BARBECUE BOB (Robert Hicks) — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 1 • 1927-1928 | DOCD-5046 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

"Barbecue Bob," who was born Robert Hicks, gained his nickname because he worked as a chef at a barbecue place. A warm singer and extroverted guitarist, Barbecue Bob has had his entire output (recorded during 1927-1930) reissued on three Document CDs. Vol. 1 has 21 unaccompanied performances (all of the sessions except two from New York were recorded in Atlanta) plus the two-part "It Won't Be Long Now," which teams Hicks with hs brother, guitarist/vocalist "Laughing Charley" Hicks. Other highlights include "Barbecue Blues," "Mississippi Heavy Water Blues," "Poor Boy a Long Ways From Home," "Brown-Skin Gal," an early version of "When the Saints Go Marching In" (from 1927), "Fo Day Creep," and "Chocolate to the Bone."  Scott Yanow

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. Robert Hicks was an extrovert young man of 24 when Columbia’s Dan Hornsby arranged his first recording session in March 1927 and had only moved into Atlanta from the countryside a few years before. When he recorded, Hicks was working as a chef at Tidwell’s Barbecue, and the company nicknamed him Barbecue Bob (using his real name as a pseudonym for his solitary gospel record!). He and his elder brother Charlie had learned guitar, along with their friend Curley Weaver, from Curley’s mother; all three played in a similar style, favouring the big, booming sound of the 12-string guitar, and relishing the contrast of pulsing bass riffs with the whine of a bottleneck on the treble strings. Barbecue Blues was a good seller, but it was at his second session, in New York in June 1927, that Bob firmly established himself with black record buyers, DOCD-5037
Tracklist :
1    Barbecue Bob–    Barbecue Blues    3:09
2    Barbecue Bob–    Cloudy Sky Blues    3:07
3    Barbecue Bob–    Mississippi Heavy Water Blues    3:05
4    Barbecue Bob–    Mamma You Don't Suit Me!    3:07
5    Barbecue Bob–    Brown Skin Gal    3:02
6    Barbecue Bob–    Honey You Don't Know My Mind    3:08
7    Barbecue Bob–    Poor Boy A Long Ways From Home    3:00
8    Barbecue Bob–    When The Saints Go Marching In    3:06
9    Barbecue Bob–    Jesus' Blood Can Make Me Whole    3:03
10    Barbecue Bob–    Easy Rider Don't You Deny My Name    2:54
11    Barbecue Bob–    Thinkin' Funny Blues    3:22
12    Barbecue Bob–    My Mistake Blues    3:18
13    Barbecue Bob–    Motherless Chile Blues    3:10
14    Barbecue Bob–    How Long Pretty Mama    3:20
15    Barbecue Bob And Laughing Charley–    It Won't Be Long Now ~ Part 1    3:29
16    Barbecue Bob And Laughing Charley–    It Won't Be Long Now ~ Part 2    3:23
17    Barbecue Bob–    Crooked Woman Blues    2:48
18    Barbecue Bob–    'Fo Day Creep    3:02
19    Barbecue Bob–    Blind Pig Blues    3:12
20    Barbecue Bob–    Waycross Georgia Blues    3:06
21    Barbecue Bob–    Going Up The Country    3:10
22    Barbecue Bob–    Chocolate To The Bone    2:49
23    Barbecue Bob–    Hurry And Bring It Back Home    3:03
Credits :
Guitar, Vocals – Charlie Hicks (tracks: 15, 16)
Vocals, Guitar – Barbecue Bob

BARBECUE BOB (Robert Hicks) — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 3 • 1929-1930 | DOCD-5048 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

"Barbecue Bob"'s final recordings are on this third of three discs. Bob (whose name was actually Robert Hicks) died on October 21, 1931, at the age of just 29 from pneumonia. Since his last solo records were made during November 6, 1929, and April 17-December 5, 1930, there is no decline heard in his singing or playing. Barbecue Bob is heard on 13 unaccompanied numbers (including "She Move It Just Right," "Yo Yo Blues No. 2," "We Sure Got Hard Times," and "Atlanta Moan") and interacting with his brother Charlie Lincoln on the amusing two-part "Darktown Gamblin'." Barbecue Bob's final four recordings were made as part of the Georgia Cotton Pickers on December 7-8, 1930, a trio with guitarist/singer Curly Weaver and Buddy Moss on harmonica. Recommended, as are all three volumes of this valuable series.  Scott Yanow

