BLIND BLAKE — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 2 : 1927-1928 | DOCD-5025 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Guitarist/singer Blind Blake's entire recorded output has been made available on four Document CDs. Vol. 2 covers a busy seven-month period and features Blake in several different diverse but equally rewarding settings. He performs solo; backs singers Elzadie Robinson, Bertha Henderson, and Daniel Brown; and holds his own with clarinetist Johnny Dodds and percussionist/xylophonist JImmy Bertrand in a jazz set. There are many memorable numbers among the 25 songs on this CD, including "Southern Rag," "He's in the Jailhouse Now," "Hot Potatoes" (an exuberant instrumental with Dodds), "Southbound Rag," and "No Dough Blues." Blind Blake at his best, but get all four volumes. Scott Yanow

Blind Blake’s guitar brilliance shines in this collection, featuring collaborations with top jazz and blues talents. His mastery of “ragtime guitar” dazzles on “Southern Rag”, where he blends African rhythms, Gullah influences, and sharp chord changes. This track reflects his roots and pioneering style. Blake’s versatility is evident in his accompaniment of artists like Elzadie Robinson and Bertha Henderson, where he switches effortlessly between guitar and piano. His one-man band approach on “Panther Squall”, using harmonica and guitar simultaneously, showcases his ingenuity. Blind Blake Complete Recorded Works Vol 2  Highlights include:

    Johnny Dodds: Clarinet brilliance on “Hot Potatoes” and “Southbound Rag”
    Jimmy Bertrand: Slide whistle and xylophone adding texture
    Bertha Henderson: Vocals complemented by Blake’s piano on “Let Your Love Come Down”
    Elzadie Robinson: Energetic performance on “Pay Day Daddy”

This volume captures Blake’s unique blend of blues, ragtime, and early jazz, solidifying his place as a guitar legend. DOCD-5025
Tracklist :
1    Blind Blake–    You Gonna Quit Me Blues 2:43
Guitar, Vocals – Blind Blake
2    Blind Blake–    Steel Mill Blues 3:10
Guitar, Vocals – Blind Blake
3    Blind Blake–    Southern Rag 2:50
Guitar, Speech – Blind Blake
4    Blind Blake–    He's In The Jailhouse Now 2:42
Banjo – Gus Cannon
Guitar, Vocals – Blind Blake
5    Blind Blake–    Wabash Rag 2:51
Guitar, Vocals – Blind Blake
6    Blind Blake–    Doggin' Me Mama Blues 3:11
Guitar, Vocals – Blind Blake
Xylophone, Vocals, Speech – Jimmy Bertrand
7    Blind Blake–    C.C. Pill Blues 3:11
Clarinet – Johnny Dodds
Guitar, Vocals – Blind Blake
Slide Whistle – Jimmy Bertrand
8    Blind Blake–    Hot Potatoes 3:01
Clarinet – Johnny Dodds
Guitar, Vocals – Blind Blake
Slide Whistle, Wood Block, Vocals, Speech – Jimmy Bertrand
9    Blind Blake–    Southbound Rag 3:19
Clarinet – Johnny Dodds
Guitar, Vocals – Blind Blake
Xylophone – Jimmy Bertrand
10    Elzadie Robinson–    Pay Day Daddy Blues 2:51
Clarinet – Johnny Dodds
Guitar, Whistle – Blind Blake
Vocals – Elzadie Robinson
Xylophone – Jimmy Bertrand
11    Elzadie Robinson–    Elzadie's Policy Blues 3:10
Clarinet – Johnny Dodds
Guitar – Blind Blake
Vocals – Elzadie Robinson
Xylophone – Jimmy Bertrand
12    Blind Blake–    Goodbye Mama Moan 2:46
Guitar, Vocals – Blind Blake
13    Blind Blake–    Tootie Blues 2:59
Guitar, Vocals – Blind Blake
14    Blind Blake–    That Lovin' I Crave 2:40
Guitar, Vocals – Blind Blake
15    Bertha Henderson–    That Lonesome Rave 3:09
Guitar – Blind Blake
Vocals – Bertha Henderson
16    Bertha Henderson–    Terrible Murder Blues 2:58
Guitar – Blind Blake
Vocals – Bertha Henderson
17    Bertha Henderson–    Leavin' Gal Blues 2:49
Guitar – Blind Blake
Vocals – Bertha Henderson
18    Blind Blake–    No Dough Blues 2:52
Guitar, Vocals – Blind Blake
19    Bertha Henderson–    Lead Hearted Blues 2:33
Guitar – Blind Blake
Vocals – Bertha Henderson
20    Bertha Henderson–    Let Your Love Come Down 2:27
Piano – Blind Blake
Vocals – Bertha Henderson
21    Blind Blake–    Rumblin' And Ramblin' Boa Constrictor Blues 2:49
Guitar, Vocals – Blind Blake
22    Blind Blake–    Bootleg Rum Dum Blues 2:54
Guitar, Vocals – Blind Blake
23    Blind Blake–    Detroit Bound Blues 3:06
Guitar, Vocals – Blind Blake
24    Daniel Brown –    Beulah Land 3:08
Guitar – Blind Blake
Piano – Tiny Parham
Vocals – Daniel Brown
Washboard – Unknown Artist
25    Blind Blake–    Panther Squall Blues 2:52
Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica [possibly] – Blind Blake
Harmonica [possibly] – George "Bullet" Williams

