Rating:
Genre:
Blues
Release Date: 09/23/2003
Run Time: 65:00
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, All Music Guide
;)
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