Release Date: 1991 & 2008.
Recording Date: November 1949 - May 1950.
Release Info: BDCD-6014, Compilation, Remastered, Reissue.
This disc presents the Curley Weaver session(s) for the Sittin' in With label of late 1949 or early 1950 and the McTell-Weaver session for Regal in 1950. Their voices are a bit worn from over two decades of daily performing and travel under not always the best of conditions, but their talents are otherwise undiminished. Like Billie Holiday's singing in her final years, the effect is still quite moving. Weaver's Sittin' in With tracks appear to represent the core of his repertoire and show him deeply embedded in the Georgia blues tradition, with a particular debt to McTell. Two of the tracks have a second guitarist, who plays a six-stringed instrument and appears not to have been McTell. Contrary to some published reports, McTell and Weaver both play guitars on all of the Regal recordings except two takes of a slow gospel song. McTell is the dominant vocalist. His secular material is a typically eclectic mix of new versions of blues he had recorded earlier, adaptations of blues hits by other artists, and pop standards Of McTell' s pieces derived from recordings by other artists, Don't Forget It is based on a 1939 Tampa Red record, but McTell and Weaver give it an almost proto-rockabilly treatment worthy of the Everly Brothers. It was a strong start to their session, proving that there were no flies on the Pig ‘n' Whistle Band. If Regal had released this track, it might have been the elusive hit that McTell had sought for his entire career. The politically incorrect A to Z Blues was a piece McTell would record again in 1956, but it goes back to a 1924 record by Butterbeans and Susie, who were frequent performers in Atlanta's 81 Theatre. Most of McTell' s verses are new. Curley Weaver's four blues are a similar mixture of original and derivative material. In this session Blind Willie McTell made his first commercial recordings of older popular songs. He probably had a substantial repertoire of such numbers that he performed by request at the Pig'n Whistle and the Blue Lantern. Pal of Mine was a pop hit of 1921, although McTell associated it with World War One when he recorded it again in 1956. Honey It Must Be Love is a piece he had performed in a 1940 documentary recording session for John A. Lomax, and he would record it again in 1956. The fact that McTell recorded seven spiritual tunes is indicative of his turn toward religion in his late years. The remaining four religious songs presented here are gospel compositions of the 1930s that were widely recorded in the post-war years. They would have been enhanced with more vocal support, such as the nice falsetto humming that Weaver contributes on the second take of Sending Up My Timber. With recordings such as these, McTell was indeed preparing himself for a home and a permanent place in the history of folk and popular music Further. - BDCD-6014, 1991 Document Records
* * * * *
Blind Willie McTell and Curley Weaver worked together on and off for many years, worrying their guitars and singing the blues. Aside from "My Baby's Gone," "It's My Desire," and "Hide Me in Thy Bosom," most of their Regal recordings of 1949-1950 remained unissued for decades and took a long time to become generally available. It wasn't until 2008 that the 1990 Document edition was reissued with the addition of three long lost selections for a total of 28 titles, and expanded liner notes by one David Evans. The newly amended titles are "I Got to Cross the River Jordan," "How About You," and an alternate take of "It's My Desire." If you want those additional tracks, go directly to the 2008 edition. Blind Willie's voice is easily identifiable, and Weaver is clearly audible as the singer on "Ticket Agent" and "My Baby's Gone." The Regal material bridges the temporal gap between McTell's Library of Congress recordings of 1940 and his last session, which took place in 1956. The Regals are more or less contemporaneous with his prized Atlantic recordings of 1949. Subject matter touches upon the usual spectrum of real life issues, with the "A to Z Blues" standing out as a nasty, violent, misogynistic remnant of minstrelsy and vaudeville. Recorded twice during the autumn of 1924, first by Butterbeans & Susie, then by Josie Miles and Billy Higgins, it is a longwinded tirade during which the singer threatens to mutilate every inch of a woman's body with a straight-edged razor. Despite anyone's intentions, it is not funny. When McTell for some ungodly reason chose to revive the tune in 1950, he turned it into a bouncy little strut which seems harmless enough until you start to absorb the meaning of the words. ~ arwulf arwulf
Credits: Gary Atkinson - Remastering; Alan Balfour - Liner Notes; Peter Chatman - Composer; David Evans - Liner Notes; Blind Willie McTell - Composer, Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Johnny Parth - Producer; Rudolf Staeger - Executive Producer; Curley Weaver - Composer, Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Kevin Witt - Graphics.
