Release Date: November 21, 2006.
Recording Time: 58 minutes.
Release Info: DTD-05A, CD, Compilation, Reissue.
Styles: Acoustic Blues, Blues Gospel, Country Blues, Delta Blues, Folk-Blues, Jazz, Old-Timey, Piedmont Blues, Regional Blues, Slide Guitar Blues, Texas Blues.
This is an incredible collection, put together by obsessive collector (Joe) Bussard. It includes the record that won Uncle Bunt Stephen the Henry Ford Fiddling Contest, 'Sail Away Lady', Clarence Ashley with his claw hammer banjo, and possible the rarest record in the world, Cleve Reed and Harvey Hull's 'Original Stack 'O Lee Blues. ~ Everett True, Planb, March 2007
In conjunction with the 2006 DVD documentary of record collector Joe Bussard, Dust-to-Digital released this companion CD, featuring 19 tracks in some of the kind of styles -- rural blues, jazz, and old-timey country music, mostly from the '20s and '30s -- that Bussard loves. Desperate Man Blues: Discovering the Roots of American Music isn't exactly a soundtrack to the documentary, since these records are not featured in their entirety in that film. Rather, it's a survey of some of the highlights of the music in which Bussard specializes, the liner notes featuring track-by-track annotation by Bussard himself. It's an excellent mixture of classics by some of the most esteemed early country and blues giants and the kind of more obscure items that are primarily known only to the type of listeners who covet what Bussard collects. Among the classics are Robert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues," Blind Willie McTell's "Statesboro Blues," Clarence Ashley's "The Coo-Coo Bird," the Carter Family's "John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man," and the very first version of "Stack O' Lee Blues" ever made (by Cleve Reed and Harvey Hull, in 1927). Other big names on the CD are Son House, Charley Patton, Lonnie Johnson, and Uncle Dave Macon. Yet there are also quite a few tracks by lesser known and little-known artists, like Lane Hardin's "Hard Time Blues" (the only record he made); Jimmy Murphy's "We Live a Long Long Time" (a witty yet wistful 1955 recording that Bussard refers to as the last country record made in Nashville); and the raw one-man electric blues of Joe Hill Louis' "When I'm Gone." Another highlight is Blind Willie Johnson's chillingly haunting, wordlessly sung slide guitar blues "Dark Was the Night," which Bussard describes as "the most incredible record I have ever heard." Of course there are tons more records, and even many other compilations, covering similar ground. But this is a very good anthology for those who want an introduction to this kind of stuff, or those who want compilations that focus on some of the best of it, with sound transfers that eliminate as much of the extraneous noise from these aged recordings as possible. ~ Richie Unterberger
From the Artist:
Collectors and musicians come to see and hear first-hand what is considered to be the most vital, historically important privately owned collection of early-20th-century American music. Although other formidable private record collections exist, what makes Bussard such an undeniable force in old-time music circles isn't simply his collection but what he has done with it over the years. It is a fusion of obsessive, almost pathological hoarding and an equally strong impulse for rampant dissemination. He has got to own the record, yes, but he wants the whole world to hear it, too.
Credits: David Anderson - Transfers; Susan Archie - Design; Clarence Ashley - Primary Artist; Billy Banks & His Orchestra - Primary Artist; Joe Bussard - Liner Notes; The Carter Family - Primary Artist; Edward Gillan - Audio Production; Michael Graves - Mastering; Bruce Elder - Liner Notes; Lane Hardin - Primary Artist; Son House - Primary Artist; Papa Harvey Hull - Primary Artist; Gitfiddle Jim - Primary Artist; Blind Willie Johnson - Primary Artist; Lonnie Johnson - Primary Artist; Robert Johnson - Primary Artist; Steven Lance Ledbetter - Audio Production, Producer; Joe Hill Louis - Primary Artist; Uncle Dave Macon - Primary Artist; Blind Willie McTell - Primary Artist; Hoyt Ming and His Pep Steppers - Primary Artist; Jimmy Murphy - Primary Artist; Charley Patton - Primary Artist; Long "Cleve" Reed - Primary Artist; Uncle Bunt Stephens - Primary Artist; The Stripling Brothers - Primary Artist; Tennessee Mess Arounders - Primary Artist.
Tracklist:
- 01. We Live A Long Time To Get Old - Jimmy Murphy
- 02. Cross Road Blues - Robert Johnson
- 03. When I'm Gone - Joe Hill Louis
- 04. Death Valley Is Just Half Way To My Home - Lonnie Johnson
- 05. Whoop 'Em Up, Cindy - Uncle Dave Macon
- 06. Statesboro Blues - Blind Willie McTell
- 07. It Won't Be Long - Charley Patton
- 08. Death Letter Blues - Son House
- 09. Hard Time Blues - Lane Hardin
- 10. Indian War Whoop - Hoyt Ming & His Pep Steppers
- 11. Paddlin' Madeline Blues - Gitfiddle Jim
- 12. Mandolin Blues - Tennessee Mess Arounders
- 13. Coo-Coo Bird - Clarence Ashley
- 14. John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man - The Carter Family
- 15. Lost Child - Stripling Brothers
- 16. Bugle Call Rag - Billy Banks & His Orchestra
- 17. Sail Away Lady - Uncle Bunt Stephens
- 18. Original Stack O' Lee Blues - Papa Harvey Hull & Long "Cleve" Reed
- 19. Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground - Blind Willie Johnson
Notes:
CD is companion to documentary Desperate Man Blues directed by Edward Gillan (2003).
As Joe Bussard states in doco: "You can thank old time record collectors for the music that is left because the record companies didn't give a damn about any of that stuff."