BLIND BLAKE — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 4 : 1929-1932 | DOCD-5027 (1991) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The fourth and final volume in Document's series assembles a wide range of Blind Blake material, from sides cut under the name Blind Arthur ("Guitar Chimes" and "Blind Arthur's Breakdown"), collaborations with vaudeville singer Chocolate Brown (a.k.a. Irene Scruggs), and even his sole two-part blues, the morbid "Rope Stretchin' Blues." Among the final pair of tracks, from mid-1932, the first, "Champagne Charlie Is My Name," is so atypical that some question whether it is even Blake at all; however, his last known side, "Depression's Gone from Me Blues," is a career-capping triumph -- just why he never recorded again is just one of the many mysteries which continue to swirl about this legendary figure.   Jason Ankeny

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. Despite the name of Blind Arthur being used for two guitar solos recorded in October 1929, there can be little doubt that it is Blind Blake who is playing his “famous piano-sounding guitar” (to quote a Paramount advertisement) on Guitar Chimes. It has the same use of harmonics as in Police Dog Blues (DOCD-5026) but played in the key of C and latterly commented on by a noted musicologist thus, “most country blues guitarists were not sufficiently well versed in C to have hazarded such an instrumental”. By comparison, Blind Arthur’s Breakdown is an object lesson in finger-picking, the playing more in keeping with the technique of Virginian, William Moore. For Baby Lou and Cold Love, Blake again returns to his theme of the mistreating lover, Baby Lou having the chord structure and tempo of the South American tango. In May the following year Blake was in the studio, both in his own right and as accompanist to former St. Louis vaudeville singer, Irene Scruggs. Recording as Chocolate Brown, on one song, Itching Heel, Scruggs scoffs at chauvinistic blues singers (“he don’t do nothing but play on his old guitar, while I’m busting suds in the white folks yard”) to which Blake, in knee-jerk reaction, responds by speeding up the rhythm indicating that the remark hadn’t escaped unnoticed. Diddie Wa Diddie No. 2, unlike the first song (DOCD-5026), now finds Blake admitting that he knows what “diddie wa diddie means” which he delivers with heavy irony. In his long career Blind Blake only once recorded a two part blues and in Rope Stretchin’ Blues, suitably sung to the tune of “St James Infirmary”, he uses the occasion to recount, with a degree of morbidity, the ultimate penalty resulting from the infidelities of others;

Don’t trust no woman who mistreats a man, when you think she’s in your kitchen cooking, she’s got a stranger by the hand,

I have a lots of women I sure don’t want none now, she always milks me dry, than ever you milk a cow.

