Roundup Of Notable New Reissues

 With the Year of the Blues in high gear there's no shortage of reissues of classic blues. Shout! Factory has jumped on the bandwagon with their "Heroes Of The Blues" series which include career retrospectives by: Ma Rainey, Reverend Gary Davis, Furry Lewis, Skip James, Mississippi Fred McDowell and Son House. RCA continues their "When The Sun Goes Down" (subtitled "The Secret History Of Rock & Roll") with sets by Blind Willie McTell, Arthur Crudup and Sonny Boy Williamson I. Finally we look at a Classic Blues Vol. 2 a set of traditional blues from Smithsonian Folkways.

 While all of the artists in Shout! Factory's "Heroes Of The Blues" series have been reissued endlessly these CD's, for the most part, have been thoughtfully assembled from all facets of the artists career making these good introductions for those unfamiliar with these blues legends. Sound quality is generally very good plus solid notes and as a bonus the covers are by Robert Crumb who did the original illustrations for a set of blues trading cards which have become highly collectable.

 Furry Lewis, Son House, Rev. Gary Davis and Skip James all share the distinction of making their initial recordings in the 20's or 30's and after long layoffs being rediscovered in the 50's and 60's by a white audience leading to productive second careers. Furry Lewis recorded around two dozen seminal blues sides between 1927-29 which rank among the era's best and would have secured his legend even if he hadn't been rediscovered in the late 50's. Rediscovered he was and his nimble guitar work and engaging storytelling garnered him a legion of new fans. This collection is a fine cross section of Furry's music opening with three classic 1928 recordings with the rest taken from the 60's cut for a variety of labels like Prestige (61' - his first comeback recordings), Adelphi (69') and Biograph. Along with Charlie Patton, Son House was a major force in the Delta blues style and a major influence on Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. House's 1930 recordings for Paramount are devastatingly intense performances, some of the toughest ever committed to record. Alan Lomax recorded House once again for the Library of congress in 1941-1942 and House recorded one final time for Columbia in 1965 shortly after he was rediscovered in Rochester, NY. This collection spotlights all three periods including the magnificent "My Black Mama Part 1" (30'), a rocking full band version of "Walking Blues" (41' - his only recordings with a full band) plus a batch of songs from his 65' Columbia session that proved the old man had plenty of fire left. Like Son House, Skip James made his debut on the Paramount label a year later in 1931 cutting 18 of the most haunting blues ever recorded including his famous "Devil Got My Woman" and "I'm So Glad" covered in the 60's by Cream. James' eerie high pitched falsetto, unique guitar tuning and songwriting marks him as a true original. James, like many others, was tracked down by intrepid blues enthusiasts and launched a short by productive comeback before passing in 1969. Unfortunately only two of James' 31' recordings are included (two piano pieces), in fact the first five cuts find James on piano which seems to be a case of poor sequencing. The rest are guitar tracks including fine updates of "Devil Got My Woman", "I'm So Glad", "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" and "Illinois Blues." Rev. Gary Davis was a giant of ragtime guitar a fact evident on his brilliant 30's recordings and still in evidence when he started recording anew in the mid-50's. Davis' initial recordings were a mix of gospel and blues with increasingly more spirituals on his later recordings. Davis recorded extensively upon his rediscovery right up until his death in 71'. This is an excellent cross section of Davis' repertoire including early sides like "I Belong to the Band - Hallelujah!" (35'), his signature song "Samson & Delilah" (60') the stunning instrumental "Cocaine Blues" and the moving "Lord I Wish I Could See" cut a year before he died.

 Ma Rainey was one of the preeminent woman blues singers of the 20's recording prolifically between 1923 and 1928. Rainey was appropriately known as the "Mother of the Blues" and had been singing the music for more than 20 years before she made her recording debut. Rainey's big, earthy voice still sounds fine 80 years down the line on original blues classics like "Bo Weavil Blues", "See See Rider", "Yonder Comes The Blues" and "Black Eye Blues" featuring remarkable slide from Tampa Red. Due to excellent remastering these ancient sides sound about as good as they ever will.

