Texas Down Home Blues 1948-1952

by Albert Camus

Overview

Postwar Texas blues had a sparse sound all its own in the late 1940s and early '50s, as this two-disc, 36-track collection demonstrates. Featuring guitar (both acoustic and electric) and piano pieces recorded between 1948 and 1952, most of them for small local labels, Texas Down Home Blues includes some familiar names like Texas Alexander, Lowell Fulson, Lil' Son Jackson and Lightnin' Hopkins, but the balance of the performers are much more obscure, which is the real strength of this set. Among the standout tracks are Texas Alexander's "Crossroads Blues" (no relation to Robert Johnson's famous composition of the same name), Wright Holmes' sprightly "Good Road Blues," Lil' Son Jackson's reconfiguration of "Deep Blue Sea" as "Milford Blues," Frankie Lee Sims' acoustic/electric hybrid "Don't Forget Me Baby," and Luther "Rocky" Stoneham's extremely specific "January 11, 1949 Blues." Some of these tracks were actually recorded in California, which became somewhat of a haven for several Texas blues musicians after the war, but they retain a distinct Texas sound. ~ Steve Leggett

Product Details

Release Date:	11/25/2003
Label:	Fr?Meaux & Associ?S
UPC:	3561302505220
Rank:	130995

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Lowell Fulson   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Ernest Lewis   Primary Artist,Bass,Guitar,Vocals
Rattlesnake Cooper   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guitar
Willie Lane   Primary Artist,Bass,Guitar,Vocals
Leroy Ervin   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals
Nathaniel Terry   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
John Hogg   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Charles Bradix   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Manny Nichols   Primary Artist
Big Bill Dotson   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Johnny "The Blind Boy" Beck   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Lawyer Houston   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Frankie Lee Sims   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Thunder Smith   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals
Alex Moore   Primary Artist
Smokey Hogg   Primary Artist
Luther "Rocky" Stoneham   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Lightnin' Hopkins   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Jesse Thomas   Primary Artist
Wright Holmes   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Melvin "Lil' Son" Jackson   Primary Artist
Buddy Chiles   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Little Son Willis   Primary Artist
Texas Alexander   Primary Artist,Vocals
Andy Thomas   Primary Artist
L.C. Williams   Primary Artist,Vocals
Lavada Durst   Primary Artist
James Tisdom   Primary Artist,Bass,Drums,Guitar,Vocals,Harmonica
Lee Hunter   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals
Mercy Dee Walton   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals
Martin Fulson   Guitar
Alexander Herman Moore   Piano,Vocals
Leon "Buzz" Benton   Guitar
Andrew "Smokey" Hogg   Drums,Guitar,Vocals
Andrew Thomas   Vocals
Jesse Babyface Thomas   Guitar,Vocals
Sonny Boy Davis   Piano
Gerard Herzhaft   Musical Direction
Sonny Boy Holmes   Guitar,Vocals
Donald Cooks   Bass
Buster Pickens   Piano
Jesse Sailes   Drums

Technical Credits

Mercy Dee Walton   Composer
Patrick Fremeaux   Concept
Patrick Haoua   Colorist
Laure Wright   Adaptation,English Translations
R. Arthur Johnson   Composer
Claude Colombini   Concept
Lightnin' Hopkins   Composer
Gerard Herzhaft   Text,Discography
Traditional   Composer
Blind Lemon Jefferson   Composer
Larry Willis   Composer
Funny Paper Smith   Composer
Lee Hunter   Composer
Joe Pullum   Composer
Robert Geddins   Composer