Blind Blake’s final two recordings took place in June 1932 and so uncharacteristic is one of the songs that commentators have argued that perhaps two singers were involved with the session. Despite doubts it is fairly certain that Blake sings on Champagne Charlie Is My Name, a song composed by George Leybourne and set to music by Alfred Lee in 1868, found fame in the Victorian music hall. The equally topical Depression’s Gone From Me, appropriately sung to the tune of “Sitting On The Top Of The World”, witnessed Blind Blake ending his six year recording career and, one assumes, his life, on a positive note. DOCD-5027
Tracklist :
1    Blind Blake–    Sweet Jivin' Mama    2:56
2    Blind Blake–    Lonesome Christmas Blues 3:36
Piano [Poss./Or] – Aletha Dickerson, Tiny Parham
Vocals, Guitar – Blind Blake
3    Blind Blake–    Third Degree Blues 3:19
Piano [Poss./Or] – Aletha Dickerson, Tiny Parham
Vocals, Guitar – Blind Blake
4    Blind Arthur–    Guitar Chimes 2:57
Guitar – Blind Blake
5    Blind Arthur–    Blind Arthur's Breakdown 2:59
Guitar – Blind Blake
6    Blind Blake–    Baby Lou Blues    2:59
7    Blind Blake–    Cold Love Blues    2:54
8    Papa Charlie Jackson And Blind Blake–    Papa Charlie And Blind Blake Talk About It - Part I 3:14
Vocals, Banjo, Speech – Papa Charlie Jackson
Vocals, Guitar, Speech – Blind Blake
9    Papa Charlie Jackson And Blind Blake–    Papa Charlie And Blind Blake Talk About It - Part II 3:16
Vocals, Banjo, Speech – Papa Charlie Jackson
Vocals, Guitar, Speech – Blind Blake
10    Chocolate Brown–    Stingaree Man Blues 3:21
Guitar, Speech [comments] – Blind Blake
Vocals – Irene Scruggs
11    Chocolate Brown–    Itching Heel 3:16
Guitar, Speech [comments] – Blind Blake
Vocals – Irene Scruggs
12    Chocolate Brown–    You've Got What I Want 2:29
Guitar, Speech [comments] – Blind Blake
Vocals – Irene Scruggs
13    Chocolate Brown–    Cherry Hill Blues 3:00
Guitar, Speech [comments] – Blind Blake
Vocals – Irene Scruggs
14    Blind Blake–    Diddie Wa Diddie No. 2    3:25
15    Blind Blake–    Hard Pushing Papa    2:34
16    Blind Blake–    What A Low Down Place The Jailhouse Is    2:55
17    Blind Blake–    Ain't Gonna Do That No More    3:11
18    Blind Blake–    Playing Policy Blues    2:24
19    Blind Blake–    Righteous Blues    2:35
20    Laura Rucker–    Fancy Tricks 2:55
Guitar – Blind Blake
Vocals – Laura Rucker
21    Blind Blake–    Rope Stretchin' Blues - Part 2    2:46
22    Blind Blake–    Rope Stretchin' Blues - Part 1    2:58
23    Blind Blake–    Champagne Charlie Is My Name    2:29
24    Blind Blake–    Depression's Gone From Me Blues    3:30

JOHNNY DODDS – 1927 | The Chronogical Classics – 603 (1991) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

For those who wish to develop a strong relationship with early jazz, there are certain records that may help the listener to cultivate an inner understanding, the kind of vital personal connection that reams of critical description can only hint at. Once you become accustomed to the sound of Johnny Dodds' clarinet, for example, the old-fashioned funkiness of South Side Chicago jazz from the 1920s might well become an essential element in your personal musical universe. Put everything post-modern aside for a few minutes and surrender to these remarkable historic recordings. It is January 1927, and the band, fortified with Freddie Keppard and Tiny Parham, is calling itself Jasper Taylor & His State Street Boys. The exacting chronology works well here as we are given detailed access to the records made by Dodds and a closely knit circle of musicians during the month of April 1927. Three duets with pianist Parham lie at the heart of Dodds' recorded legacy. Four trio sides feature Lil Armstrong at the piano and some very expressive guitar playing by Bud Scott. "The New St. Louis Blues" is particularly impressive, in fact downright hypnotizing. Scott sounds a lot like Bobby Leecan as he strums and strikes the strings with great deliberation. Speaking of Louis Armstrong, get a load of how he cooks and swings through four incredible stomps with Jimmy Bertrand's Washboard Wizards. Bertrand himself was a lively character, Jimmy Blythe was one of the best pianists in town at the time, and by 1927, Louis was well on his way to becoming the most influential -- and painstakingly imitated -- jazz musician of his generation. The sheer vitality of these records is incredible. Each performance is a delight, and Fats Waller fans will enjoy the Wizards' spunky interpretation of Waller's "I'm Goin' Huntin'." The very next day, Johnny Dodds' Black Bottom Stompers made four records in a Crescent City groove. "Weary Blues" positively percolates, and a perusal of the personnel is illuminating. Cornetist Louis Armstrong, trombonist Roy Palmer and clarinetist Johnny Dodds are joined by Barney Bigard, who boots away on a tenor saxophone. 1927 was the year that Bigard joined Duke Ellington & His Orchestra, there to distinguish himself by playing the clarinet like nobody else before or since. How interesting to hear him laying down basslines and occasionally soloing with a big sweaty sax. The presence of Bud Scott, Earl Hines at the piano and Warren "Baby" Dodds behind the drums rounds out one of the most intriguing ensembles in the entire Johnny Dodds discography. The remaining eight sides, variously attributed to the State Street Ramblers, the Dixie-Land Thumpers and to Jimmy Blythe & His Owls, are scruffy stomps with washboard percussion by Baby Dodds, elegant piano from Jimmy Blythe, and the chattering cornet of Natty Dominique. These are among the best records that Johnny Dodds ever made, and the producers of the Classics Chronological Series are to be commended for having released them in this outstanding package. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist + Credits : 

