LEROY CARR — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 2 • 1929-1930 | DOCD-5135 (1992) RM | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

During the 1990s, blues legend Leroy Carr's complete recorded works were reissued in chronological sequence by Document Records Ltd. in six volumes with additional test pressings and alternate takes added to an appendix along with ultra-rare sides by Texas piano man Black Boy Shine. While later editions on other labels may boast of improved audio quality, nobody has ever covered Leroy Carr's recorded legacy more thoroughly or comprehensibly. Document's second volume contains all of his originally issued recordings dating from June 7, 1929 to January 2, 1930. Throughout this seven month stretch, Carr delivered his customary assortment of slow blues and ambling reflections, along with half a dozen upbeat boogie and hokum tunes, greatly spurred by the guitar and singing voice of Scrapper Blackwell. One should never rush into historic blues material looking for instantaneous kicks without stopping to breathe in the majestic honesty of real blues delivered at relaxed tempos without any gimmicks or punch lines. (The slow, thoughtful version of Carr's famous "How Long, How Long Blues" heard on this collection was the first of several sequels, and may be contrasted with a highly sexualized interpretation by Tampa Red's Hokum Jug Band wherein Frankie "Half Pint" Jaxon does a very convincing impression of an aroused woman being steadily tupped by her lover.) For restless individuals who want to dive directly into humorous foot-tapping entertainment, the "upbeat" titles are "Naptown Blues," "Gettin' All Wet," "That's Tellin' 'Em," "Papa Wants a Cookie," "Memphis Town," and "The Dirty Dozen." arwulf arwulf

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. Indianapolis bluesman Pete “Guitar” Franklin‘s mother, Flossie, used to have Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell “rooming” at her house and he recounted to Art Rosenbaum in 1960 that of the two Blackwell was the one with the aggressive temperament – which had originally led his grandfather nicknaming him “Scrapper”. It seems that as Carr’s career began to blossom, so Blackwell started to harbour a resentment that his own recording career was suffering at the expense of Leroy’s success. Apparently their manager, Guernsey, spent much of his time smoothing over the differences between the mild mannered Carr and the volatile Blackwell, especially when they had been drinking; “Drunk or sober, Leroy was nice. Scrapper was a damn fool drunk or sober”, was Pete Franklin‘s recollection of the relationship. Leroy and Scrapper returned to the studios in June and July 1929 and, perhaps for some of the reasons described or simply because conditions weren’t conductive to successful recording, of the twenty-two titles cut many songs were repeated and in the event only three, That’s All Right For You, Wrong Man Blues and the unique Naptown Blues, were released. However this wasn’t necessarily an indication that Carr was getting stale or running out of ideas – as had been the case with other heavily recorded blues artists – far from it. The recordings made in August that year and January the next year bear witness to Carr having mined a new vein of material; material that not only had variety but also was moving away from the formulaic sound of his earlier recordings. He attempted some Tampa Red / Georgia Tom type hokum pieces with the nonsense lyrics to match, a genre which was very popular with black audiences of the time. Duetting with Blackwell he performed light-hearted numbers like, Getting All Wet, That’s Tellin’ Em, Papa Wants A Cookie and Memphis Town. Interestingly the meter of all four is based on that of the well-known Dirty Dozens which Carr also cut at the same session. Carr’s fondness for this particular melody was probably inspired by the enormous success that Speckled Red enjoyed with the number for Brunswick four months previous. Indeed, Carr’s own rendition of The Dirty Dozen is so reminiscent of Red’s, even down to the boogie piano, that it’s probably a fair assumption that Leroy Carr learnt it either from having heard the song on radio or from the record itself. It has been reported that both Carr and Blackwell had, at one time or another, separately served prison sentences for bootlegging. Therefore they were no strangers to prison conditions or the effect incarceration had on relationships. The sessions in August 1929 and January 1930 witnessed Leroy Carr recording three blues whose central theme was incarceration and the problems it caused. The double-sided release Christmas In Jail – Ain’t It A Pain / Prison Cell was supposedly dedicated to a friend who had experienced such a jail term, while Workhouse Blues found Carr at his most lyrical:
Please Mister Jailer, please unlock this door for me, (x 2) This jail is full of blues, I know they done come down on me. If I had done like my baby told me, (x 2) I would not be in the jail with six long months to stay. I’m a hard working prisoner, sentenced without a trial (x 2) My heart is almost breaking, must be that last long mile. It was 1930 and Leroy Carr‘s “last long mile” into alcoholism had already begun; something he was well aware of as his subsequent recordings attest. DOCD-5135
Tracklist :
11        That's All Right For You    3:13
2        Wrong Man Blues    3:12
3        Naptown Blues    2:44
4        The New How Long, How Long Blues    3:04
5        Love Hides All Faults    2:59
6        I Know That I'll Be Fine    3:19
7        Gettin' All Wet    3:23
8        Rainy Day Blues    3:18
9        Blue With The Blues    3:23
10        Just Worryin' Blues    2:49
11        Baby, You Done Put That Thing On Me    3:18
12        I Won't Miss You When You're Gone    3:11
13        Don't You Get Tired Of Riding That Same Train All The Time?    3:04
14        I'm Going Back To Tennessee    3:12
15        Christmas In Jail - Ain't That A Pain?    3:10
16        Prison Cell Blues    2:46
17        That's Tellin' 'Em    2:58
18        Papa Wants A Cookie    2:43
19        Memphis Town    2:47
20        Don't Say Goodbye    2:53
21        I Ain't Got No Gal    3:10
22        Goodbye Blues    2:45
23        The Dirty Dozen    2:50
24        Workhouse Blues    3:13
Credits :
Guitar – Scrapper Blackwell
Liner Notes – Alan Balfour
Piano – Leroy Carr
Vocals – Leroy Carr (tracks: 1 to 6, 8 to 16, 20 to 22, 24)
Vocals [vocal duet] – Leroy Carr (tracks: 7, 17 to 19, 23), Scrapper Blackwell (tracks: 7, 17 to 19, 23)