PEETIE WHEATSTRAW — The Devil's Son~In~Law : Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Volume 1 · 1930- 1932 | DOCD-5241 (1994) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

In 1994, more than 160 of Peetie Wheatstraw's recordings were rounded up, placed in chronological sequence, and reissued by the Document label in an unprecedented effort that filled seven compact discs. The contents of volume one stand as a fascinating prologue to Wheatstraw's main body of work, providing valuable insights as a composite portrait of this legendary and influential bluesman continues to emerge from the shadows. Born in Ripley, TN in 1902 and raised in Cotton Plant, AK, William Bunch was already operating under his colorful new name when, in 1929, he landed in East St. Louis and quickly earned a reputation as a blues guitarist and barrelhouse piano player. According to his biographer Paul Garon, when Bunch drew upon African American folklore to reinvent himself as Peetie Wheatstraw, the Devil's Son in Law, he was transcending his racially imposed second-class citizenship by initiating "a poetic motive force in the direction of freedom and liberation." This uncompromising and individualistic power is especially evident in the recordings that Wheatstraw made during his first 19 months as a recording artist. His earliest 78 rpm platter was cut for the Vocalion record company on August 13 1930, in the company of a musician whose name may have been J.D. Short or Willie Fields, but is listed only as "Neckbones." The two men shared the vocals, with Neckbones coming across as the comparative lightweight while Wheatstraw expressed himself through gritty, passionate moaning and groaning, pushing his voice to the limit and sounding at times almost like Charley Patton. This is quite different from the way he would sound beginning in 1934, and even those who are accustomed to Southern African American dialect will probably find much of his singing on this album to be difficult to comprehend. The listener is forced instead to focus upon the singer's emotive texture and intonation, and that's a good way to listen. In September and October of 1930, Wheatstraw recorded eight sides with his close friend Charley Jordan, a well-known bootlegger who was responsible for hooking Peetie up with Vocalion to begin with. These were the first records to appear with the words "The Devil's Son-in-Law" right on the label. In September, 1931, Wheatstraw went to Chicago and cut four sides for Bluebird with a guitarist who is believed to have been Charlie McCoy. Although for a change he was not identified on the label as such, the first song of the session was titled "Devil's Son-In-Law," and the song on the flipside was "Pete Wheatstraw." Distributed by Victor, these Bluebird recordings provided him with terrific publicity, spreading his colorful name and distinctive sound throughout the land. Wheatstraw's next opportunity to record was in March 1932 at a studio in New York City, playing piano behind vocalist Pretty Boy Walker, and this marks the first appearance of what would become Wheatstraw's signature introduction. Every recording up until this point had opened with a rhythmic pulse that made it feel like part of a continuum. Without the signature intro, those sides fit together like segments of a longer ritual, and that is the best way to appreciate them, as the three-minute duration was an invention of the recording industry. While the only extant photograph of Peetie Wheatstraw shows him playing a National brand Style 3 Tricone guitar, he recorded almost exclusively as a pianist. The last four titles on this collection feature him singing and playing guitar, and the picture in question was probably taken during that week in 1932. These records should be savored as definitive proof of Wheatstraw's influence on Robert Johnson, Johnny Shines, Big Joe Williams, Muddy Waters, and Bukka White. arwulf arwulf
Tracklist :
1.    Peetie Wheatstraw, Neckbones–    Tennessee Peaches Blues 2:59
Bass – Unknown Artist
Guitar – Unknown Artist
Vocals – "Neckbones" (prob. J. D. Short)
Vocals, Piano [Poss.] – Peetie Wheatstraw
2.    Peetie Wheatstraw, Neckbones–    Four O' Clock In The Morning 2:42
Bass – Unknown Artist
Guitar – Unknown Artist
Vocals – "Neckbones" (prob. J. D. Short)
Vocals, Piano [Poss.] – Peetie Wheatstraw
3.    Peetie Wheatstraw–    Don't Feel Welcome Blues 3:08
Vocals, Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
4.    Peetie Wheatstraw–    Strange Man Blues 3:09
Vocals, Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
5.    Peetie Wheatstraw–    School Days 3:24
Guitar [Prob.] – Charlie Jordan
Vocals, Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
6.    Peetie Wheatstraw–    So Soon 3:23
Guitar [Prob.] – Charlie Jordan
Vocals, Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
7.    Peetie Wheatstraw–    So Long Blues 3:16
Guitar – Charlie Jordan
Vocals, Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
8.    Peetie Wheatstraw–    Mama's Advice 3:16
Bass – Unknown Artist
Guitar – Charlie Jordan
Vocals, Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
9.    Peetie Wheatstraw–    Ain't It A Pity And A Shame? 3:13
Guitar – Charlie Jordan
Vocals, Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
10.    Peetie Wheatstraw–    Don't Hang My Clothes On No Barb Wire Line 3:03
Guitar – Charlie Jordan
Vocals, Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
11.    Peetie Wheatstraw–    C And A Blues 3:05
Guitar – Charlie Jordan
Vocals, Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
12.    Peetie Wheatstraw–    Six Weeks Old Blues 3:16
Guitar – Charlie Jordan
Vocals, Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
13.    Peetie Wheatstraw–    Devil's Son-In-Law 3:22
Guitar [Poss.] – Charlie McCoy 
Vocals, Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
14.    Peetie Wheatstraw–    Pete Wheatstraw 3:14
Guitar [Poss.] – Charlie McCoy 
Vocals, Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
15.    Peetie Wheatstraw–    Creeping Blues 2:58
Guitar [Poss.] – Charlie McCoy (2)
Vocals, Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
16.    Peetie Wheatstraw–    Ice And Snow Blues 2:32
Guitar [Poss.] – Charlie McCoy (2)
Vocals, Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
17.    Pretty Boy Walker–    The Break I'm Gettin' 2:52
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
Vocals – Pretty Boy Walker
18.    Pretty Boy Walker–    Hog-Love Blues 3:12
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
Vocals – Pretty Boy Walker
19.    Peetie Wheatstraw–    Police Station Blues 3:02
Vocals, Guitar – Peetie Wheatstraw
20.    Peetie Wheatstraw–    All Alone Blues 3:06
Vocals, Guitar – Peetie Wheatstraw
21.    Peetie Wheatstraw–    Can't See Blues 2:58
Vocals, Guitar – Peetie Wheatstraw
22.    Peetie Wheatstraw–    Sleepless Nights Blues 2:49
Vocals, Guitar – Peetie Wheatstraw
Credits : 
Compilation Producer – Johnny Parth
Liner Notes – Paul Garon
Remastered By – Gerhard Wessely 