 Discovered by Alan Lomax in 1959, Mississippi Fred McDowell proved to be one of the great Mississippi bluesman blessed with a powerful voice and a slashing slide style. Born in 1904, McDowell never got the chance to record in the heyday of country blues in the 20's and 30's but more than made up for lost time with numerous brilliant recordings throughout the 60's and early 70's. This collection pulls together a number of stellar sides including his signature song "You Gotta Move" made famous by the Rolling Stones plus gems like "Write Me a Few Lines", "Shake 'Em on Down" and equally fine spirituals like "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning."

 RCA's excellent "When the Sun Goes Down" series rolls along with volumes 7, 8 & 9. Sound quality for this series has been outstanding as are the lengthy notes included with each set. Volume 7 collects 22 vintage cuts by Arthur Crudup recorded between 1942-1954. Crudup, as we well know, was a prime influence on Elvis as the King himself once said: "I used to hear old Arthur Crudup bang his box the way I do now, and I said if I ever got to the place where I could feel all old Arthur felt, I'd be a music man like nobody ever saw." Indeed Crudup's loose, propulsive swing wasn't but a hop away from rockabilly. The blueprints are all here on primal tracks like "That's All Right", "My Baby's Gone", "Mean Ol' Frisco" and the joyous "Shout, Sister, Shout." There's plenty more like the lonesome acoustic blues of "Death Valley Blues", "Dust My Broom" cut 2 years prior to Elmore James' hit version and the raw, plaintive "If You've Ever Been to Georgia" backed by a full band.

 Volume 8 shines the light on John Lee Williamson, the original Sonny Boy Williamson, collecting 25 classic sides spanning from his first session in 1937 to his last in 1947. Sonny Boy's magnificent harmonica playing is front and center, for the first time making the harmonica a lead instrument. During the decade he recorded (he was murdered in 1948) he added piano, bass, one or two guitars, creating the template for the postwar Chicago sound he would never live to see. It's a testament to his genius that many of these songs have become classics like "Good Morning, School Girl", "Blue Bird Blues" and "Sugar Mama Blues" (all cut at his first session) plus enduring songs like "Early in the Morning" and "Decoration Blues." Helping to create the sound of Chicago blues is a blues who's who including Big Joe Williams, Robert Lee McCoy, Henry Townsend, Yank Rachell, Blind John Davis, Big Bill Broonzy, Willie Dixon, and Eddie Boyd.

 Volume 9 collects 17 sides by the unparalleled 12-string guitarist Blind Willie McTell cut for the RCA Victor label between 1927-1932. McTell was also one of the blues finest singers and a memorable song writer, a combination that marks McTell as one of the greatest bluesman of any era. Among the disc's many masterpieces are his celebrated "Statesboro Blues", "Mr. McTell Got The Blues", moving slide numbers like "Mama, 'Tain't Long Fo' Day" and "Love Changing Blues" plus good time numbers like the ragtime flavored "Mama, Let Me Scoop For You." Although he never had a hit record McTell knew how to hustle and after 1932 made recordings for the Library of Congress in 1940, the fledgling Atlantic label in 1949, the Regal label in 1950 and hung in there for one final session in 1956 before passing in 1959.

 Classic Blues Vol. 2 pulls together 22 traditional blues from the vaults of Smithsonian Folkways spanning from 1942 to 1994. This is a thoroughly enjoyable collection of acoustic blues including performances by blues legends like Leadbelly, a typically fine pair by Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Son House, Memphis Slim, Roosevelt Sykes, Lightnin' Hopkins and others. There's some fascinating lesser known artists including jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams backing the fine blues singer Nora Lee King on the charming "Blues-Until My Baby Comes Back Home", pianist Barrelhouse Buck, who cut sides for Paramount and Decca between 1929-35, serves up the movingly sung "Lieutenant Blues" and "Little Drops Of Water" beautifully sung by Edih North Johnson with pianist Henry Brown both who recorded in the late 20's. Like the first volume this is a strong and varied set of traditional blues.