Suggest Some Essential Delta Blues

[J.A.W.]

J.A.W.'s list is great, but IMO this Sleepy John Estes collection (listed there) is essential:

http://www.amazon.com/Aint-Gonna-Worried-M...boutThisProduct

Larry,

It's on my list - see the Brownsville section, first CD.

You're right, it's essential.

re-read Larry's post.

My mistake. My apologies to Larry (it's late over here - 1:45 AM - but that's no excuse )

Edited July 14, 2009 by J.A.W.

[BruceH]

For pre-war (country) Delta blues, I would list the most essential recordings as:

Charley Patton (the Reverent set discussed above or the Yahoo "Best of" discs)

Tommy Johnson (His complete recordings fit on one disc)

Son House and the Delta Blues Singers (His 1930s recordings are packaged nicely by Document with other great Delta recordings by more obscure artists)

Bukka White (All his 30s and 40s recordings that almost fit on one disc)

Skip James (the classic early recordings (one disc))

Muddy Waters: The Complete Plantation Recordings

Tommy McClennan: Any collection will do.

William Harris (He recorded 9 songs that are well worth finding and not included on Son House and the Delta Blues Singers)

Robert Johnson (You already have it)

A very good chunk of recommendations there.

[Dan Gould]

My mistake. My apologies to Larry (it's late over here - 1:45 AM - but that's no excuse )

Staying up for the All-Star game, Hans?

[Alexander]

Here are some good collections of country blues, that also contain some good country (and even some jazz sometimes)...

Pick up "Chasin' That Devil Music" by Gayle Dean Wardlow, btw. It's a great book and it contains an excellent CD with some great early blues tracks:

Now, I realize that there are overlaps between some of these sets, but that doesn't bother me, personally. These are all amazing sets with some great pre-war country, blues and occasional jazz...

[Alexander]

I know that people have been calling this artist "Bukka" for a long, long time, but it bothers me that people continue to do that. His given name was Booker Washington White. From what I've read, he was very specific that his name was spelled B-O-O-K-E-R. "Bukka" was a phonetic rendering of the way he pronounced his name, written down (I assume) by some record company employee who didn't understand what he was trying to say. That we still call him "Bukka" seems disrespectful somehow...

[J.A.W.]

My mistake. My apologies to Larry (it's late over here - 1:45 AM - but that's no excuse )

Staying up for the All-Star game, Hans?

No, unfortunately not; my TV set broke down, so...

[AllenLowe]

just to mention, I should have a complete list for my blues set in a few weeks - the mastering is almost done; I think it will meet the needs of blues nuts everywhere (total of about 935 cuts) - and if Dan Gould is reading this, I apologize for not sending an email back, but it turns out I will be using 2 of his Baby Face Willette cuts - I have now become a major fan of Baby Face, love that 1950s stuff -

Edited July 15, 2009 by AllenLowe

[WD45]

just to mention, I should have a complete list for my blues set in a few weeks - the mastering is almost done; I think it will meet the needs of blues nuts everywhere (total of about 935 cuts) - and if Dan Gould is reading this, I apologize for not sending an email back, but it turns out I will be using 2 of his Baby Face Willette cuts - I have now become a major fan of Baby Face, love that 1950s stuff -

Can't wait to see the details on this set!

[blajay]

I think it will meet the needs of blues nuts everywhere (total of about 935 cuts)

It's a bummer you couldn't do something more comprehensive, Allen. :rsmile:

[medjuck]

Allen: To repeat a question I asked in a separate thread: you ever hear of Jimmy "Babyface" Lewis.

[Teasing the Korean]

Allen, will your set include all the recommendations that have been made so far?

[AllenLowe]

1) Sorry, I don't know Baby Face Lewis -

2) Well, I've considered all suggestions - especially in the area of Cajun and also with Willette, who I think is one of the most soulful performers I have ever heard - I wish there was more of his 1950s singing/playing available -

just praying that the record company does not change their mind - also going crazy trying to finish the notes, which will be basic annotations, with hopefully a book proposal to follow - the writer William Gay has expressed an interest in collaborating with me on that book, but I have a ways to go in getting the idea together -

but I am very excited about this one, and think it's not only good, historically, but a very enjoyable listen -

[Hoppy T. Frog]

Generally, my policy is if it's on Yazoo, I buy it, even if Yazoo lacks the all the obsessive discographical stuff like matrix numbers, recording dates and locations.

[Cliff Englewood]

I would start here, if I was going to buy just one CD. This is music which is very accessible to listen to, if you are just starting out with earlier country blues.

Get the Yazoo instead, it has the same tracks and much better sound; it has more hiss etc. but doesn't sound as dead as the Columbia.

Amazon

I don't agree. I think that the Yazoo is overwhelmed with hiss. I don't find the Columbia to sound dead. I was thankful when the Columbia CD came out, because my Yazoo was just so noisy that it distracted me too much.

I realize that this type of opinion would get me laughed off of the Steve Hoffman forum, to pick one example, but that's the way I hear it.

I'd weigh in with Hot Ptah on this one, I think the Columbia sounds much better than the Yazoo, might be cheaper/easier to find as well.

[Cliff Englewood]

Here are some good collections of country blues, that also contain some good country (and even some jazz sometimes)...

I have the ones listed above and would second the recommendation, but I would recommend anything that's on Old Hat, they're an excellent label.

[BruceH]

just to mention, I should have a complete list for my blues set in a few weeks - the mastering is almost done; I think it will meet the needs of blues nuts everywhere (total of about 935 cuts)

Damnit, is that all?

[7/4]

Generally, my policy is if it's on Yazoo, I buy it, even if Yazoo lacks the all the obsessive discographical stuff like matrix numbers, recording dates and locations.

A couple of years ago I bought any Yazoo CD that had music from the Mississippi Delta.

[AllenLowe]

one suggestion I would make for old blues, if one still has a turntable, is to keep an eye on ebay for the following labels: Origin Jazz Library/Flyright/Herwin (the LP Herwin)/VJM.

A lot of these can still be found for reasonable cost and in most cases I have found the sound to be decent.

[Alexander]

Here are some good collections of country blues, that also contain some good country (and even some jazz sometimes)...

I have the ones listed above and would second the recommendation, but I would recommend anything that's on Old Hat, they're an excellent label.

I agree. I have all of the Old Hat releases and they are uniformly excellent. Not all of them are blues, however, which is why I didn't recommend them all in this thread.

[michel1969]

Blind Willie McTell

He was born in Georgia, but...

Edited July 16, 2009 by Michel

[mjzee]

I'm told this has better sound quality, also on Yazoo:

Blind Willie McTell

[Alexander]

I have this one. It's an amazing set...

[Cliff Englewood]

I have this one. It's an amazing set...

Yes, that is supposed to be a good one with very good sound quality, although I have this set and have no problems with the fidelity, a few tracks are worse than others, nothing major though.

McTell nuts should also get this if they see it, very, very, very good;

[J.A.W.]

I'm told this has better sound quality, also on Yazoo:

Blind Willie McTell

Yep, in my opinion this is the one to get.

[AllenLowe]

the JSPs are fine, I have more than a few myself - what they do, in most (but not all) cases is lift stuff from other reissues. And at least they don't decimate it like Proper does -