Cypress Grove Blues (2004)

About this title: With his high, eerie falsetto and haunting guitar tunings, Skip James sounds like no other country blues player. Although his lyrics were generally drawn from the floating bag of clichés that showed up in countless blues songs, his atmospheric recordings, done in 1931 for Paramount, gave James' songs the appearance of poignancy, and his sad, lonely vocal style made them all seem heartfelt. When he was rediscovered in the mid-'60s, his skills were still intact, and he made several solid recordings for Vanguard and other labels, but his reputation really rests on the 18 tracks from the 1930s ... read more

Tracks:

1. Devil Got My Woman [James]
2. Four O'Clock Blues [James]
3. 22-20 Blues [James]
4. Cypress Grove Blues [James]
5. Cherry Ball Blues [James]
6. Illinois Blues [James]
7. Be Ready When He Comes [James]
8. Hard Luck Child [James]
9. Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues [James]
10. Yola My Blues Away [James]
11. Jesus Is a Mighty Good Leader [Traditional]
12. How Long 'Buck' [James]
13. Drunken Spree [James]
14. I'm So Glad [James]
15. Special Rider Blues [James]
16. Little Cow and Calf Is Gonna Die Blues [James]
17. What Am I to Do Blues [James]
18. If You Haven't Got Any Hay Get on Down the Road [James]

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