Classic Blues from Smithsonian Folkways, Vol. 2

by CLASSIC BLUES FROM SMITHSONIAN

Overview

Like the first volume, this brings together a lengthy single-disc program of blues of various shades from the vaults of Folkways. Most, though not all, of these 22 tracks are acoustic, with acoustic guitar blues being well represented with selections from Leadbelly, Pink Anderson, Son House, Honeyboy Edwards, Big Bill Broonzy, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Josh White, as well as lesser-known figures like Cat Iron, who plays an eerie slide guitar on "Poor Boy a Long, Long Way from Home." Give the compilation credit for supplying a good deal of variety, however, also dipping into piano blues by Roosevelt Sykes, Memphis Slim, and Mary Lou Williams; though Williams is known as a jazz pianist rather than a blues one, she's the accompanist for Nora Lee King's blues-jazz outing "Blues -- Until My Baby Comes Home." There's also room for a little full-band blues too, with Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry's "Dark Road" (on which they're backed by a drummer), and the much fuller "Down in the Alley," an early electric band recording by the Chambers Brothers. And a couple of white performers make it into the program too, those being Barbara Dane, Roscoe Holcomb (with "Graveyard Blues"), and a young Lucinda Williams (who covers "Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor"). A solid and wide-ranging collection this is, but like its predecessor, it suffers from an absence of original recording or release dates for much of the material, though the annotation in the 24-page booklet is otherwise extensive. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	09/23/2003
Label:	Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
UPC:	0093074014820
Rank:	47846

Tracks

1. Dark Road  - Brownie McGhee  - Sonny Terry  -  Terry
2. Step It Up and Go  - Warner Williams
3. It Was Early One Morning  -  Lead Belly  - Huddie Ledbetter
4. Blues (Until My Baby Comes Back Home)  - Nora Lee King  - Mary Lou Williams  -  King
5. That's No Way to Do It  - Pink Anderson
6. Farro Street Jive  - Little Brother Montgomery
7. I Ain't Gonna Cry No More (Depot Blues)  - Son House
8. Graveyard Blues  - Roscoe Holcomb  - John Lee Hooker  -  Traditional
9. 44 Blues  - Willie Dixon  - Roosevelt Sykes
10. Big Fat Mama  - David "Honeyboy" Edwards  - Tamara Johnson
11. Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor  -  Traditional  - Lucinda Williams
12. Lieutenant Blues  -  Barrelhouse Buck
13. The Woman Is Killing Me  - Robert Ellen  - Sonny Terry
14. Little Drops of Water  - Edith North Johnson  -  Johnson
15. When Things Go Wrong With You (It Hurts Me Too)  - Big Bill Broonzy  -  Tampa Red
16. Poor Boy a Long, Long Way from Home  -  Cat-Iron
17. My Jack Don't Drink Water No More  - Shortstuff Macon
18. 'Way Behind the Sun  - Barbara Dane
19. Tell Me, Baby  - Lightnin' Hopkins
20. Just a Dream  - Big Bill Broonzy  -  Memphis Slim
21. Jelly Jelly  - Billy Eckstine  - Earl Hines  - Trade Martin  -  Traditional  - Josh White
22. Down in the Alley  -  Chambers Brothers

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Shortstuff Macon   Primary Artist
Cat-Iron   Primary Artist
Edith North Johnson & Henry Brown   Primary Artist
Nora Lee King & Mary Lou Williams   Primary Artist
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee   Primary Artist
Lead Belly   Primary Artist
Memphis Slim   Primary Artist
Brownie McGhee   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Son House   Primary Artist
Big Bill Broonzy   Primary Artist
Barrelhouse Buck   Primary Artist
Barbara Dane   Primary Artist
Warner Williams   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Little Brother Montgomery   Primary Artist
Roosevelt Sykes   Primary Artist
Roscoe Holcomb   Primary Artist
Pink Anderson   Primary Artist
Nora Lee King   Primary Artist,Vocals
Lightnin' Hopkins   Primary Artist
Josh White   Primary Artist
The Chambers Brothers   Primary Artist
Sonny Terry   Primary Artist,Vocals,Harmonica
Edith North Johnson   Primary Artist,Vocals
Lucinda Williams   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guitar (12 String)
Mary Lou Williams   Primary Artist,Piano
David "Honeyboy" Edwards   Primary Artist
Henry Brown   Piano
Willie Chambers   Guitar
Brian Keenan   Drums
Joe Chambers   Guitar
John Grimaudo   Guitar
George Chambers   Bass
Gene Moore   Drums
Jay Summerour   Harmonica
Lester Chambers   Harmonica

Technical Credits

Willie Dixon   Composer
John Vachon   Photography
Margot Nassau   Production Coordination
Angela Allen   Production Assistant
Harold Dorwin   Photo Assistance
Barry Lee Pearson   Annotation,Liner Notes
Mark Gustafson   Photo Assistance
Billy Eckstine   Composer
Lead Belly   Composer
Tamara Johnson   Composer
F.A. Usher Sr.   Photography
Brian Shimkovitz   Photo Assistance
Jacob Love   Editorial Assistant
Mary Monseur   Production Coordination
Marion Post Wolcott   Photography
Earl Hines   Composer
Alan Lomax   Engineer
Brownie McGhee   Composer
Dan Sheehy   Production Supervisor
Big Bill Broonzy   Composer
D.A. Sonneborn   Production Supervisor
Jeff Place   Archival Assistant
Trade Martin   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Pat Terry   Cover Photo
Tampa Red   Composer
Pete Reiniger   Mastering,Production Coordination
Verna Gillis   Engineer
Huddie Ledbetter   Composer
Roosevelt Sykes   Composer
Robert Ellen   Composer
Samuel Charters   Engineer
John Lee Hooker   Composer