Various The 1968 Memphis Country Blues Festival With Bukka White

CD 1 of this set is a reissue of the Memphis Country Blues Festival as recorded on Saturday, July 20th,1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. Performers include Bukka White, Joe Callicott, Furry Lewis, Rev. Robert Wilkins and Nathan Beauregard – and it’s the latter two that steal the show. Beauregard, who by his own admission had stopped learning new material in the 1930’s, turns in the most decidedly electric performance of the evening. His versions of “Highway 61” and “Kid Gal Blues” included here are not to be missed – especially since he only ever recorded six songs! The Reverend Robert Wilkins is mostly remembered for his composition “Prodigal Son” that was covered by The Rolling Stones for their “Beggars Banquet” LP. At the time this Memphis festival took place, however, that Stones release was still a good six months in the future, and as much as I love Mick and Keith’s version, it pales in comparison to the passion and the fury present in these readings of “In Heaven, Sitting Down” and “What Do You Think About Jesus”. With John Wilkins on electric bass and Douglas Wilkins on backing vocals and percussion, the good reverend teaches a masterclass in simplicity and dynamics. -- Blueswebzine

File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Source: LL (from CD)
Released: 2006
Styles: Blues
Time: 50:20
Size: 116,0 MB
Covers: Full (20 page booklet)

CD1: The 1968 Memphis Country Blues Festival With Bukka White
(5:53) 1. Nathan Beauregard - Highway 61
(4:03) 2. Nathan Beauregard - Kid Gal Blues
(5:01) 3. Bukka White - Hello Central, Give Me 49
(2:35) 4. Bukka White - Baby Please Don't Go
(5:17) 5. Furry Lewis - Furry's Blues
(4:04) 6. Robert Wilkins - In Heaven, Sitting Down
(4:44) 7. Robert Wilkins - What Do You Think About Jesus
(6:57) 8. Mississippi Joe Callicott - You Don't Know My Mind
(6:00) 9. Mississippi Joe Callicott - Great Long Ways From Home
(5:41) 10. Bukka White - My Mother Died

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A Memphis, Tennessee studio recording from Sunday, July 21st, 1968, CD 2 of this set is devoted entirely to Bukka White. On the three tunes he had on the festival half, Bukka was accompanied by Jim Crosthwait on washboard; here, he works with various combinations of Crosthwait, Harmonica Boy (harmonica), Trevor Koehler (piano), Bill Barth (guitar), Anchor (bass), and Joe Gray (drums). Indeed: CD 2 is the album originally issued as “Memphis Hot Shots”, with what must surely be one of the most memorable blues album covers ever conceived. While no match for his pre-war output, the solo/duo tunes on this album are nevertheless solid – and the rest is genius! After all that 21st century hype about pushing the envelope and merging blues with hip-hop, it’s a relief to come across a recording that actually does all that and more. Recorded in 1968, the full-band version of “Aberdeen, Mississippi Blues” is well worth the price of this album alone, sounding more current than most of what you’ll find in the Contemporary Blues section today. -- Blueswebzine

File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Source: LL (from CD)
Released: 2006
Styles: Blues
Time: 51:35
Size: 119,2 MB
Covers: Full

CD2: Bukka White The Complete Blue Horizon Recordings
(2:51) 1. Bukka White - Bed Spring Blues
(3:08) 2. Bukka White - Aberdeen, Mississippi Blues
(3:54) 3. Bukka White - Drifting Blues
(5:59) 4. Bukka White - (Brand New) Decoration Day
(3:42) 5. Bukka White - Baby Please Don't Go
(2:32) 6. Bukka White - Give Me an Old, Old Lady
(6:33) 7. Bukka White - Got Sick and Tired
(2:40) 8. Bukka White - World Boogie
(5:36) 9. Bukka White - School Learning
(2:39) 10. Bukka White - Old Man Tom
(3:30) 11. Bukka White - Gibson Town
(3:51) 12. Bukka White - Drifting Blues [Master Version](bonus)
(4:32) 13. Bukka White - Old Man Tom [Master Version](bonus)

CD1 The 1968 Memphis Country Blues Festival
CD2 Bukka White The Complete Blue Horizon
artwork pt1
artwork pt2

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Joe Callicott - North Mississippi Blues

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:39
Size: 90.8 MB
Styles: Acoustic Delta blues
Year: 2004
Art: Front

[2:48] 1. River Blues
[4:00] 2. Up Town Blues
[2:54] 3. Let Your Deal Go Down
[4:01] 4. Good Time Blues
[2:46] 5. Down To The River
[3:58] 6. Fare Thee Well Blues
[2:40] 7. When The Saints Go Marching In
[3:39] 8. Goodbye Baby Blues
[3:26] 9. Frankie And Albert
[2:57] 10. Roll And Tumble
[3:17] 11. Traveling Mama Blues
[3:08] 12. Fare Thee Well Blues

Bluesman Joe Calicott was born and lived his whole life in the small town of Nesbit, Mississippi, and is one of the most underrecorded legends of the Mississippi delta solo acoustic blues tradition. He first picked up the guitar at the age of 15 and, in 1929, first appeared on 78s as the second guitarist to Garfield Akers. A year later he recorded two tracks with Jim Jackson, "Traveling Mama Blues" and "Fare Thee Well Blues," which have since appeared on many compilations including Blow My Blues Away," Vol. 2. His playing on these tracks is marked by an aggressive vocal that would mellow throughout the years.

