If You Take Me Back: Document Shortcuts, Vol. 2

by If You Take Me Back: Some Of The Very Best / Var

Overview

Document Records has nearly 900 titles in its catalog and is easily the largest purveyor of American vernacular music, with titles featuring vintage American blues, jazz, boogie-woogie, gospel, old-timey, and country, all drawn from commercially released 78s and rare field recordings. If You Take Me Back is one of a series of samplers Document has released that allows a quick glimpse into the label's vast archive, and with tracks ranging from early country blues to stylish early jazz, it has a well-sequenced variety that is often lacking on the single-artist discs, which are predominantly archival in nature. Among the highlights here are Bukka White's classic 1940 recording of "Fixin' to Die Blues"; a rediscovered Skip James doing "Illinois Blues" at a 1964 concert in Boston; a raw, stunning field recording of Jimmy Peters & the Ring Dance Singers stomping through "Rockaway" in 1934; and the exciting gospel-blues of Rev. Lonnie Farris & the Gospel Flames on "Golden Street," recorded in 1962 and featuring some amazing electric slide guitar work from Farris. The range of styles presented here is impressive, and If You Take Me Back works both as a wonderful sampler of what Document offers and as a quick introduction to true American roots music at its finest. ~ Steve Leggett

Product Details

Release Date:	03/08/2005
Label:	Document
UPC:	0714298900224

Tracks

1. Fixin' to Die Blues  - Booker T. Washington White  - Bukka White
2. Give It Up  -  Paige
3. Illinois Blues  - Skip James
4. Lint Head Stomp  - Phebel Wright
5. Rockaway  - Jimmy Peters  -  Traditional
6. Signifying Woman  - Jazz Gillum
7. Golden Street  -  Farris
8. New Dirty Dozen  -  Memphis Minnie  -  Traditional
9. Hard Day Blues  - Muddy Waters
10. Halam Improvisation  -  Griots
11. Don't Let Your Deal Go Down  - Fiddlin' John Carson  -  Traditional
12. Shake Boogie  -  Carolina Slim
13. You Need Some Loving  -  Dunn
14. Guitar Swing  -  Brown Bomber Of Swing  - Casey Bill Weldon
15. Children Go Where I Send You  -  Harmony Four  -  Traditional
16. The Last Scene of the Titanic  - Frank Hutchison
17. If You Take Me Back  -  Big Joe & His Washboard Band  - Kansas Joe McCoy
18. Olds 98 Blues  - Johnnie "Geechie" Temple
19. Lonesome Trail Blues  - Amos Easton
20. She's Gone  - Alonzo Scales
21. Magic Carpet  - Blind John Davis

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Big Joe & His Washboard Band   Primary Artist
Alonzo Scales   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Jimmy Peters and the Ring Dance   Primary Artist
Carolina Slim   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Skip James   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Amos Easton   Primary Artist,Vocals
Blind John Davis   Primary Artist,Piano
Johnny Dunn & His Band   Primary Artist
Johnnie "Geechie" Temple   Primary Artist
Phebel Wright   Primary Artist,Mandolin
Memphis Minnie   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Thyam Sy Griots   Primary Artist
Bukka White   Primary Artist,Vocals,Slide Guitar
Muddy Waters   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Rev. Lonnie Farris & The Gospel Flames   Primary Artist
Brown Bomber Of Swing   Primary Artist
Harmony Four   Primary Artist
Jewel Paige & Her Brown Brownies   Primary Artist
Frank Hutchison   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Fiddlin' John Carson   Primary Artist,Fiddle,Vocals
Jazz Gillum   Primary Artist,Vocals,Harmonica
John Mitchell   Banjo
Brownie McGhee   Guitar
Jewell L. Grant   Sax (Bass)
George Woods   Drums
Willard McDaniel   Piano
Washboard Sam   Washboard
Johnny Dunn   Clarinet
Johnny Temple   Guitar,Vocals
Robert Lee McCoy   Harmonica
Judge Riley   Drums
Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis   Sax (Tenor)
Ransom Knowling   Bass,String Bass
Herb Flemming   Trombone
Henry Singleton   Vocals
Harry Hull   Brass Band
Junior Morgan   Guitar
Sonny Terry   Harmonica
Bob Call   Piano
Amanda Sortier   Washboard
Jewel Paige   Vocals
Jelly Roll Morton   Piano
Rev. Lonnie Farris   Vocals,Slide Guitar
Thomas Johnson   Vocals
Willie James Lacey   Guitar
Alberta Perkins   Vocals
Louis Jones   Vocals
Estil Stewart   String Bass
Clifford Medlock   Vocals
Deacon McMillan   Drums
Maurice Simon   Sax (Alto)
Mort Perry   Drums
Mister Zero   Drums
Star   Tambourine
James Clark   Piano
Calvin Dillard   Vocals
LeVol Franklin   Bass
Courtland Thomas   Vocals
Joe "Bledsoe" Brown   Trumpet
Bob Gaddy   Piano
William K. "Billy" Hadnott   Bass
Oscar Lee Bradley   Drums
Tiny Webb   Guitar
Garvin Bushell   Clarinet,Sax (Alto)
George Barnes   Guitar (Electric)
Kansas Joe McCoy   Guitar,Vocals
Casey Bill Weldon   Vocals,Slide Guitar

Technical Credits

Skip James   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Muddy Waters   Composer
Booker T. Washington White   Composer
Frank Hutchison   Composer
Kansas Joe McCoy   Composer
Casey Bill Weldon   Composer