Meaning in the Blues

by N/A

Overview

When Paul Oliver's Blues Fell This Morning: Meaning in the Blues was published, it was one of the first books to focus on the country blues from the 78-rpm era (which stretched from the 1920s through the very early '50s) as a kind of black American folk music, a music that tackled black culture in all of its concerns, from love, sex, joy, and sadness to the broader sweep of displacement, war, and death, in an often coded, passionate, and poetic black idiom. It remains required reading for anyone interested in the genre, and this wonderful four-disc, 103-track anthology from JSP Records honors and serves as an audio companion to Oliver's groundbreaking book, celebrating the 50th anniversary year of its publication. Assembled by Max Haymes, who also wrote the text for the lovely 80-page booklet that accompanies the box set, Meaning in the Blues collects blues 78s that illustrate key points in Oliver's book, but it also stands alone as a fascinating and engaging survey of early black country blues in all of its forms and variants. ~ Steve Leggett

Product Details

Release Date:	05/17/2011
Label:	Jsp
UPC:	0788065714123
Rank:	123009

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Falling Rain Blues  - John Arnold  - Lonnie Johnson
2. Jinx Blues  - Ora Brown  - Tiny Parham
3. Dark Night Blues  - Blind Willie McTell
4. Pony Blues  - Charley Patton
5. Milk Cow Blues  - Kokomo Arnold
6. Labor Blues  - Tom Dickson
7. Shake 'Em on Down  - Bukka White
8. Lonesome Home Blues  - Tommy Johnson
9. No Place to Go  - Walter Davis
10. Cotton Seed Blues  - Roosevelt Sykes
11. Dry Spell Blues, Pt. 1  - Son House
12. Steamboat Man Blues  - John Anderson  - Porter Grainger  - Freddie Jenkins  - Clara Smith
13. Gravel Camp Blues  - Lewis Black
14. Blue Monday Blues  - Lovie Austin  - Ida Cox
15. Rock and Gravel Blues  - Peg Leg Howell
16. The Right String But the Wrong Yo-Yo  -  Speckled Red
17. Make Than Gravel Fly  - Paul George  - Slick Helms  - Hattie Snow  - Syd Valentine  -  Valentine
18. Rock Island Blues  - Lewis Black
19. Crazy Blues  - Dope Andrews  - Perry Bradford  - Johnny Dunn  - Ernest Elliott  -  Jazz Hounds  - Leroy Parker  - Mamie Smith
20. Snatch It Back Blues  - Buddy Boy Hawkins
21. John Henry  - Henry Thomas
22. Cannonball Blues  - Furry Lewis
23. Friendless City Blues  - Walter Roland  - Joshua White
24. Stocking Feet Blues  - Blind Lemon Jefferson
25. Stranger's Blues  - Sippie Wallace  - Clarence Williams
26. Wintertime Blues  - Bill Gaither  - Bill "J. Leroy's Buddy" Gaither  - Honey Hill

Disc 2

27. New Way of Living Blues  - Ramblin' Thomas
28. Black Gal Makes Thunder  - Rudy Foster
29. Three Women Blues  - Blind Willie McTell
30. Yellow Girl Blues  - Texas Alexander  - Lonnie Johnson
31. Gonna Ramble Blues  - Sara Martin  - Sylvester Weaver
32. Brown Skin Man  - Lovie Austin  -  Austin  - Edmonia Henderson  - Tommy Ladnier  - Jimmy O'Bryant
33. Brown Skin Gal  -  Barbecue Bob
34. Brown Skin Blues  - Lillian Glinn  - Willie Tyson
35. Chocolate to the Bone  -  Barbecue Bob
36. Kitchen Mechanic Blues  - James C. Brown  - Johnny Brown  -  Excelsior Quartette  - Vernon Jones  - C.C. Parker
37. Black Evil Blues  - Henry Brown  - Alice Moore  - Ike Rodgers
38. Outside Woman Blues  - Blind Joe Reynolds
39. Reckless Woman  - Lucille Bogan  - Walter Roland
40. It Won't Be Long  - Charley Patton
41. Little and Low  - Roosevelt Sykes
42. Big Fat Mama Blues  - Tommy Johnson
43. My Pencil Won't Write No More  - Bo Carter
44. Signifying Blues  - Sam Collins
45. Black Snake Moan  - Blind Lemon Jefferson
46. Save My Jelly  - Cow Cow Davenport  - Iva Smith
47. Freakish Man Blues  - George Hannah  - Meade "Lux" Lewis
48. Sissy Man Blues  - Kokomo Arnold
49. Prove It on Me Blues  -  Georgia Tom  - Martell Pettiford  - Ma Rainey  -  Rainey  - Carl Reid
50. B.D. Woman's Blues  - Lucille Bogan
51. The Dirty Dozen  -  Speckled Red
52. Jacksonville Blues  -  Barbecue Bob  - Nellie Florence  - Charley Lincoln

