Mance Lipscomb – Texas Country Blues / Arhoolie CD-9026

Mance Lipscomb – vocal & guitar; Mike Birnbaum – second guitar on #3; Charlie Pritchard – second guitar on #10; Powell St. John – harmonica on #11; Frank Lipscomb (Mance’s grandson) – bass guitar on #’s 17 & 18; Wayne Davis – drums on #’s 17 & 18;

Since his discovery over 40 years ago by Arhoolie Records’ Chris Strachwitz the sweet down-home sound of Texas Songster Mance Lipscomb has been a staple in the annals of country blues. With an amazing repertoire and a beguiling manner as a performer Lipscomb could communicate a song with the utmost sincerity and integrity to a croud of 20 000 or to a room of two. The selections on Texas Country Blues are from previous Arhoolie LPs and have not been previously released on CD! Mance Lipscomb’s voice will continue to haunt listeners of generations to come.

1. Texas Blues
2. Black Gal
3. Oh Baby! (You Don’t Have To Go)
4. Whiskey Blues
5. Haunted House Blues
6. Mance’s Blues
7. Does She Ever Think Of Me
8. I Just Hang Down My Head And I Cry
9. Rag In F
10. Wonder Where My Easy Rider Gone
11. Tell Me Where You Stayed Last Night
12. Corrine Corrina
13. Evil Blues
14. Mama Let Me Lay It On You
15. Louise
16. Sometimes I Feel Like
17. Blues In The Bottle
18. Angel Child

REVIEW

“In the 1960s when the folk revival began to recognize country blues as an important art form Arhoolie was there to capture it all on tape. It perhaps seems odd in retrospect that a number of scholars and collectors feared that the older forms of the blues had vanished from the landscape during the 1950s. Arhoolie’s recordings of Fred McDowell Lightnin’ Hopkins and other players gave ample evidence that prewar blues were alive and doing quite well thank you. Texas Country Blues collects a number of tracks recorded by Mance Lipscomb in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Lipscomb may be first and foremost a blues player but unlike Hopkins or McDowell he broadened his repertoire to include ragtime and folk. “Rag in F” is a fun little ditty that brings to mind the bouncy piano work of Scott Joplin while “Corrine Corrina” and “Wonder Where My Easy Rider Gone” conjure up the ghost of Leadbelly. Whatever style he’s working in however Lipscomb delivers each song with focus and feeling. There’s the delightful “Mama Let Me Lay It on You ” and there are sharp electric versions of “Blues in the Bottle” and “Angel Child.” With it’s generous running time and fine selections Texas Country Blues will serve as a superior introduction to an eclectic blues artist.”

– Ronnie D. Lankford Jr. AllMusic.com