Callicott almost completely gave up the guitar in 1959, the year of Akers death, but picked up again in the mid-60s for his own personal enjoyment. In 1967, blues documentarian George Mitchell sought out the artist and recorded eleven tracks with the then slowed down but still magnificent musician. These tracks would later surface as part of Fat Possum's George Mitchell Archive and the 2003 album Ain't A Gonna Lie To You. Just before he died, in 1969, Callicott mentored Kenny Brown, a then 10-year-old boy who skipped school to learn guitar from this unassuming master who lived just down the street. ~bio by Daphne Carr

North Mississippi Blues mc
North Mississippi Blues zippy

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Various - Son House & The Great Delta Blues Singers 1928-1930

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:11
Size: 167.6 MB
Styles: Mississippi Delta Blues, Country Blues
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[3:08] 1. Son House - My Black Mama, Pt. 1
[3:15] 2. Son House - My Black Mama, Pt. 2
[3:02] 3. Son House - Preachin' The Blues, Pt. 1
[2:50] 4. Son House - Preachin' The Blues, Pt. 2
[3:07] 5. Son House - Dry Spell Blues, Pt. 1
[3:11] 6. Son House - Dry Spell Blues, Pt. 2
[2:56] 7. Son House - Walkin' Blues
[3:07] 8. Willie Brown - M & O Blues
[2:58] 9. Willie Brown - Future Blues
[2:46] 10. Kid Baley - Mississippi Bottom Blues
[2:56] 11. Kid Baley - Rowdy Blues
[2:49] 12. Garfield Akers - Cottonfield Blues, Pt. 1
[3:13] 13. Garfield Akers - Cottonfield Blues, Pt. 2
[3:07] 14. Garfield Akers - Dough Roller Blues
[3:05] 15. Garfield Akers - Jumpin' And Shoutin' Blues
[3:08] 16. Joe Callicott - Fare Thee Well Blues
[3:12] 17. Joe Callicott - Traveling Mama Blue
[3:03] 18. Jim Thompkins - Bedside Blues
[2:52] 19. Blind Joe Willie Reynolds - Outside Woman Blues
[3:11] 20. Blind Joe Willie Reynolds - Nehi Blues
[3:14] 21. Blind Joe Willie Reynolds - Married Man Blues
[2:38] 22. Blind Joe Willie Reynolds - Third Street Woman Blue
[3:19] 23. Rube Lacy - Mississippi Jail House Groan
[2:53] 24. Rube Lacy - Ham Hound Crave

Have you ever put an album into a player and been shocked as a surge of intensity, both beautiful and at the same time disturbing hits you like nothing before? You're mesmerised, finding it hard to believe that this is a man, relying on little more than his relentless, pounding rhythmic guitar playing and his own dark, rich, voice. These are the first few seconds of Son House's My Black Mama Part 1 recorded for Paramount in 1930 and just a hint to what is to come. This album is not just an album of singers. It is a snapshot of some of the finest bluesmen to have recorded. This is the blues un-distilled. Raw, hard hitting, being exorcised and torn like a demon from man's tormented soul. This is undoubtedly the best collection of vintage Mississippi blues singers guitarist available. After being in the Document catalogue for over fourteen years it is still one of their best sellers. Blues fans certainly know a classic when they see one.

Son House was rediscovered and feted in the 1960s as the greatest surviving Delta Blues singer. The recordings that Son House made for Paramount label in 1930 are rightly considered classics of their kind. These are deep voiced, solo performances, with Son House brilliantly accompanying himself on guitar, using a slide to produce that special Mississippi Delta sound. The tracks that Son House recorded were "My Black Mama" (1 & 2), "Preachin' The Blues" (1 & 2), "Dry Spell Blues" (1 & 2) and most remarkably featured here is a test pressing of "Walking Blues" discovered in an attic in 1985! This previously unissued recording by Son House also features a second guitarist, almost certainly Willie Brown, a musical associate of House and Charley Patton, who recorded at least four solo performances at the same session. The fiery delivery of Son House's blues with his razor sharp bottleneck guitar playing is contrasted by the more delicate playing of Willie Brown (Immortalised as "my friend Willie Brown" by the recording of “Crossroads Blues” by Robert Johnson). Friends of Charley Patton both House and Brown can be heard together on Walking Blues. Garfield Akers' recordings for the Vocalion label are pure Mississippi blues with his guitar providing an insistent, pulsating rhythm, his vocals only being a step away from a field holler style. The more obscure names provide no less in the power of their performances including Blind Joe (Willie) Reynolds' "Outside Women Blues" which was later covered by the sixties super group Cream.

Son House & The Great Delta Blues Singers 1928-1930 mc
Son House & The Great Delta Blues Singers 1928-1930 zippy

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