Disc 3

53. Mojo Hand Blues  - Lovie Austin  - Shirley Clay  - Ida Cox  - Johnny Dodds  -  Lovie Austin & Her Blues Serenaders  - Kid Ory  - Albert Wynn
54. Mojo Hidin' Woman  - Blind Boy Fuller
55. Papa's Got Your Water On  - Charlie Burse  - Hattie Hart  - Hambone Lewis  -  Memphis Jug Band  - Ben Ramey  - Will Shade
56. "Toby" Woman Blues  - Gene Campbell
57. Squinch Owl Moan  - Jed Davenport  -  Too Tight Henry
58. Black Cat Blues  - John Chapman  -  Old Pal Smoke Shop Four
59. Broke and Hungry  - Blind Lemon Jefferson
60. Wish I Had You (And I'm Gonna Get You Blues)  - Porter Grainger  - Viola McCoy
61. Bad Boy  - Ed Bell
62. Doggone My Good Luck Soul  - Hattie Hudson  - Willie Tyson
63. Black Cat Moan  - Gus Aiken  -  Clara Smith and Her Five Black Kittens  - Bob Fuller  - Stanley Miller  - Clara Smith
64. Those Black Man Blues  - Henry Brown  - Mary Johnson  - Ike Rodgers
65. Seven Sisters Blues, Pt. 1  - Funny Paper Smith
66. Seven Sisters Blues, Pt. 2  - Funny Paper Smith
67. Aunt Caroline Dyer Blues  - Charlie Burse  - Hambone Lewis  -  Memphis Jug Band  - Ben Ramey  - Will Shade
68. I'm a Gamblin' Woman  -  Memphis Minnie
69. Skin Game Blues  - Peg Leg Howell
70. Gamblin' Charley  - Charley Lincoln
71. If You Lose Your Good Gal, Don't Mess with Mine  - George Noble
72. Jack O' Diamond Blues [Take 2]  - Blind Lemon Jefferson
73. Stack O' Lee Blues  - Mississippi John Hurt
74. Policy Dream Blues  -  Bumble Bee Slim  - Myrtle Jenkins
75. Policy Wheel Blues  - Kokomo Arnold
76. Four Eleven Forty Four  - Papa Charlie Jackson
77. Three Sixty Nine Blues  - Charlie "Little Buddy" Doyle  - Big Walter Horton  - Jack Kelly  - Willie "Willie Tango" Shaw
78. The Clearing House Blues  - Charlie Dixon  - Clara Smith

Disc 4

79. Mississippi Jail House Groan  - Rube Lacey
80. Lonesome Blues  - Eddie Anthony  - Henry Williams
81. Old Rounder's Blues  - Blind Lemon Jefferson
82. Moon Going Down  - Willie Brown  - Charley Patton
83. Smack That Thing  - Walter Coleman
84. I Had to Smack That Thing  - Frances "Barrelhouse Frankie" Wallace
85. I Had to Come Back Home Blues  - Katherine Baker  - James Johnson  - Lonnie Johnson
86. Rowdy Blues  - Kid Bailey  - Willie Brown  - Charley Patton
87. Barrelhouse When It Rains  -  Black Bob  - Big Bill Broonzy  - Bill Settles
88. Blues in the Alley  - Hot Box Johnson  - Curtis Jones  - Fred Williams
89. Old Jim Canaan's  -  Kid Spoons  - Ernest "Son Joe" Lawlers  - Robert Wilkins
90. On the Wall  - Willie Brown  - Louise Johnson  - Charley Patton
91. Beaver Slide Rag  - Eddie Anthony  - Peg Leg Howell  - Henry Williams
92. Low Down Mississippi Bottom Man  - Freddie Spruell
93. You Got to Reap What You Sow  -  Tampa Red
94. Sitting on Top of the World  - Lonnie Chatman  -  Mississippi Sheiks  - Walter Vinson
95. Some Summer Day, Pt. 1  - Charley Patton
96. I'm Still Sitting on Top of the World  - Sam Collins
97. Mama Blues  - William McCoy
98. Friday Moan Blues  - Alfred Lewis
99. Violin Blues  - Nap Hayes  - Lonnie Johnson  - Matthew Prater
100. Shaking Weed Blues  - Tommy Settles
101. Fairasee Woman (Memphis Woman)  - Kokomo Arnold  - Peetie Wheatstraw
102. Spike Driver Blues  - Mississippi John Hurt
103. Waking Blues  - Otis Harris

