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 presented here.
"Devil Got My Woman," "Cypress Grove Blues," and "Hard Time Killin'
Floor Blues" are all one of a kind classics, as are "I'm So Glad" (later
covered by Cream) and "Illinois Blues," both of which contain kinetic
acoustic guitar breaks that simply explode out of the verses. James was
also a pretty interesting piano player, and his playing on "If You
Haven't Any Hay Get on Down the Road" sounds again like no other country
blues pianist. This collection duplicates what is found on both the
Document and Yazoo releases, and it matters little which one you pick
up. All three come from the same sources, and all have the same amount
of snaps, cracks, and hailstone hiss in all the same places. Don't let
that stop you, though, because these are beautiful and maverick
performances, and essential for a good blues collection. Steve Leggett
Tracklist:
1 Devil Got My Woman 3:01
Skip James
2 Cypress Grove Blues 3:12
Skip James
3 Cherry Ball Blues 2:51
Skip James
4 Illinois Blues 3:05
Skip James
5 Four O'Clock Blues 2:52
Skip James
6 Hard Luck Child 3:04
Skip James
7 Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues 2:51
Skip James
8 Yola My Blues Away 3:13
Skip James
9 Jesus Is a Mighty Good Leader 3:00
Traditional
10 Be Ready When He Comes 2:56
Nehemiah James / Skip James
11 Drunken Spree 2:39
Skip James
12 I'm So Glad 2:55
Skip James
13 Special Rider Blues 3:09
Skip James
14 How Long Blues 2:55
Leroy Carr / J. Mayo Williams
15 Little Cow and Calf Is Gonna Die Blues 2:53
Skip James
16 What Am I to Do Blues 3:04
Skip James
17 22-20 Blues 2:52
Skip James / Robert Johnson
18 If You Haven't Any Hay Get on Down the Road 2:53
Skip James