PEETIE WHEATSTRAW — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Volume 2 · 1934- 1935 | DOCD-5242 (1994) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

With the second of seven volumes comprising Document's complete works of Peetie Wheatstraw, we arrive at the threshold of his fully formed style, perfected over many months of steady gigging while the Great Depression prevented him from making any records. Tracks 1-9 were cut in March and August 1934 with guitarist Charley Jordan, and when compared with Peetie's earlier achievements the difference is apparent from the get-go. Until 1938, when he began to vary the structure of his tunes, nearly every Peetie Wheatstraw record would begin with an instrumental introduction he had initiated, while backing vocalist Pretty Boy Walker back in 1932. This patented intro would become Wheatstraw's signature, as instantly recognizable and ubiquitous as those of inner-city graffiti artists during the final decades of the 20th century. The other audible innovation is Peetie's singing style, which by 1934 had undergone a dramatic transformation involving what would swiftly become his other trademark: the soon-to-be-widely-imitated use of the phrase "ooh, well, well" to punctuate and accentuate his delivery. During this period, Wheatstraw recorded for Decca (the label on which his music would appear exclusively beginning in October 1936) and Vocalion, the company responsible for peddling some of his titles to the Sears & Roebuck Co., who released them on their Conqueror label. Originally backed with a title by Tee McDonald, the jazzy "Throw Me in the Alley" is a rare treat in the form of an upbeat Wheatstraw record involving extra instrumentalists. Billed as Peetie Wheatstraw & His Blue Blowers, this hot little group included trombonist Ike Rodgers and pianist Henry Brown, as well as two unidentified individuals playing clarinet and violin. Other participants on this satisfying collection which covers Wheatstraw's progress through July 1935 are guitarists Teddy Darby and Charlie McCoy, as well as steel guitarist Casey Bill Weldon, whose handle derived from K.C., an abbreviation of his old stomping ground, Kansas City. "Keyhole Blues" and "Long Time Ago Blues" pare the instrumentation down once again to Wheatstraw and his guitar, sounding more lonesome and personal than he generally did at the piano. Issued as the flipside of a Jimmie Gordon record, "Doin' the Best I Can" borrows its melody from "Sittin' on Top of the World" which was first introduced by the Mississippi Sheiks. "Good Whiskey Blues" and its sequel "More Good Whiskey Blues" are straightforward appreciations of legalized liquor (including imported Holland gin!) as opposed to the perils of unregulated, often poisonous prohibition booze. "C & A Train Blues," which refers to the Chicago and Alton railroad, is the first recording on which Wheatstraw amends his nickname by calling himself the High Sheriff from Hell. arwulf arwulf
Tracklist :
1.    Back Door Blues    3:09
2.    Packin' Up Blues    3:09
3.    Long Lonesome Drive    3:19
4.    Midnight Blues    3:18
5.    The Last Time    3:21
6.    All Night Long Blues    3:14
7.    Numbers Blues    3:18
8.    Good Home Blues    3:18
9.    These Times    2:57
10.    Throw Me In The Alley    2:50
11.    C & A Train Blues    3:18
12.    Last Week Blues    3:08
13.    Keyhole Blues    3:13
14.    Long Time Ago Blues    3:15
15.    Doin' The Best I Can    2:53
16.    The Rising Sun Blues    3:00
17.    Blues At My Door    3:03
18.    Truthful Blues    3:07
19.    Good Whiskey Blues    3:14
20.    More Good Whiskey Blues    3:02
21.    Letter Writing Blues    3:01
22.    Whiskey Head Blues    2:46
23.    Slave Man Blues    2:50
24.    C And A Train Blues    2:46
Credits : 
Clarinet – Unknown Artist (tracks: 10)
Compilation Producer – Johnny Parth
Guitar – Peetie Wheatstraw (tracks: 10, 13, 14)
Guitar [Poss.] – Charlie McCoy (tracks: 15), Teddy Darby (tracks: 21)
Guitar [Prob.] – Charlie Jordan (tracks: 1 to 6, 8, 9)
Liner Notes – Paul Garon
Piano – Henry Brown (tracks: 10), Peetie Wheatstraw (tracks: 1 to 9, 11, 12, 15 to 24)
Remastered By – Gerhard Wessely
Steel Guitar – Casey Bill Weldon (tracks: 16 to 21)
Trombone [Prob.] – Ike Rodgers (tracks: 10)
Violin – Unknown Artist (tracks: 10)
Vocals – Peetie Wheatstraw 

