Living Country Blues: An Anthology (1999)

About this title: A three-disc set of recordings produced by music researcher Axel Kuestner and recording engineer Siegfried A. Christmann in 1980. This is one of the last of an exhaustive batch of field recordings made in the 20th century by Christmann. The music is pulled from 14 vinyl LPs issued originally on the L+R label in Germany, and features artists who often never recorded again after these sessions, along with better-known but still peripheral names like Son Thomas, Boogie Bill Webb, Cephas & Wiggins, Hammie Nixon, CeDell Davis, Eddie Cusic, and the late Lonnie Pitchford. The music is uniformly ... read more

Tracks:

1. Catfish Blues [Thomas]
2. Bye Bye Blues [Johnson]
3. Gonna Cut You Loose [Traditional]
4. You Gonna Take Sick and Die [Traditional]
5. Maggie Campbell Blues [Johnson]
6. Sitting on Top of the World [Chatmon/Vinson]
7. Move Daniel [Traditional]
8. My Babe [Dixon]
9. Boogie Chillen [Hooker]
10. Bull Cow Blues [Thomas]
11. Stop and Listen Blues [Chatmon]
12. Swing, Swing [Youngblood]
13. Jazz Boogie Woogie [Traditional]
14. Jesus on the Mainline [Traditional]
15. Shake Your Moneymaker [James]
16. Rock Me Mama [Crudup]
17. Big Road Blues [Johnson]
18. My Daddy Was a Jockey [Chatmon]
19. That's the Boogie [Strickland]
20. Vicksburg Blues [Montgomery]
21. Mississippi Moan [Brown]
22. When I Lay Down My Burden [Traditional]
23. Lonesome Road Blues [Franklin]
24. Baby Please Give Me a Break [Edwards]
25. The Road Is Rough and Rocky [Edwards]
26. Come on in My Kitchen [Johnson]
27. Bye and Bye I'm Goin' to See the King [Traditional]
28. Chimney Hill Breakdown [Frank]
29. Railroad Bill [Traditional]
30. Chicken Can't Roost Too High for Me [Traditional]
31. Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad [Traditional]
32. Do Lord Remeber Me [Traditional]
33. Jelly Roll Baker [Johnson]
34. I'm Feelin' Lonesome [Stephens]
35. My Old Schoolmates [Edwards]
36. Lonesome Home Blues [Stephens]
37. T for Texas (Blue Yodel No. 1) [Rodgers]
38. Diggin' My Potatoes [Traditional]
39. Vacation in Heaven [Molton]
40. Granny, Will Your Dog Bite? [Traditional]
41. I Laid and I Wondered [Thomas]
42. I Can't Stand It [Molton]
43. Mr. Freddie Blues [Traditional]
44. Corrina, Corrina [Traditional]
45. Rollin' and Tumblin' [Traditional]
46. She's Tailor Made [Sangster]
47. The Hounds [Traditional]
48. You Got to Move [Davis/McDowell]
49. Let Me Play With Your Poodle [Whittaker]
50. Viola Lee Blues [Lewis]
51. Joe's Prison Camp Holler [Savage]
52. When the Saints Go Marching In [Traditional]
53. Spoonful [Dixon]
54. You Got to Do the Boogie Woogie [Davis]
55. Trouble Late Last Night [Murrell]
56. Dry Bones in the Valley [Traditional]
57. I Got a Gal 'Cross the Bottom [Murrell]
58. Soon One Mornin' [Traditional]
59. Levee Camp Holler [Traditional]
60. Precious Lord [Dorsey/Frazier]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.