Mississippi Delta Blues Jam In Memphis Vol. 2 – Various Artists / CD-386

Description

CD 386

More country blues recorded by Chris Strachwitz in Memphis Tenn. Includes the balance of ARH LP 1084 plus several unissued selections and “Mixed Water” Bukka White’s 26-minute folk tale previously released on ARH LP 1020.

Also see “Mississippi Delta Blues Jam in Memphis Vol.1” sold seperately.

1. Need More Blues – Sleepy John Estes
2. Little Laura – Sleepy John Estes (previously unreleased)
3. Rats – Sleepy John Estes (previously unreleased)
4. President Kennedy Stayed Away Too Long – Sleepy John Estes
5. Nathan’s Bumble Bee Blues – Nathan Beauregard
6. Bout A Spoonful – Nathan Beauregard
7. Christmas Eve Blues – Bukka White
8. Columbus Miss. Blues – Bukka White
9. Sad Day Blues – Bukka White
10. Stuttgart Ark. – Bukka White (previously unreleased)
11. Mixed Water – Bukka White

REVIEWS

“The only thing the title doesn’t tell you is how absolutely raw and ready hot and fresh these 1969 cuts are.

This is the real thing from the real folks.”

(Eric Selbin — UTNE Reader)

“Both albums were recorded June 1969 in Memphis except Bukka White `Mixed Water’ recorded November 1963 in Berkeley California. Originally issued on Blue Thumb Records who let Chris Strachwitz take some of the musicians into the studio for spontaneous performances.

Sixties blues revivalism was undoubtedly one source of the attention given these performers but there’s nothing watered down about this music even when a younger guitarist like Mike Stewart sits in on a few songs. The musicians generally play either solo or in duet and sound like they’re trying to please no one but themselves. The result is over two hours of varied blues from the men who helped create the form.

The three tracks on Vol. 1 by Napoleon Strickland and Otha Turner aren’t blues but a starkly percussive music with direct antebellum roots that sounds almost eerie. The three collaborations between Fred McDowell and Johnny Woods are driving fairly conventional blues with a fascination for repetition. McDowell takes a sparser different direction on his two solo pieces which sound haunted and uncompro-mised. Furry Lewis had recorded four decades earlier but his songs here sound just as fresh. His pieces are the closest to the common idea of Delta blues but he puts them across with force and calm dignity. An unexpected standout on this set are three guitar duets by R.L Watson and Josiah Jones two street musicians practically lost to history because they refused according to the liner notes to be interviewed. Watson and Jones were deaf mutes(!) which raises some obvious questions about the striking sympathetic interplay between their two guitars but they made memorable music regardless. Finally there are two rollicking barrelhouse pieces by Memphis Piano Red that nicely round off the CD.

Vol. 2 starts with four fairly upbeat songs by Sleepy John Estes that are solid but in this company are easily the weakest tracks in the set. Nathan Beauregard’s two songs are slow brooding affairs (`Nathan’s Bumble Bee Blues’ takes ten and a half minutes) that present familiar blues themes with the abrasiveness that suggests one source for Half Japanese and Captain Beefheart. Bukka White’s songs may be the set’s highlight. His powerful guitar strumming and fragmented melodies are ideal accompaniment to the witty sometimes salacious lyrics delivered with a variety of vocal techniques. He closes with a 26-minute spoken reminiscence that borders on a tall tale.

There are several previously unreleased tracks: two by McDowell one by Lewis two by Estes and one by White.”

(Lang Thompson — Cadence)