PEETIE WHEATSTRAW — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Volume 3 · 1935- 1936 | DOCD-5243 (1994) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The third installment in Document's seven-volume Peetie Wheatstraw edition opens with songs about pimping and hustling, mixing cocktails, and making love like a spider. Tracks 1-11 were recorded in Chicago, alone at the piano and with guitarists Charley Jordan or Charlie McCoy. Peetie and Charley Jordan were the best of friends, and many of the songs in the Wheatstraw discography have Jordan listed as composer. The two men maintained a musicians' club and rehearsal space adjacent to Jordan's pad at 17th and O'Fallon where people like Roosevelt Sykes, Walter Davis, and Big Joe Williams would pay their 35-cent dues in order to be able to practice, jam, and prepare for their own recording sessions. Peetie gigged all over the Midwest during this period, and listening to his records, one can imagine him performing at length in all kinds of settings without ever running out of stories to tell. "Up the Road Blues" and "Last Dime Blues" are noteworthy for the absence of the famous Wheatstraw introduction, a musical fingerprint that instantly stamped dozens of other records with his unmistakable presence because he used the same structural template as a reusable canvas for his many improvised lyrics. "Johnnie Blues" kicks up the tempo a bit, and is considered one of this artist's stronger offerings. Peetie's first recording of 1936 was "No Good Woman (Fighting Blues)," a duet with Amos Easton, popularly known as Bumble Bee Slim. During the spoken introduction, Slim tries to pick a fight over a disputed female companion, to which Peetie replies "...don't fight, just play the blues and sing a little while, forget it." In his well-researched biography of Wheatstraw, Paul Garon marvels over the words to the "Kidnapper's Blues," noting the unlikelihood of a Depression-era bluesman being able to pay $10,000 ransom for a kidnapped black woman, or that a Chief Detective of that time period would even bother with such a case. He also points out that low-profile abductions were not unknown in the high-crime neighborhoods where Peetie and his primary audience lived and worked. Five days after this Vocalion record was cut in Chicago, Wheatstraw was in New York City making records for Decca with guitarist Kokomo Arnold, forging a working friendship that would bear fruit while strengthening Wheatstraw's relations with Decca. In October of 1936, he would become an exclusive Decca artist and would remain so until his sudden death in 1941. arwulf arwulf
Tracklist :
1.    Good Hustler Blues    2:58
2.    Cocktail Man Blues    2:43
3.    King Spider Blues    2:58
4.    Hi-De-Ho Woman Blues 3:11
Guitar [Possibly/Or] – Charlie Jordan
Guitar [Probably/Or] – Charlie McCoy 
5.    Sorrow Hearted Blues 3:13
Guitar [Possibly/Or] – Charlie Jordan
Guitar [Probably/Or] – Charlie McCoy 
6.    Up The Road Blues 3:05
Guitar [Possibly/Or] – Charlie Jordan
Guitar [Probably/Or] – Charlie McCoy 
7.    Last Dime Blues 3:10
Guitar [Possibly/Or] – Charlie Jordan
Guitar [Probably/Or] – Charlie McCoy 
8.    King Of Spades 3:00
Guitar [Possibly/Or] – Charlie Jordan
Guitar [Probably/Or] – Charlie McCoy 
9.    Johnnie Blues 2:42
Guitar [Possibly/Or] – Charlie Jordan
Guitar [Probably/Or] – Charlie McCoy 
10.    Santa Claus Blues 3:12
Guitar [Possibly] – Charlie Jordan
11.    Lonesome Lonesome Blues 3:00
Guitar [Possibly] – Charlie Jordan
12.    No Good Woman (Fighting Blues) 2:49
Vocals – Bumble Bee Slim
13.    First And Last Blues 2:46
Guitar – Unknown Artist
14.    True Blue Woman 2:35
Guitar – Unknown Artist
15.    Kidnapper's Blues (C-1259) 2:40
Guitar – Unknown Artist
16.    Sweet Home Blues (Take 1) 2:44
Guitar – Unknown Artist
17.    Sweet Home Blues (Take 2) 2:44
Guitar – Unknown Artist
18.    Good Woman Blues 2:41
Guitar – Unknown Artist
19.    Working Man (Doing The Best I Can) 2:31
Guitar – Kokomo Arnold
20.    Low Down Rascal 2:51
Guitar – Kokomo Arnold
21.    When I Get My Bonus (Things Will Be Coming My Way) 2:32
Guitar – Kokomo Arnold
22.    Coon Can Shorty 2:52
Guitar – Kokomo Arnold
23.    Meat Cutter Blues 3:00
Guitar – Kokomo Arnold
24.    The First Shall Be Last And The Last Shall Be First 2:46
Guitar – Kokomo Arnold
25.    Kidnapper's Blues (60527) 3:04
Credits : 
Compiled By, Producer – Johnny Parth
Liner Notes – Paul Garon
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
Remastered By – Gerhard Wessely
Vocals – Peetie Wheatstraw (tracks: 1 to 11, 13 to 25) 

