Before the Blues, Vol. 1: The Early American Black Music Scene

by BEFORE THE BLUES 1 / VARIOUS

Overview

Although the blues is the most renowned form of early 20th century African-American music (other than jazz), it didn't dominate rural Black music to the extent that many listeners often assume. Black and White folk musics mingled extensively before the advent of recorded technology, and Black musicians often performed gospel, religious hymns, folk ballads, and fiddle tunes as well as what we now recognize as the blues. This compilation does a good job of illustrating the diverse ancestry of African-American music with 23 rare sides from the 1920s and 1930s, when records and mass media had yet to fully introduce elements that would standardize musical genres and approaches to some degree. Some of these performers would indeed become classified as blues artists (Mississippi John Hurt, Robert Wilkins, Henry Thomas). But most of these tracks are not explicitly rooted in blues forms, examples being B.F. Shelton's banjo ballad interpretation of "Pretty Polly," Taylor's Kentucky Boys' fiddle breakdown version of "Forked Deer," or the Seventh Day Adventist Choir's "On Jordan's Stormy Banks We Stand." Remastered from old 78s, this may be of more educational than entertainment value to most modern listeners, but it's well done, with extensive liner notes explaining the various forms of Black music preserved on the disc. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	03/19/1996
Label:	Yazoo
UPC:	0016351201522
Rank:	46672

Tracks

1. Bamalong Blues  -  Baxter
2. Run, Mollie, Run  - Henry Thomas
3. Lonesome Road Blues  - Sam Collins  -  Traditional
4. Jackson Stomp  -  Mississippi Mud Steppers
5. On Jordan's Stormy Banks We Stand  -  Seventh Day Adventists Choir
6. Mississippi Jail House Groan  - Rubin Lacy
7. Forked Deer  -  Taylor's Kentucky Boys
8. Bye Bye Baby Blues  - Little Hat Jones
9. Pretty Polly  - B.F. Shelton
10. Soft Steel Piston  - Walter Beasley  - Sylvester Weaver  -  Weaver & Beasley
11. Two White Horses in a Line  - Joe Evans  - Arthur McClain  -  Evans & McClain
12. Jamestown Exhibition  - Bayless Rose
13. Dupree Blues  - Willie Walker  - Georgia White
14. France Blues  - Papa Harvey Hull
15. Dying Mother and Her Child  - J.M. Gates
16. John Hardy  - A.P. Carter  - Buell Kazee  - Huddie Ledbetter  -  Traditional
17. Wayward Girl Blues  - Lottie Kimbrough
18. Newport Blues  -  Cincinnati Jug Band  - Bob Coleman
19. Tom Sherman's Barroom  - Dick Devall
20. Stack O' Lee Blues  - Mississippi John Hurt  -  Traditional
21. Lawdy Lawdy Worried Blues  - Blind Teddy Darby
22. I'll Go With Her Blues  - Robert Wilkins
23. Christian Soldier  -  Denson Quartet

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Evans & McClain   Primary Artist
Weaver & Beasley   Primary Artist
Dick Devall   Primary Artist
Sam Collins   Primary Artist,Vocals
Robert Wilkins   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Little Hat Jones   Primary Artist,Guitar
Henry Thomas   Primary Artist,Guitar
B.F. Shelton   Primary Artist,Banjo
Reverend Rubin Lacy   Primary Artist,Vocals
Rube Lacy   Primary Artist
Walter Beasley   Primary Artist,Vocals,Bottleneck Guitar
Seventh Day Adventists Choir   Primary Artist
Taylor's Kentucky Boys   Primary Artist
Andrew & Jim Baxter   Primary Artist
Sylvester Weaver   Primary Artist,Guitar
Bayless Rose   Primary Artist,Guitar
Joe Evans   Primary Artist
Mississippi John Hurt   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Reverend J.M. Gates   Primary Artist
Rev. J.M. Gates & Congregation   Primary Artist
Mississippi Mud Steppers   Primary Artist
Arthur McClain   Primary Artist
Willie Walker   Primary Artist,Guitar
Buell Kazee   Primary Artist,Banjo
Papa Harvey Hull   Primary Artist,Guitar
Blind Teddy Darby   Primary Artist,Guitar
The Denson Quartet   Primary Artist
Cincinnati Jug Band   Primary Artist
Lottie Kimbrough   Primary Artist,Vocals
Walter Coleman   Guitar
Marion Underwood   Banjo
Charlie McCoy   Mandolin
Sam Brooks   Vocals
Andrew Baxter   Fiddle,Guitar
James Booker   Fiddle

Technical Credits

Weaver & Beasley   Performer
Lottie Kimbrough   Composer,Performer
The Denson Quartet   Composer
Dick Devall   Composer,Performer
Huddie Ledbetter   Composer
Jim Baxter   Composer
Sam Collins   Composer,Performer
Robert Vosgien   Digital Mastering
Robert Wilkins   Composer,Performer
Little Hat Jones   Composer,Performer
Bob Coleman   Composer
B.F. Shelton   Composer,Performer
Joan Pelosi   Art Direction
Reverend Rubin Lacy   Composer,Performer
Harvey Hull   Composer
Rube Lacy   Composer
Gates   Composer
Walter Beasley   Composer,Performer
Seventh Day Adventists Choir   Composer
Taylor's Kentucky Boys   Composer,Performer
Traditional   Composer
Andrew & Jim Baxter   Performer
Andrew Baxter   Composer,Performer
Sylvester Weaver   Composer,Performer
Blind Teddy Darby   Composer,Performer
Joe Evans   Composer,Performer
Don Kent   Producer,Annotation,Liner Notes
Mississippi John Hurt   Composer,Performer
A.P. Carter   Composer
Mississippi Mud Steppers   Composer
Arthur McClain   Composer,Performer
Willie Walker   Composer,Performer
Henry Thomas   Composer,Performer
John Hurt   Composer
Richard Nevins   Producer,Liner Notes,Remastering
Buell Kazee   Composer,Performer
Georgia White   Composer
Papa Harvey Hull   Performer
Cincinnati Jug Band   Composer
Bayless Rose   Composer,Performer