Release Date: November 25, 2003.
Recording Time: 103 minutes.
Recording Date: 1948 - 1952.
Release Info: FA 5062, Compilation, Studio Recording.
Styles: Acoustic Texas Blues; Early R&B; Electric Blues; Electric Texas Blues; Piano Blues; Regional Blues; Texas Blues.
After the war, Texas preserved and developed a form of blues with a sparing use of notes, an electric guitar or robust piano, laconic singing and suggestive lyrics. Down home blues, coming straight from Blind Lemon Jefferson and Texas Alexander, and recorded by a host of local labels was extremely appreciated by the Blacks and boasts numerous masterpieces to be discovered in this album.
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Postwar Texas blues had a sparse sound all its own in the late 1940s and early '50s, as this two-disc, 36-track collection demonstrates. Featuring guitar (both acoustic and electric) and piano pieces recorded between 1948 and 1952, most of them for small local labels, Texas Down Home Blues includes some familiar names like Texas Alexander, Lowell Fulson, Lil' Son Jackson and Lightnin' Hopkins, but the balance of the performers are much more obscure, which is the real strength of this set. Among the standout tracks are Texas Alexander's "Crossroads Blues" (no relation to Robert Johnson's famous composition of the same name), Wright Holmes' sprightly "Good Road Blues," Lil' Son Jackson's reconfiguration of "Deep Blue Sea" as "Milford Blues," Frankie Lee Sims' acoustic/electric hybrid "Don't Forget Me Baby," and Luther "Rocky" Stoneham's extremely specific "January 11, 1949 Blues." Some of these tracks were actually recorded in California, which became somewhat of a haven for several Texas blues musicians after the war, but they retain a distinct Texas sound. ~ Steve Leggett
Credits: Texas Alexander - Primary Artist, Vocals; Johnny "The Blind Boy" Beck - Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Leon "Buzz" Benton - Guitar; Charles Bradix - Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Buddy Chiles - Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Claude Colombini - Concept; Donald Cooks - Bass; Rattlesnake Cooper - Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Sonny Boy Davis - Piano; Big Bill Dotson - Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Lavada Durst - Primary Artist; Leroy Ervin - Piano, Primary Artist, Vocals; Patrick Frémeaux - Concept; Lowell Fulson - Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Martin Fulson - Guitar; Robert Geddins - Composer; Patrick Haoua - Colorist; Gerard Herzhaft - Discography, Musical Direction, Text; Andrew "Smokey" Hogg - Drums, Guitar, Vocals; John Hogg - Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Smokey Hogg - Primary Artist; Sonny Boy Holmes - Guitar, Vocals; Wright Holmes - Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Lightnin' Hopkins - Composer, Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Lawyer Houston - Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Lee Hunter - Composer, Piano, Primary Artist, Vocals; Melvin "Lil' Son" Jackson - Primary Artist; Blind Lemon Jefferson - Composer; R. Arthur Johnson - Composer; Willie Lane - Bass, Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Ernest Lewis - Bass, Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Alex Moore - Primary Artist; Alexander Herman Moore - Piano, Vocals; Manny Nichols - Primary Artist; Buster Pickens - Piano; Joe Pullum - Composer; Jesse Sailes - Drums; Frankie Lee Sims - Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Funny Paper Smith - Composer; Thunder Smith - Piano, Primary Artist, Vocals; Luther "Rocky" Stoneham - Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Nathaniel Terry - Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Andrew Thomas - Vocals; Andy Thomas - Primary Artist; Jesse Thomas - Primary Artist; Jesse Babyface Thomas - Guitar, Vocals; James Tisdom - Bass, Drums, Guitar, Harmonica, Primary Artist, Vocals; Traditional - Composer; Mercy Dee Walton - Composer, Piano, Primary Artist, Vocals; L.C. Williams - Primary Artist, Vocals; Larry Willis - Composer; Little Son Willis - Primary Artist; Laure Wright - Adaptation, English Translations.
Tracklist:
01. Crossroads Blues - Texas Alexander
02. Locked In Jail Blues - Johnny Beck
03. Boogie Like You Wanna - Charley Bradix
04. Mistreated Blues - Buddy Chiles
05. Lost Woman - Rattlesnake Cooper
06. Dark Old World - Big Bill Dotson
07. Hattie Green - Lavada Durst
08. 2:56 - Leroy Ervin
09. Double Trouble Blues - Lowell Fulson
10. Central Avenue Blues - Slim Green
11. West Texas Blues - John Hogg
12. Penitentiary Blues - Smokey Hogg
13. Good Road Blues - Wright Holmes
14. T-Model Blues - Lightnin' Hopkins
15. Western Rider Blues - Soldier Boy Houston
16. Back To Santa Fe - Lee Hunter
17. Milford Blues - Lil' Son Jackson
18. Please Ma'am, Forgive Me - Sunny James
01. Sam's Coming Home - Sam "Suitcase" Johnson
02. Howling Wolf Blues - Willie Lane
03. Lou Della - Ernest "Buddy" Lewis
04. Neglected Woman - Alex Moore
05. Forgive Me - Manny Nichols
06. Don't Forget Me Baby - Frankie Lee Sims
07. Low Down Dirty Ways - Wilson "Thunder" Smith
08. TNT Woman - Sonny Boy Holmes
09. January 11, 1949 Blues - Luther Stoneham
10. Which Woman Do I Love? - The Sugarman
11. Take It Easy - Nat Terry
12. I Love My Baby - Andy Thomas
13. Mountain Key Blues - Jesse Thomas
14. Winehead Swing - James Tisdom
15. One Room Country Shack - Mercy Dee Walton
16. Morning Train Blues - Peter Warfield
17. The Lazy J - L.C. Williams
18. Skin And Bones - Little Son Willis