Rural Blues - A Study of the Vocal and Instrumental Resources

Compiled and Annotated by Samuel B. Charters

RBF Records – RF 202

Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Compilation
Country: United States
Released: 1960
Genre: Blues, World, & Country
Style: Country Blues, Delta Blues
[Tracklist]
A1 I Can't Stand It: Will Shade
A2 Shelby County Work House Blues: Hambone Willie Newbern
A3 From Four Until Late: Robert Johnson
A4 You Can Leave, Baby: Furry Lewis
A5 Milk Cow Blues: Kokomo Blues
A6 Roberta Blues: L'il Son Jackson
A7 Thousand Woman Blues: Blind Boy Fuller
A8 If I Get Lucky: Arthur Crudup
A9 Down the Highway: Charlie Pickett
B1 Milk Cow Blues: Kokomo Blues
B2 Take Your Burden to the Lord: Blind Willie Johnson
B3 New Highway 51: Tommy McClennan
B4 Mama T'ain't Long Fo' Day: Blind Willie McTell
B5 Take Your Fingers Off It: Charlie Burse
B6 My Wife Drove Me From My Door: Charley Lincoln
B7 Skin Game Blues: Peg Leg Howell
B8 Goin' Back To Florida: Lightnin' Hopkins
B9 Standing at the Crossroads: Robert Johnson
C1 One Kind Favor: Lightnin' Hopkins
C2 Nobody's Fault But Mine: Blind Willie Johnson
C3 Warm Up: Furry Lewis
C4 Bukka's Jitterbug Swing: Bukka White
C5 Coal Man Blues: Peg Leg Howell
C6 Southern Can Mama: Blind Willie McTell
C7 Airy Man Blues: Papa Charlie Jackson
C8 Little Cow and Calf is Gonna Die Blues: Skip James
C9 New How Long How Long Blues: Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell
D1 Harmonica Stomp: Sonny Terry, Oh Red, and Blind Boy Fuller
D2 Shiney Town Blues: Frank Stokes
D3 Trouble in Mind: Brownie McGhee
D4 Mean Old Frisco: Arthur Crudup
D5 Sporting Life Blues: Brownie McGhee
D6 Solo: Virgil Perkins
D7 Tippin' Round: Charlie Burse
D8 Mama Don't Low It: Ham Gravy and Washboard Sam
D9 Key to the Highway: Moochie Reeves
[Credits]
Producer and Liner Notes: Samuel Charters, Designer: Ronald Clyne
[Notes]
Taken from unreleased recordings, previous Folkways releases, and early blues recordings, this two-disc set offers an introduction to the vocal styles, ornamentation, and instrumentation of this "highly personal, expressive idiom." Copious liner notes by Samuel B. Charters accompany the musical material.

Country Gospel Song

RBF Records – RBF19

Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 1971
Genre: Blues, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk, Country, Gospel
[Tracklist]
A1 I Know That Jesus Set Me Free: Ernest Phipps and His Holiness Singers (02:44)
A2 To the Work: Alfred G. Karnes (02:54)
A3 God Moves on the Water: Blind Willie Johnson (03:01)
A4 Honey in the Rock: Blind Mamie and A.C. Forehand (02:43)
A5 My Mother is Waiting for Me in Heaven Above: The Smith Brothers (02:57)
A6 The Lion and the Tribes of Judah: Lonnie McIntorsh (03:10)
A7 Just as Soon as My Feet Strike Zion, Lord I Won't Be Troubled No More: Rev. J.M. Gates (03:10)
B1 Lonesome Valley: The Carter Family (02:58)
B2 The Little Black Train: The Carter Family (02:54)
B3 Jesus, Lover of My Soul: Uncle Dave Macon (02:59)
B4 Walking with My Saviour: The Freeman Quartet (02:45)
B5 Wouldn't Mind Dying: Blind Mamie Forehand (03:12)
B6 Take Your Burden to the Lord: Blind Willie Johnson (02:58)
B7 Went Up in the Clouds of Heaven: Ernest Phipps and His Holiness Singers (02:46)
[Creduts]
Producer: Samuel Charters, Designer: Ronald Clyne
[Notes]
This compilation of religious music from the 1920s and 1930s American South brings together black and white performers to show the relationships and differences between the two styles. Both styles share more elements of text and music than their secular counterparts, even though different influences shape both.

Blind Willie Johnson 1927-1930

RBF Records RBF-10

Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 1965
Genre: Blues, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Gospel, Texas Blues
[Tracklist]
A1 Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed (3:19)
A2 God Don't Never Change (3:03)
A3 Trouble Soon Be Over (0:27)
A4 Let Your Light Shine On Me (3:16)
A5 The Rain Don't Fall On Me (3:16)
A6 I Know His Blood Can Make Me Whole (3:11)
A7 I'm Gonna Run To The City Of Refuge (3:29)
B1 Lord, I Just Can't Keep From Crying (3:08)
B2 Everybody Ought To Treat A Stranger Right (3:11)
B3 Jesus Is Coming Soon (3:16)
B4 Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning (3:13)
B5 Church I'm Fully Saved Today (3:13)
B6 Bye And Bye I'm Goin' To See The King (3:05)
B7 Can't Nobody Hide From God (3:31)
[Credits]
Blind Willie Johnson (guitar/vocals)
Producer: Samuel Charters, Designer: Ronald Clyne
[Notes]
Texan Blind Willie Johnson was one of the most successful recording artists in the South in the late 1920s, before the Depression ruined the company for which he recorded. This collection demonstrates the singer's unique ability to express his personal poetic style through the genre of religious song.