Classic Piano Blues from Smithsonian Folkways

Smithsonian Folkways – SFW CD 40196

Country: Unites States
Released: 2008
Genre: Blues, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Piano Blues
[Tracklist]
01 Dedication to Pete Johnson: Memphis Slim (3:12)
02 Early in the Morning: Booker T. Laury (3:06)
03 How Long Blues: Speckled Red (3:20)
04 Yellow Dog Blues: James P. Johnson and Katherine Handy Lewis (2:56)
05 Key to the Highway: Jazz Gillum, Memphis Slim (2:54)
06 Medium Blues: Meade "Lux" Lewis (2:51)
07 Black Wolf Blues: Champion Jack Dupree (2:57)
08 Dices Blues: Big Chief Ellis (4:54)
09 Big Fat Woman: Lead Belly (1:10)
10 Harlem Parlor Blues: Sammy Price (2:51)
11 Little Drops of Water: Henry Brown & Edith Johnson (3:03)
12 Pinetop's Boogie Woogie: Little Brother Montgomery (4:08)
13 Pinetop's Boogie Woogie: Speckled Red (3:26)
14 Wish Me Well: Memphis Slim, Willie Dixon (2:14)
15 All My Money's Gone: Henry Townsend (2:53)
16 You're My Man: Victoria Spivey (4:33)
17 On My Way to See Moe Asch: Champion Jack Dupree (4:21)
18 Sweet Old Chicago: Roosevelt Sykes (2:56)
19 No Special Rider Blues: Little Brother Montgomery (3:29)
20 Hesitation Blues: James P. Johnson (3:05)
[Credits]
Executive producers: Daniel E. Sheehy and Atesh Sonneborn, Compiled: Jeff Place and Richard James Burgess, Layout and design: Communication Visual (http://www.com-vis.com )
[Notes]
Storyville nightclubs, Beale Street juke joints, gambling houses, barrelhouse bars in the lumber and turpentine camps of East Texas—these were the places African American piano bluesmen called home. Born of ragtime and hard times, the piano blues migrated with its players from the deep South to the urban North. Classic Piano Blues revisits raucous boogie-woogie and blues legends Memphis Slim, Willie Dixon, Champion Jack Dupree, Speckled Red, Meade "Lux" Lewis, Lead Belly, Little Brother Montgomery, Roosevelt Sykes, James P. Johnson, and more, in 20 tracks drawn from the well of the Folkways Collections. Extensive notes, 32-page booklet, 64 minutes.

Classic Delta and Deep South Blues from Smithsonian Folkways

Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40222

Format: CD, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 2018
Genre: Blues, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Delta Blues
[Tracklist]
01 C.C. Rider: Big Bill Broonzy (2:34)
02 Woman in Elaine, Arkansas: Roosevelt Sykes (2:23)
03 Death Letter Blues: Son House (2:58)
04 Your Crying Won’t Make Me Stay: K.C. Douglas and Richard Riggins (2:43)
05 Columbus, Mississippi Blues: Bukka White (3:30)
06 I'm Goin' to Walk Your Log: Cat-Iron (1:53)
07 Why Did You Go Last Night: Clifton Chenier (3:17)
08 I Stand and Wonder: Sam Chatmon (3:51)
09 Sleeping with the Devil: Johnny Young and Walter Horton (3:56)
10 Short Stuff’s Corinna: Short Stuff Macon (2:43)
11 Married Woman Blues: Big Joe Williams (1:57)
12 Up the Country Blues: Little Brother Montgomery (2:57)
13 Dream: John Littlejohn (4:44)
14 Good Morning Little Schoolgirl: Doctor Ross (3:36)
15 Catfish Blues: Honeyboy Edwards (3:27)
16 M & O Blues: Memphis Slim (3:37)
17 Forty-Four: Scott Dunbar (4:14)
18 Sun Goin' Down: Son House (4:59)
19 Frisco Line: Fred McDowell (3:58)
20 Diggin' My Potatoes: Big Bill Broonzy (2:58)
[Credits]
Compiler & Liner Notes: Barry Lee Pearson, Designer: Cooley Design Lab, Photographer: Bill Steber, Mastering Engineer: Pete Reiniger
[Notes]
Mississippi, particularly the Delta, lays claim to being the land where the blues began. Forged in the crucible of poverty and racial oppression, blues flourished there as nowhere else, evolving into what most critics consider the deepest or most intense strain of the blues tradition. During the Great Migration, music changed consistently, adapting to its new surroundings like St. Louis and Chicago, while retaining its connection to its down home Delta roots. This collection celebrates the diversity and dissemination of the blues’ most powerful and influential voices. 67 minutes, 40-page booklet with extensive notes and photos.