PEETIE WHEATSTRAW — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Volume 5 · 1937- 1938 | DOCD-5245 (1994) RM | FLAC (tracks), lossless

Peetie Wheatstraw's complete recordings were reissued during the '90s by the Document label in an unprecedented seven-CD series. Vol. 5, which covers a timeline from March 1937 through October 1938 and features some fine guitar work by Kokomo Arnold and Lonnie Johnson, contains several songs inspired by the harsh realities in the St. Louis area during a time when an already disenfranchised African American working class faced difficult working conditions, low wages, job insecurity, unemployment, poverty, and homelessness. "Working on the Project" and its sequel describe what it was like to try and subsist on the lean earnings awarded to laborers who signed up with the Federal relief program known as the Works Progress (and later Work Projects) Administration, or W.P.A. While during the '30s various blues musicians referenced this program on their records (Big Bill Broonzy, Casey Bill Weldon, and Merline Johnson, for example), few laid down as many consecutive W.P.A.-related tunes as Peetie Wheatstraw did in 1937 and 1938. The context for "304 Blues" lies in a slip of paper that would appear in your pay envelope when your job was being terminated. "The Wrong Woman" has as its subtitle the straightforward message: "Lost My Job on the Project." Appropriately, the photograph on the cover of this album, which first appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on February 25, 1936, depicts a group of workers standing at the riverfront which was in the process of being radically altered; before the project was over with, the workers had to go on strike in order to be provided with hip boots while working in standing water. "Third Street's Going Down" is a poignant account of what happened to entire neighborhoods when highways were installed smack on top of areas where people lived and worked. In Peetie's case, this hit very close to home, because he lived on Third Street in East St. Louis, which was at the heart of "The Valley," a rough section of town largely consisting of gin joints, gambling dens, and houses of prostitution. While the city, state, and federal authorities obviously saw nothing wrong with evicting the inhabitants and razing many of the buildings to make way for a new highway, Peetie felt strongly enough about it to devote an entire song to the subject. Another tune in this set that references part of the urban landscape is "Cake Alley," one of three short thoroughfares that ran "from Blair Avenue on out to Fifteenth Street," According to Wheatstraw biographer Paul Garon, this existed at the edge of one of St. Louis' biggest African American ghettos, near Biddle Street and the red light district known as Deep Morgan. The alley was named for a bakery that once stood on the corner at Blair. According to the lyrics, Wheatstraw lived there at some point, but by the time he immortalized it with a song, the neighborhood had become so dangerous that visitors were likely to get assaulted and robbed, leading him to declare: "I don't go there no more." arwulf arwulf
Tracklist :
1.    Crapshooter's Blues 3:08
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Guitar – Unknown Artist
2.    Would You Would You Mama 2:50
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Guitar – Unknown Artist
3.    Give Me Black Or Brown 2:55
Guitar – Kokomo Arnold
4.    Working On The Project 3:01
Guitar – Kokomo Arnold
5.    Sick Bed Blues 3:11
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Guitar [Possibly] – Charlie Jordan
6.    I'm Gonna Cut Out Everything 2:55
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Guitar [Possibly] – Charlie Jordan
7.    New Working On The Project 3:02
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Guitar [Possibly] – Charlie Jordan
8.    Baby Lou, Baby Lou 3:02
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Guitar [Possibly] – Charlie Jordan
9.    Devilment Blues 3:06
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Guitar [Possibly] – Charlie Jordan
10.    Third Street's Going Down 3:03
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Guitar [Possibly] – Charlie Jordan
11.    304 Blues 3:04
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Guitar – Lonnie Johnson
12.    The Wrong Woman (Lost My Job On The Project) 3:03
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Guitar – Lonnie Johnson 
13.    Hard Headed Black Gal 3::12
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Guitar – Lonnie Johnson 
14.    Banana Man 3:11
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Guitar – Lonnie Johnson
15.    Shack Bully Stomp 2:31
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Drums – Unknown Artist
Guitar – Lonnie Johnson 
16.    Road Tramp Blues 2>59
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Guitar – Lonnie Johnson 
17.    Sweet Lucille 3:09
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Guitar – Lonnie Johnson 
18.    Saturday Night Blues 3:11
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Guitar – Lonnie Johnson
19.    Good Little Thing 2:58
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Guitar – Lonnie Johnson 
20.    Cake Alley 3:00
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Guitar – Lonnie Johnson
21.    What More Can A Man Do? 3:02
Bass [String Bass] – Unknown Artist
Drums – Unknown Artist
Guitar – Lonnie Johnson 
22.    Truckin' Thru Traffic 2:23
Drums – Unknown Artist
Guitar – Lonnie Johnson 
23.    Hot Springs Blues (Skin And Bones) 2:56
Drums – Unknown Artist
Guitar – Lonnie Johnson 
24.    A Man Ain't Nothin' But A Fool 3:04
Drums – Unknown Artist
Guitar – Lonnie Johnson 
Credits : 
Compiled By, Producer – Johnny Parth
Liner Notes – Paul Garon
Remastered By – Gerhard Wessely
Vocals, Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw

BUMBLE BEE SLIM — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Volume 5 · 1935-1936 | DOCD-5265 (1994) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1.    Shelley Armstrong–    How Long How Long Blues    2:53
2.    Shelley Armstrong–    You Don't Mean Me No Good    2:43
3.    Shelley Armstrong–    New B & O Blues    2:49
4.    Shelley Armstrong–    Prison Bound Blues    3:13
5.    Bumble Bee Slim–    My Old Pal Blues (Dedicated To The Memory Of Leroy Carr)    3:07
6.    Bumble Bee Slim–    Last Respects (Dedicated To The Memory Of Leroy Carr)    3:05
7.    Shelley Armstrong–    Sloppy Drunk Blues    2:47
8.    Shelley Armstrong–    D.B.A. Blues    3:13
9.    Bumble Bee Slim And His Rhythm Riffers–    I'll Take You Back    3:00
10.    Bumble Bee Slim And His Rhythm Riffers–    Sick And Tired Of Singing The Blues    2:57
11.    Bumble Bee Slim–    New When The Sun Goes Down    2:45
12.    Bumble Bee Slim–    Happy Life Blues    3:01
13.    Bumble Bee Slim–    When Somebody Loses    2:45
14.    Bumble Bee Slim–    Ramblin' With That Woman    2:47
15.    Bumble Bee Slim–    This Old Life I'm Living    2:44
16.    Bumble Bee Slim–    Dumb Tricks Blues (take 1)    3:15
17.    Bumble Bee Slim–    Dumb Tricks Blues (take 2)    2:58
18.    Bumble Bee Slim–    New Orleans Stop Time    2:48
19.    Bumble Bee Slim–    You Got To Live And Let Live    2:42
20.    Bumble Bee Slim–    Hard Rocks In My Bed    2:34
21.    Bumble Bee Slim–    Who's Been Here Today    3:20
22.    Bumble Bee Slim–    I Done Caught My Death Of Cold    3:07
23.    Bumble Bee Slim–    No More Biscuit Rolling Here (take 1)    2:57
24.    Bumble Bee Slim–    No More Biscuit Rolling Here (take 2)    2:40
Credits : 
Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Unknown Artist (tracks: 9, 10)
Bass – Unknown Artist (tracks: 9 to 12, 18 to 24)
Compilation Producer – Johnny Parth
Guitar – Casey Bill Weldon (tracks: 13 to 19, 22 to 24), Unknown Artist (tracks: 9, 10)
Guitar [Poss./Or] – Charley Jordan (tracks: 7), Willie B. James (tracks: 7)
Guitar [Prob.] – Peetie Wheatstraw (tracks: 5), Willie B. James (tracks: 1 to 6, 11, 12)
Liner Notes – Jerry Zolten
Percussion [Poss.] – Bumble Bee Slim (tracks: 18, 19)
Piano – Black Bob (tracks: 18 to 24), Myrtle Jenkins (tracks: 13 to 17)
Piano [Poss./Or] – Peetie Wheatstraw (tracks: 7, 8)
Piano [Prob./Or] – Jimmie Gordon (tracks: 7, 8)
Piano [Prob.] – Jimmie Gordon (tracks: 1 to 5, 9 to 12), Peetie Wheatstraw (tracks: 6)
Remastered By – Gerhard Wessely
Speech – Myrtle Jenkins (tracks: 15)
Trumpet – Unknown Artist (tracks: 9, 10)
Vocals – Bumble Bee Slim, Jimmie Gordon (tracks: 9)
Vocals, Guitar [Prob.] – Memphis Minnie (tracks: 18)

CHARLEY JORDAN — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 3 • 1935-1937 | Plus The Complete LEROY HENDERSON 1935 | DOCD-5099 (1992) RM | FLAC (tracks), lossless

This volume is somewhat less compelling than the other two in the series, if only because even the producers themselves acknowledge that eight of the 23 songs here, credited to "The Two Charlies," probably don't feature the St. Louis-based Charley Jordan at all, but another artist of the same name, while four others, credited to Leroy Henderson, may feature Jordan. On other songs, Jordan sings duets with Verdi Lee and Mary Harris (possibly also Verdi Lee working under a pseudonym), and those are great tracks, to be recommended without reservation, except perhaps for the fact that the guitar is a bit muted on these numbers, compared with Jordan's solo stuff. "Signifying at You" is a great piece of female-sung blues, raw, angry, defiant and funny. The Two Charlies tracks, featuring a Charley Jordan working with a guitarist/singer named Charlie Manson, are fine acoustic blues, all good songs (especially "Don't Put Your Dirty Hands On Me") and even better guitar duets, including the surprisingly dissonant "Pork Chop Blues," but they sound much more like Atlanta blues than St. Louis material -- their inclusion here adds nothing to the St. Louis Charley Jordan's reputation, but they make an enjoyable interlude. Bruce Eder  

 

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. Charley Jordan was not the strongest of blues singers but his voice is not off-putting, in fact it has quite an unusual characteristic which one easily brings to mind when one returns to any of his records. The strengths of his recordings are in his guitar playing and his song writing. Steffan Grossman wrote; “The often whimsical songs recorded belie the violent world that he apparently lived”. He was shot in 1928 during his bootlegging activities leaving him with a bullet lodged in his spine and having to use crutches. “There’s a wry, gentle humour in Jordan’s songs, a child-like delight in playing with words and imagery. His melodies, too, often evince a naive charm. Jordan’s guitar picking masterfully combines an airy delicacy with punchy dynamics he may have gathered from such Mississippians as Big Joe Williams. Paul Oliver has praised Jordan’s “uncorrupted country style of blues guitar with an effortless, light technique”. Chris Smith observes in Jordan “an extraordinary sense of rhythm. The steady pulse that underlies his playing and singing is often a long way removed from the accenting of the guitar part.”” Having switched from Vocalion to Decca in 1934 (see Document DOCD-5098), Charlie Jordan was on the move again the following year; in 1935 he was back with Vocalion. As leaves began to turn during the fall of that year the thoughts of Xmas was already in the mind of Charley or was it that of the record execs…? Charley goes Seasonaltastic with four yuletide blues recorded within the same day. The first, Xmas Blues sung by Charley Jordan on his own finds him very pleased that Xmas is here but only because of the prospect of getting a decent meal for a change. At first, he would be grateful if he gets a little piece of chicken but then it starts getting a little out of hand; turtledoves, goose, biscuits, pie, fruitcake. And then things really start getting serious with demands for “eggnog, whiskey and gin”. “Let’s have a good time”, Charley says. “The fun is going to begin” (what with all of that inside you?) and there the record ends as if we have had the door closed on us just the party is about to really heat up. DOCD-5099
Tracklist  
1 –Charley Jordon Christmas Christmas Blues 2:37
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
2 –Charley Jordan Christmas Tree Blues 2:55
Piano Accordion – Peetie Wheatstraw
Vocals – Verdi Lee
3 –Charley Jordan Get It If You Can 2:44
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
Vocals – Verdi Lee
4 –Charley Jordan Signifying At You 2:43
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
Vocals – Verdi Lee
5 –Charley Jordan No Christmas Blues 2:36
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
Vocals – Mary Harris 
6 –Charley Jordan Happy New Year Blues 2:59
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
Vocals – Mary Harris 
7 –The Two Charlies I Couldn't Stay Here 2:45
8 –The Two Charlies Bad Feeling Blues 2:57
9 –The Two Charlies Got Your Water On 2:59
10 –The Two Charlies Don't Put Your Dirty Hands On Me 3:16
11 –The Two Charlies Pork Chop Blues 2:56
12 –The Two Charlies Tired Feelin' Blues 2:50
13 –The Two Charlies Low Moan Blues 3:05
14 –The Two Charlies Hard Time Papa 3:02
15 –Charlie Manson     Nineteen Women Blues 2:48
16 –Uncle Skipper Twee Twee Twa 2:56
Contrabass – Unknown Artist
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
17 –Uncle Skipper Cutting My ABC's 3:20
Contrabass – Unknown Artist
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
18 –Uncle Skipper Chifferobe 3:18
Contrabass – Unknown Artist
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
19 –Uncle Skipper Look What A Shape I'm In (Bonus Blues) 2:58
Contrabass – Unknown Artist
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
20 –Leroy Henderson Deep Sea Diver 3:02
Guitar – Casey Bill Weldon
Guitar [Or Probably] – Teddy Darby
Guitar [Possibly] – Charley Jordan
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
21 –Leroy Henderson Good Scuffler Blues 3:26
Guitar – Casey Bill Weldon
Guitar [Or Probably] – Teddy Darby
Guitar [Possibly] – Charley Jordan
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
22 –Leroy Henderson Low Mellow Man Blues 3:20
Guitar – Casey Bill Weldon
Guitar [Or Probably] – Teddy Darby
Guitar [Possibly] – Charley Jordan
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
23 –Leroy Henderson Good Grinder Blues
Guitar – Casey Bill Weldon
Guitar [Or Probably] – Teddy Darby
Guitar [Possibly] – Charley Jordan
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
Credits
Vocals, Guitar – Charley Jordan (tracks: 1 to 3, 7 to 14, 16 to 19)

CHARLEY JORDAN — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 2 • 1931-1934 | DOCD-5098 (1992) RM | FLAC (tracks), lossless

As good as the Charley Jordan material here is, the real find of this disc is Hi Henry rown's recording of "Titanic Blues" and its guitar duet between Brown and Jordan. As a piece of belated topical blues, it is an extraordinary song, but the exciting interplay between two guitars really makes the record and, coupled with Brown's rough-hewn voice, makes it a track to own -- the additional Brown/Jordan tracks "Preacher Blues" and "Nut Factory Blues" constitute a good bonus. This volume of Charley Jordan's material covers the period from his brief stay at Victor Records (four sides cut in September of 1931) to his first session with a full band on Decca Records in the summer of 1934. The four Victor sides (which were cut in Chicago) have a peculiar, authentic "live" ambience that, coupled with their good fidelity, makes them especially vibrant; Peetie Wheatstraw's piano accompaniment has a certain distance and echo that evokes a true club atmosphere. Jordan's subsequent Vocalion sides give much greater prominence to the guitar and Wheatstraw's piano isn't nearly as vivid. As a solo player, Jordan was more laidback, but he still manages to impress as a virtuoso. The four Decca sides are the best recordings here on a technical level -- "It Ain't Clean" is amazingly crisp -- but two of them, "Lost Airship Blues" (what a title, and what a phallic image) and "Rolling Moon Blues," are particularly notable for the presence of a full band, complete with sax and violin. Their sound is completely different (although Jordan still makes himself felt on guitar) from Jordan's earlier output, but both find him able to work well in this more sophisticated idiom. The overall audio quality is good, apart from the barely listenable "Brown Skin Angel" -- a few sides, like "Hell Bound Boy Blues" and the wonderful "Rolling Moon Blues," are a little noisy, but that's par for the course. Bruce Eder
 
Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. Between June 1930 and March 1931, Charley Jordan had recorded for Vocalion, but in September 1931 he cut four titles for Victor, accompanied, as had become the norm, by his friend Peetie Wheatstraw on piano. These were fine performances, but the Depression was biting hard; sometime in 1933, probably around March, Victor noted the sales figures for their 23000 series releases. Jordan was in exceptional form on guitar, as may be heard on all his titles at this two day session, but particularly perhaps on Honey Sucker Blues and Hell Bound Boy Blues, which also features one of Peetie Wheatstraw‘s finest accompaniments. If he was outstanding accompanying himself, however, Jordan was truly sensational in guitar duet with “Hi” Henry Brown, whose nickname was presumably adopted to distinguish him from the celebrated St. Louis piano player whose name he shared. Jordan is particularly inspired on Titanic Blues; to his usual rhythmic freedom, even more remarkable than when he was accompanying himself, he adds a near three octave playing range, and extremely forceful picking. The Depression kept Charlie Jordan away from the studios for two years; he cut two songs for Vocalion in March 1934, but thereafter he alternated between ARC and Decca for the remainder of his recording career. Later in 1934, he was recording for Decca, accompanied on two titles by an unusual line-up of clarinet, violin and traps, plus his own guitar, a pianist, and (on one title) saxophone. The clarinettist may be Arnett Nelson, though I doubt it, and Bill Lowry has been suggested as the violinist. Lost Airship Blues is a startling title, which masks the updating of an old line, while Rolling Moon Blues is even more surprising in its folk-style use of association and contrast to unify seemingly random verses, quite unlike Jordan’s usual carefully worked, thematic lyrics. More typical were the two songs where the wind and fiddle players dropped out: a fourth and last version of Keep It Clean, on which Jordan refers to “Kokomo”, who has been taken to be Kokomo Arnold, and the fine Depression piece Tight Time Blues, where Peetie Wheatstraw is surely the pianist. Tight Time Blues was still highly topical, but the New Deal was beginning to have an effect on the economy, and on black peoples’ purchasing power; Charlie Jordan‘s recording career was to continue for another three years, as may be heard on DOCD-5099, and he continued to develop his music and to explore new areas of the blues. DOCD-5098

Tracklist
–Charley Jordan Greyhound Blues 3:23
–Charley Jordan Workingman's Blues 3:22
–Charley Jordan Santa Claus Blues 2:53
–Charley Jordan Bad Breaks Blues 2:57
–Charley Jordan Doin' Wrong Blues 3:02
–Charley Jordan Honey Sucker Blues 3:16
–Charley Jordan Sugar Farm Blues 3:16
–"Hi" Henry Brown Titanic Blues 3:08
–"Hi" Henry Brown Preacher Blues 3:24
–Charley Jordan Cherry Wine Woman 2:51
–Charley Jordan Hell Hound Boy Blues 2:47
–"Hi" Henry Brown Nut Factory Blues 2:54
–"Hi" Henry Brown Hospital Blues 2:54
–"Hi" Henry Brown Brown Skin Angel 2:35
–"Hi" Henry Brown Skin Man Blues 2:50
–Charley Jordan Don't Pat It So Long 3:20
–Charley Jordan Bottle Passing Blues 3:05
–Charley Jordon Lost Airship Blues 3:09
–Charley Jordon Rolling Moon Blues 3:20
–Charley Jordon It Ain't Clean (That Thing Ain't Clean) 2:56
–Charley Jordon Tight Time Blues 3:07

CHARLEY JORDAN — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 1 • 1930-1931 | DOCD-5097 (1992) RM | FLAC (tracks), lossless

A fine St. Louis singer and guitarist, this was the first volume of songs Charley Jordan did in the early '30s. He could be very humorous or cuttingly poignant, and there are examples in both veins on this anthology. The sound quality ranges from good to awful. Ron Wynn

 