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. Columbia’s field recording trips to the South took place twice a year from 1925 to 1930, in the spring and the late fall; having collected eight songs (of which they issued six) from Barbecue Bob in November 1929, they returned as usual in April 1930. On this occasion, Bob’s brother Charlie Lincoln made his only recorded appearance under his real name on the comic dialogues Darktown Gamblin, which were credited to Robert & Charlie Hicks. Barbecue Bob was still a hot property as far as Columbia were concerned, though they were shortly to find that his, like all blues records, were becoming a luxury that blacks could ill afford in those hard times. Similarly, Bob was concerned to keep in tune with trends in the entertainment industry; he recorded a follow up to Yo Yo Blues and continued to turn out variations on Its Tight Like That, including one which referred to that song by name. Twistin Your Stuff was un-issued at the time. Monkey And The Baboon may have inspired Bob to write his own animal story, based on the fable of the spider and the fly. In December 1930, Columbia was back in Atlanta. Bob appeared as usual to record and began with the fiercely sung and played Jambooger Blues. Atlanta Moan and Doin The Scraunch were rewrites of hit records. New Mojo Blues, though, confirmed that Bobs talent for original songs rooted in black culture was still going strong. That session was Barbecue Bobs last as a solo artist, but shortly afterwards he brought his long-time friend Curley Weaver and a 16 year old boy called Buddy Moss, to the Campbell Hotel. There they cut four magnificent sides as the Georgia Cotton Pickers, with Moss playing fiery harmonica, Weaver playing brilliant slide guitar and Bob contributing rhythm guitar and lead vocals. Their first two songs were versions of hits by the Mississippi Sheiks and Blind Blake, while She Looks So Good was hokum; She’s  Coming Back Some Cold Rainy Day was a well-known theme around Atlanta, and recorded by several of the local musicians. DOCD-5037
Tracklist :
1    Barbecue Bob–    She Moves It Just Right    2:54
2    Barbecue Bob–    Tellin' It To You    3:11
3    Barbecue Bob–    Yo-Yo Blues, No. 2    3:10
4    Barbecue Bob–    She Shook Her Gin    3:08
5    Barbecue Bob–    We Sure Got Hard Times    3:24
6    Barbecue Bob–    Twistin' That Stuff    3:07
7    Barbecue Bob–    Monkey And The Baboon    3:03
 Traditional
8    Barbecue Bob–    Spider And The Fly    3:32
9    Robert And Charlie Hicks–    Darktown Gamblin' -- Part 1 (The Crap Game)    3:02
 Public Domain / Traditional
10    Robert And Charlie Hicks–    Darktown Gamblin' -- Part 2 (The Skin Game)    3:06
11    Barbecue Bob–    Jambooger Blues    3:14
 Robert Hicks
12    Barbecue Bob–    It Just Won't Quit    3:14
13    Barbecue Bob–    Atlanta Moan    3:02
 Robert Hicks
14    Barbecue Bob–    New Mojo Blues    3:25
15    Barbecue Bob–    Doin' The Scraunch    2:54
16    Georgia Cotton Pickers–    I'm On My Way Down Home    3:11
17    Georgia Cotton Pickers–    Diddle-Da-Diddle    3:00
18    Georgia Cotton Pickers–    She Looks So Good    2:57
19    Georgia Cotton Pickers–    She's Coming Back Some Cold Rainy Day    3:00
Credits :
Harmonica – Buddy Moss (tracks: 16 to 19)
Speech – Barbecue Bob (tracks: 9, 10), Unknown Artist (tracks: 10)
Speech, Guitar [possibly] – Charlie Hicks (tracks: 9, 10)
Vocals, Guitar – Curley Weaver (tracks: 16 to 19)
Vocals, Twelve-String Guitar – Barbecue Bob