JOHNNY DODDS – 1928-1940 | The Chronogical Classics – 635 (1992) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

By 1928 and '29 jazz was beginning to mature and recording technology was growing up along with it. Even taking into account his remarkable accomplishments on phonograph records from 1923 through early 1928, the exciting material gathered together on this disc represents -- without question -- some of the very best jazz ever recorded by New Orleans/Chicago clarinet archetype Johnny Dodds. On the first 11 selections, Natty Dominique blows one tough little cornet, and Bill Johnson's bull fiddle comes across more clearly and dramatically than ever before. Throughout the 1920s, many bands relied on the tuba to provide the bassline on their recordings. Bolstered by the Victor Record company's superior equipment, Johnson's pulsing, visceral viol carries everyone along on a tonal current of unforgettable intensity. Anybody interested in trombonist Honore Dutrey should listen closely as this has got to be some of his best work on record. There's nothing quite like hearing Baby Dodds using the washboard as a neat, precise percussion tool. All the same it's refreshing when he switches to the drum kit and Lil Hardin Armstrong presides at the ivories. "Heah Me Talkin'" is a triumph, "Goober Dance" is pleasantly weird, and "Indigo Stomp" a wonderful ritual for piano, clarinet and bass fiddle. At that same session Johnny's group backed blueswoman Sippie Wallace on one song. This would be the only time Sippie and Johnny would collaborate in the studio. "I'm a Mighty Tight Woman" is a remarkable document, one of the strongest performances that this singer ever put across. The Paramount Pickers and Beale Street Washboard Band sessions are a delight, the sort of music you can go back and revisit regularly. The crowning glory of this collection is the inclusion of eight Decca recordings from 1938 and '40 that constitute the phonographic last will and testament of Johnny Dodds. Hearing his noble clarinet resounding in the same company as Charlie Shavers, John Kirby, Lonnie Johnson, Teddy Bunn, and the mighty Richard M. Jones brings out all of the best qualities in each musician. With O'Neill Spencer singing, drumming and rubbing on a washboard, we're faced with fully half of the John Kirby Sextet, a decidedly modern contingent mingling perfectly with players whose experience reached back towards the very beginnings of recorded jazz. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist + Credits :

TINY PARHAM AND HIS MUSICIANS – 1926-1929 | The Classics Chronological Series – 661 (1992) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The first of two Classics CDs to reissue the master takes of all of pianist Tiny Parham's recordings as a leader contains more than its share of gems. Parham is heard as co-leader of the Pickett-Parham Apollo Syncopators (which features Leroy Pickett on violin) and also heading his "Forty" Five (a quintet that includes trombonist Kid Ory and a guest vocal from blues banjoist Papa Charlie Jackson). However, the bulk of the CD is by Parham's Musicians, a septet with either Punch Miller or Ray Hobson on cornet, and (starting on Feb. 1, 1929) the atmospheric violin of Elliott Washington. The clever and unpredictable arrangements, along with an impressive series of now-obscure originals, made Parham's ensemble one of the most underrated bands of the era. Highlights include "The Head-Hunter's Dream," "Jogo Rhythm," "Stompin' on Down" and "Blue Island Blues." Scott Yanow
Tracklist + Credits :

TINY PARHAM AND HIS MUSICIANS – 1929-1940 | The Classics Chronological Series – 691 (1993) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The second of two Tiny Parham CDs has the pianist's final two sessions from 1929, his two dates from 1930, and his three very obscure titles from 1940, cut three years before his death. There are many highlights among the 1929-1930 numbers, including "Sud Buster's Dream," "Dixieland Doin's," "Doin' the Jug Jug," and "Nervous Tension." Milt Hinton is heard on tuba, and even if most of the soloists (other than cornetist Punch Miller, who is on some of the songs) never became famous, the ensembles and frameworks make this music consistently memorable. The 1940 selections are played by a quartet with Parham doubling on organ and Darnell Howard the lead voice on clarinet and alto, and they are historically interesting. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :