuller
3-22. Ten O'Clock Peeper - Blind Boy Fuller
3-23. Hungry Calf Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
3-24. Too Many Women Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
3-25. Oozin' You Off My Mind - Blind Boy Fuller
Disc D: 1937 - 1938
4-01. Shake That Shimmy - Blind Boy Fuller
4-02. Heart Ease Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
4-03. I'm Going To Move (To The Edge Of Town) - Blind Boy Fuller
4-04. Pistol Slapper Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
4-05. Mean And No Good Woman - Blind Boy Fuller
4-06. Georgia Ham Mama - Blind Boy Fuller
4-07. Piccolo Rag - Blind Boy Fuller
4-08. Funny Feeling Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
4-09. Painful Hearted Man - Blind Boy Fuller
4-10. You've Got To Move It Out - Blind Boy Fuller
4-11. Mama Let Me Lay It On You No. 2 - Blind Boy Fuller
4-12. Meat Shakin' Woman - Blind Boy Fuller
4-13. I'm A Good Stem Winder - Blind Boy Fuller
4-14. What's That Smells Like Fish - Blind Boy Fuller
4-15. She's A Truckin' Little Baby - Blind Boy Fuller
4-16. Jivin' Woman Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
4-17. You're Laughing Now - Blind Boy Fuller
4-18. Stop Jivin' Me Mama - Blind Boy Fuller
4-19. Long Time Trucker - Blind Boy Fuller
4-20. Big House Bound - Blind Boy Fuller
4-21. Flyin' Airplane Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
4-22. Get Your Yas Yas Out - Blind Boy Fuller
4-23. Jitterbug Rag - Blind Boy Fuller
4-24. Screaming And Crying Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
4-25. Blacksnakin' Jiver - Blind Boy Fuller
Recording Info:
1-01 to 1-03: New York City, July 23, 1935.
1-04 & 1-05: New York City, July 24, 1935.
1-06 to 1-09: New York City, July 25, 1935.
1-10 to 1-14: New York City, July 26, 1935.
1-15 to 1-17: New York City, April 28, 1936.
1-18 to 2-02: New York City, April 29, 1936.
2-03 & 2-04: New York City, February 8, 1937.
2-05 to 2-09: New York City, February 9, 1937.
2-10 to 2-18: New York City, February 10, 1937.
2-19 to 3-03: New York City, July 12, 1937.
3-04 & 3-05: New York City, July 14, 1937.
3-06 to 3-13: New York City, September 7, 1937.
3-14 to 3-16: New York City, September 8, 1937.
3-17: New York City, September 9, 1937.
3-18 to 4-02: New York City, December 15, 1937.
4-03: New York City, December 16, 1937.
4-04 to 4-11: New York City, April 5, 1938.
4-12 & 4-13: New York City, April 6, 1938.
4-14 to 4-25: Columbia, South Carolina, October 29, 1938.