The Blues - Music from the Film By Sam Charters

Asch Records – 101

Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: United States
Released: 1967
Genre: Blues, World, & Country
Style: Blues, Soundtracks & Musicals
[Tracklist]
A1 Alone in the Evening Hours: J.D. Short, Memphis Willie B., Willie Borum (02:44)
A2 Slidin' Delta: J.D. Short (04:56)
A3 Old Cotton Fields of Home: Pink Anderson (02:31)
A4 John Henry: Furry Lewis (03:30)
A5 Bad Blues: Baby Tate (03:27)
B1 Sitting Here Thinking: Memphis Willie B., Willie Borum, and Gus Cannon (02:48)
B2 Lonesome Ground: Sleepy John Estes (04:17)
B3 If I Could Holler Like a Mountain Jack: Baby Tate (03:06)
B4 When I First Started Hoboing: Baby Tate (03:23)
B5 Weeping Willow Blues: Pink Anderson (04:51)
[Credits]
Producer: Samuel Charters, Photographer: Ann Charters, Designer: Ronald Clyne
[Notes]
While recording in the South in the early 1960s, producer, writer, and music historian Samuel Charters was inspired not only by the sound of Furry Lewis's guitar, but by the patterns of movement in his hands and fingers as he played. Thus Charters decided to make a film that would document aspects of the blues that couldn’t be put on a phonograph record. In the sweltering summer of 1962, Charters journeyed through St. Louis, Memphis, Louisiana, and South Carolina to shoot the film The Blues and record this soundtrack. Artists featured in addition to Lewis are J.D. Short, Baby Tate, and Sleepy John Estes. Liner notes include details of the making of the film and biographies of the artists.

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.

The Blues - Music from the Documentary Film by Samuel Charters

Asch Records – 101

Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: United States
Released: 1967
Genre: Blues, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Country Blues, Soundtrack
[Tracklist]
A1 Introduction - Alone in the Evening Hours: J.D. Short, Memphis Willie B., and Willie Borum (02:44)
A2 Slidin' Delta: J.D. Short (04:56)
A3 Old Cotton Fields of Home: Pink Anderson (02:31)
A4 John Henry: Furry Lewis (03:30)
A5 Bad Blues: Baby Tate (03:27)
B1 Sitting Here Thinking: Memphis Willie B., Willie Borum, and Gus Cannon (02:48)
B2 Lonesome Ground: Sleepy John Estes (04:17)
B3 If I Could Holler Like a Mountain Jack: Baby Tate (03:06)
B4 When I First Started Hoboing: Baby Tate (03:23)
B5 Weeping Willow Blues: Pink Anderson (04:51)
[Credits]
Producer: Samuel Charters, Photographer: Ann Charters, Designer: Ronald Clyne
[Notes]
While recording in the South in the early 1960s, producer, writer, and music historian Samuel Charters was inspired not only by the sound of Furry Lewis's guitar, but by the patterns of movement in his hands and fingers as he played. Thus Charters decided to make a film that would document aspects of the blues that couldn’t be put on a phonograph record. In the sweltering summer of 1962, Charters journeyed through St. Louis, Memphis, Louisiana, and South Carolina to shoot the film The Blues and record this soundtrack. Artists featured in addition to Lewis are J.D. Short, Baby Tate, and Sleepy John Estes. Liner notes include details of the making of the film and biographies of the artists.

Classic Railroad Songs from Smithsonian Folkways

Smithsonian Folkways – SFW CD 40192

Series: Smithsonian Folkways Classic Series
Format: CD, Compilation
Country: United States
Released: 2006
Genre: Blues, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk, & Country
[Tracklist]
01 An excerpt from "Rail Dynamics": n/a (0:24)
02 Train 45: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:18)
03 Kassie Jones: Furry Lewis (2:56)
04 Jay Gould's Daughter: Pete Seeger (2:38)
05 Railroad Bill: Walt Robertson (2:08)
06 Linin' Track: Lead Belly (1:15)
07 Freight Train: Elizabeth Cotten (2:43)
08 Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill: Cisco Houston (2:30)
09 Zack, the Mormon Engineer: L. M. Hilton (2:02)
10 Lost Train Blues: Virginia Mountain Boys (2:57)
11 The FFV: Annie Watson (3:52)
12 He's Coming to Us Dead: The New Lost City Ramblers (3:15)
13 The Train That Carried My Girl from Town: Doc Watson (2:18)
14 Rock Island Line: Lead Belly (2:03)
15 Lonesome Train: Doc Watson, Woody Guthrie, and Cisco Houston (3:31)
16 John Henry: Sonny Terry, Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston (2:42)
17 The Wreck of the Number Nine: Rosalie Sorrels (1:36)
18 Freight Train Blues: Brownie McGhee (3:36)
19 The New Market Wreck: Mike Seeger (3:39)
20 Jerry, Go Oil That Car: Harry "Haywire Mac" McClintock (2:37)
21 Way Out in Idaho: Rosalie Sorrels (3:34)
22 Old John Henry Died on the Mountain: Henry Grady Terrell (1:55)
23 Casey Jones: John D. Mounce (0:20)
24 Wreck of the Old 97: Ernest V. Stoneman (2:51)
25 Midnight Special: Lead Belly (2:03)
26 Wabash Cannonball: Doc Watson (3:17)
27 Lost Train Blues: Vernon Sutphin (1:13)
28 New River Train: Iron Mountain String Band (4:26)
29 Excerpt from "Three Little Engines and 33 Cars": n/a (0:25)
[Credits]
Compiler and Liner Notes: Jeff Place, Photographer: Jack Delano, Designer: Communication Visual, Engineer: Pete Reiniger
[Notes]
As 19th-century America expanded, so too did the "ribbons of iron" that crisscrossed the vast landscape and sparked the imagination of music-makers. Work songs, ballads recounting riveting exploits, and instrumental echoes of the once familiar sounds of the steam locomotive have enshrined the railroad in our musical memory. Classic Railroad Songs mines the Smithsonian Folkways archives to create this tribute to a favorite American source of inspiration. 36-page booklet. 71 minutes.

Blues Rediscoveries 1966

RBF Records RBF-11

Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation
Country: United States
Released: 1966
Genre: Blues, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Country Blues, Delta Blues
[Tracklist]
A1 Ain't No Tellin': Mississippi John Hurt
A2 Avalon Blues: Mississippi John Hurt
A3 Sleepy Man Blues: Bukka White
A4 Aberdeen, Mississippi Blues: Bukka White
A5 Poor Man Blues: Henry Townsend
A6 Poor Man's Friend: John Estes
A7 Liquor Store Blues: John Estes
B1 Oh Lord Search My Heart: Blind Gary Davis
B2 You Got To Go Down: Blind Gary Davis
B3 Doin' Wrong: Peg Leg Howell
B4 Jelly Roll: Furry Lewis
B5 Sweet Papa Moan: Furry Lewis
B6 Highway 49: Big Joe Williams
B7 Someday Baby: Big Joe Williams
[Credits]
Mississippi John Hurt (guitar/vocals)
Compiled and Edited: Samuel B. Charters, Designer: Ronald Clyne, Photographer: Ann Charters