Tracklist:
- 01. My Baby's Gone - Curley Weaver
- 02. Ticket Agent - Curley Weaver
- 03. Some Rainy Day - Curley Weaver
- 04. Trixie - Curley Weaver
- 05. Don't Forget It - Blind Willie McTell
- 06. A To Z Blues - Blind Willie McTell
- 07. Good Little Thing - Blind Willie McTell
- 08. You Can't Get Stuff No More - Blind Willie McTell
- 09. Love Changin' Blues - Blind Willie McTell
- 09. Savannah Mama - Blind Willie McTell
- 10. Talkin' To You Mama - Blind Willie McTell
- 11. East St. Louis - Blind Willie McTell
- 12. Wee Midnight Hours - Blind Willie McTell
- 13. Brownskin Woman Blues - Curley Weaver
- 14. She Don't Treat Me Good No More - Curley Weaver
- 15. I Keep On Drinking - Curley Weaver
- 16. Pal Of Mine (Take 1) - Blind Willie McTell
- 17. Pal Of Mine (Take 2) - Blind Willie McTell
- 18. Honey It Must Be Love - Blind Willie McTell
- 19. Sending Up My Timber (Take 1) - Blind Willie McTell
- 20. Sending Up My Timber (Take 2) - Blind Willie McTell
- 21. Lord Have Mercy If You Please - Blind Willie McTell
- 22. Trying To Get Home (Climbing High Mountains) - Blind Willie McTell
- 24. River Jordan - Curley Weaver
- 25. How About You - Curley Weaver
- 26. It's My Desire (Take 1) - Blind Willie McTell
- 27. It's My Desire (Take 2) - Blind Willie McTell
- 28. Hide Me In Thy Bosom - Blind Willie McTell
Personnel: Blind Willie McTell - Vocals, Guitar (tracks: 5 to 13, 17 to 23, 26 to 28), Guitar (tracks: 14 to 16, 24, 25); Curley Weaver - Vocals, Guitar (tracks: 6, 9, 17, 19), Guitar (tracks: 6, 9, 17, 19).
Original Matrix Information:
01: New York City or Atlanta, Georgia, probably November 1949 (C-2042, Sitting In With 537)
02: New York City or Atlanta, Georgia, probably November 1949 (C-2043, Sitting In With 537)
03: New York City or Atlanta, Georgia, probably November 1949 (J-481, Sitting In With 646)
04: New York City or Atlanta, Georgia, probably November 1949 (J-482, Sitting In With 646)
05: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1266, Regal unissued)
06: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1267, Regal unissued)
07: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1268, Regal unissued)
08: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1269, Regal unissued)
09: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1270-1, Regal unissued)
10: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1271-1, Regal unissued)
11: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1272-1, Regal unissued)
12: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1273-1, Regal unissued)
13: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1274-, Regal unissued)
14: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1275-, Regal unissued)
15: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1276-, Regal unissued)
16: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1277-, Regal unissued)
17: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1278-1, Regal unissued)
18: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1278-2, Regal unissued)
19: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1279, Regal unissued)
20: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1280-1, Regal unissued)
21: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1280-2, Regal unissued)
22: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1281, Regal unissued)
23: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1282, Regal unissued)
24: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1283, Regal 3280)
25: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1284, Regal 3280)
26: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1285-1, Regal 3272)
27: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1285-2, Regal unissued)
28: Atlanta, Georgia, May 1950 (1286, Regal 3272)
It is possible that tracks 4 and 5 were recorded in New York or Atlanta as late as 1952.