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. Charlie Jordan is one of the many major figures in the blues of whom we know surprisingly little. He was born in Arkansas, around 1890, and is reported to have led a hobo’s life after service in the US Army during World War I. By 1925, he was living in St. Louis, which was to be his home for the rest of his life. He was already a guitarist by this time, and it’s a good bet that his wanderings had taken him to Memphis and the Mississippi Delta, for the guitar styles of the city and the repertoire of the Delta are both evident at his first recording session. He played in a clean, confident three-finger style that owed a good deal to ragtime, but more to his own extraordinary sense of rhythm. The steady pulse that underlies his playing and singing is often a long way removed from the accenting of the guitar part; what Bernard Klatzko calls “inexact timing (that is exact)”. Jordan’s first session revealed a wide range of song styles, and some intriguing possible connections. Dollar Bill Blues bears a surprising resemblance to Leadbelly‘s “Little Children’s Blues”, as well as to the “Lost Lover Blues” recorded by Blind Boy Fuller and Sam Collins, while his stunning version of Just A Spoonful surely owes something to Charley Patton, though whether from personal encounter or through records is not known. Exposure to recordings of “T. B. Blues” probably accounts for the melody of Raidin’ Squad Blues, but the lyrics are very much Jordan’s own. Even when he performs songs from tradition, like Stack O’Dollars, Jordan embellishes them with lines of his own; his verbal originality is always in evidence, as on the extended metaphor of Gasoline Blues and the double meanings of Hunkie Tunkie Blues and Keep It Clean, a heavily self-censored song that seems to have been Jordan’s most popular number on record, and of which he made several versions. In September 1930, Charlie Jordan had accompanied the pianist / vocalist Peetie Wheatstraw on a couple of titles, and it’s probably he and Wheatstraw behind Bessie Mae Smith on Sugar Man Blues. (Eddie Miller has been suggested as the pianist, which is possible; I think Henry Brown can be ruled out.) In November 1930, Charlie Jordan made the first of many recordings with Wheatstraw accompanying him on piano. Peetie’s piano was rather subdued at first on Jordan’s records, and the duo sound is initially an odd one, for Jordan sustains his individual approach to rhythm, and Wheatstraw’s playing often sounds semi-improvised in response to the guitar part – rather like what Lonnie Johnson had to do behind Texas Alexander. Their duetting became more regularized on later recordings, but was always interesting, with Jordan seeming to bring out the inventive in Wheatstraw. Just as inventive were Jordan’s lyrics; like so many of the St. Louis singers (compare Walter Davis, Lonnie Johnson, or indeed Peetie Wheatstraw) he was an original chronicler of city life, hard times and infidelity; his lyrics invariably repay attention. Tight Haired Mama Blues has some witty comments on the fashion for straight hair: Tough Times Blues is a particularly fine combination of the traditional and the original:
You can take the Rock Island, baby, you can ride to the end of the line, But you won’t find nothing, baby, but a tough, tough time.
I said tough time here, baby, and it’s a tough time everywhere, Well I would go home, but it seem like a tough time there.
Days Of The Weeks Blues shows Charlie Jordan‘s capacity for working within an extended structure without overloading it; the song’s chronicle of the effects of the Depression achieves a remarkable cumulative force. By March 1931, Jordan was an established recording artist; he was to continue to be sought after by the record companies despite the catastrophic downturn in sales induced by “a tough time everywhere”. DOCD-5097 Tracklist  :
1 –Charley Jordan Stack O'Dollars Blues 2:37
2 –Charley Jordan Dollar Bill Blues 2:55
3 –Charley Jordan Keep It Clean 2:44
4 –Charley Jordan Big Four Blues 2:43
5 –Charley Jordan Just A Spoonful 2:36
6 –Charley Jordan Two Street Blues 2:59
7 –Charley Jordan Raidin' Squad Blues 2:45
8 –Charley Jordan Hunkie Tunkie Blues 2:57
9 –Charley Jordan Running Mad Blues 2:59
10 –Charley Jordan Gasoline Blues 3:16
11 –St. Louis Bessie Sugar Man Blues ~ Part 1 2:56
Guitar – Charley Jordan
Piano [Possibly] – Eddie Miller 
Piano [Probably] – Peetie Wheatstraw
12 –St. Louis Bessie Sugar Man Blues ~ Part 2 2:50
Guitar – Charley Jordan
Piano [Possibly] – Eddie Miller 
Piano [Probably] – Peetie Wheatstraw
13 –Charley Jordan Lost Ship Blues 3:05
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
14 –Charley Jordan Hungry Blues 3:02
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
15 –Charley Jordan My "Lovin' Good" Blues 2:48
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
16 –Charley Jordan Tough Times Blues 2:56
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
17 –Charley Jordan Cheating Blues 3:20
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
18 –Charley Jordan Starvation Blues 3:18
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
19 –Charley Jordan Keep It Clean ~ No. 2 2:58
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
20 –Charley Jordan You Run And Tell Your Daddy 3:02
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
21 –Charley Jordan Tight Haired Mama Blues 3:26
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
22 –Charley Jordan Days Of The Weeks Blues 3:20
Piano – Peetie Wheatstraw
Credits
Vocals – St. Louis Bessie (tracks: 11, 12)
Vocals, Guitar – Charley Jordan (tracks: 1 to 10, 13 to 22)