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Kokomo Arnold   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Funny Paper Smith   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Gene Campbell   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Viola McCoy   Primary Artist,Vocals
Walter Coleman   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Blind Willie McTell   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Blind Boy Fuller   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Blind Lemon Jefferson   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Tampa Red   Primary Artist,Guitar
Freddie Spruell   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Rudy Foster   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals
Mary Johnson   Primary Artist,Vocals,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Ramblin' Thomas   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Mississippi Sheiks   Primary Artist
Walter Davis   Primary Artist,Vocals,Piano
Joshua White   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Lillian Glinn   Primary Artist,Vocals
Lucille Bogan   Primary Artist,Vocals,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Ma Rainey & Her Tub Jug Washboard Band   Primary Artist
Ora Brown   Primary Artist,Vocals
Tommy Settles   Primary Artist,Kazoo,Vocals,Percussion
Katherine Baker   Primary Artist,Vocals
Old Pal Smoke Shop Four   Primary Artist
Charlie "Little Buddy" Doyle   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guitar
Bill Gaither   Primary Artist
Lewis Black   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Sara Martin   Primary Artist,Vocals
Peetie Wheatstraw   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals
Peg Leg Howell   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Louise Johnson   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals
Memphis Minnie   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Nellie Florence   Primary Artist,Vocals,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Memphis Jug Band   Primary Artist
Mississippi John Hurt   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Tom Dickson   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Hattie Snow   Primary Artist,Vocals
Otis Harris   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Iva Smith   Primary Artist,Vocals
Blind Joe Reynolds   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Ida Cox   Primary Artist,Vocals
Barbecue Bob   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Excelsior Quartette   Primary Artist
Henry Williams   Primary Artist,Vocals,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part,Guitar
Mamie Smith   Primary Artist,Vocals
Henry Thomas   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Reed Pipes
William McCoy   Primary Artist,Harmonica,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Son House   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Big Bill Broonzy   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Curtis Jones   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals
Frances "Barrelhouse Frankie" Wallace   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals
Furry Lewis   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Too Tight Henry   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Charley Lincoln   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Charley Patton   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Ed Bell   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Rube Lacey   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Hattie Hudson   Primary Artist,Vocals,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
George Noble   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals
Lonnie Johnson   Primary Artist,Guitar,Violin,Vocals,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Roosevelt Sykes   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals
Sam Collins   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Robert Wilkins   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Speckled Red   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals
Alfred Lewis   Primary Artist,Vocals,Harmonica,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Alice Moore   Primary Artist,Vocals,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Papa Charlie Jackson   Primary Artist,Banjo,Vocals
Sippie Wallace   Primary Artist,Vocals
Texas Alexander   Primary Artist,Vocals
Bo Carter   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Tommy Johnson   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guitar
Bukka White   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
George Hannah   Primary Artist,Vocals
Edmonia Henderson   Primary Artist,Vocals
Clara Smith and Her Five Black Kittens   Primary Artist
Bumble Bee Slim   Primary Artist,Vocals
Buddy Boy Hawkins   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Kid Bailey   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Clara Smith   Primary Artist,Vocals
Walter Roland   Piano
Walter Vinson   Guitar,Vocals
Johnny Dunn   Cornemuse
Slick Helms   Piano
Hambone Lewis   Jug
Willie "Willie Tango" Shaw   Guitar
Martell Pettiford   Kazoo,Washboard
Gus Aiken   Cornemuse
Nap Hayes   Guitar
Fred Williams   Drums
Ernest Elliott   Clarinet
Stanley Miller   Piano
Myrtle Jenkins   Piano
Matthew Prater   Mandolin
Paul George   Banjo
Hot Box Johnson   Guitar
John Arnold   Piano
Syd Valentine   Trumpet
Ben Ramey   Kazoo
Bill Settles   Bass
Willie Tyson   Piano
Kid Spoons   Spoons
Carl Reid   Jug
Perry Bradford   Piano
Meade "Lux" Lewis   Piano
Tiny Parham   Piano
James Johnson   Piano
James C. Brown   Tenor (Vocal)
John Anderson   Trombone
John Chapman   Vocals
Johnny Brown   Baritone (Vocal)
Vernon Jones   Tenor (Vocal)
Bob Fuller   Clarinet
Clarence Williams   Piano
Freddie Jenkins   Trumpet
Porter Grainger   Piano
Will Shade   Guitar,Vocals,Harmonica
Eddie Anthony   Violin,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Cow Cow Davenport   Piano
Charlie Dixon   Guitar
Shirley Clay   Cornemuse
Hattie Hart   Vocals
Henry Brown   Piano
Willie Brown   Guitar,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Leroy Parker   Violin
Lovie Austin   Piano
Charlie Burse   Guitar,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Sylvester Weaver   Guitar
Albert Wynn   Trombone
Tommy Ladnier   Cornet
Ernest "Son Joe" Lawlers   Guitar
Dope Andrews   Trombone
Bill "J. Leroy's Buddy" Gaither   Vocals
C.C. Parker   Bass (Vocal)
Georgia Tom   Piano
Kid Ory   Trombone
Black Bob   Piano
Ike Rodgers   Trombone
Jack Kelly   Guitar
Lonnie Chatman   Violin
Honey Hill   Piano
Jed Davenport   Harmonica
Johnny Dodds   Clarinet
Big Walter Horton   Harmonica
Jimmy O'Bryant   Clarinet
Ma Rainey   Vocals

Technical Credits

Tommy Settles   Vocal Effect
William McCoy   Vocal Effect
Too Tight Henry   Vocal Effect
Charley Lincoln   Laughs
Max Haymes   Liner Notes
Alfred Lewis   Vocal Effect
Clara Smith   Vocal Effect