LITTLE BROTHER MONTGOMERY – Complete Recorded Works 1930-1936 In Chronological Order | DOCD-5109 (1992) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This single CD from the European Document label has all of Montgomery's 26 prewar recordings as a leader. Two solo numbers are from 1930, including "Vicksburg Blues"; there are a couple songs from 1931 and four duets with guitarist Walter Vincson from 1935. The remainder of this release features Montgomery during a marathon session on Oct. 16, 1936 that resulted in 18 solo selections. All the numbers except the final three on this CD have vocals by Montgomery, but the most rewarding selections are those three instrumentals. On "Farish Street Jive," "Crescent City Blues" and "Shreveport Farewell," Little Brother Montgomery shows just how talented a pianist he was, making one regret that he felt compelled to sing (in a likable but not particularly distinctive voice) on all of the other numbers. A very complete and historic set.  Scott Yanow

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. “Little Brother” — quite a name for a giant. He happened to be around much longer than expected (Eddie Boyd: “He always had a rendez-vous with death.”), and some of his later recordings seem superfluous. Yet, most of the notes he pressed were to the point. No more excuses for a man who was probably the greatest all-round piano player of his time in the Deep South. He was born Eurreal Wilford Montgomery in Kentwood, somewhere in the backwoods of Louisiana. His parents (like those of John Henry Davis, better known as Blind John, and Arthur “Montana” Taylor, for example) ran a barrelhouse. Of course, little Eurreal, soon to be called Little Brother Harper after his father, wasn’t allowed into the place, but the pianists working there frequented the Montgomery home as well. He even claimed a visit by Jelly Roll Morton, and there is little reason to doubt his memory. Most of the guys he heard — and learned from — were less fancy musicians, like the blues player he immortalized with his Varnado Anderson Blues, about the only tune Vanado Andrews (sic) from Kentwood could play. Little Brother Montgomery must have learned his lessons quick. He was accomplished enough to survive working on the Southern barrelhouse circuit when he left home at the age of eleven. Many musicians “lied” about when they did what, but research into other details of his early life (like an almost forgotten Mississippi high water in 1922) failed to prove him wrong. His letters were full of unusual data and wonderful phonetic spellings, again always to the point. How about “buddy P. T.” for Buddy Petit? Petit was the outstanding stylist on cornet around New Orleans in the post-ragtime period till the arrival of swing. By the mid-’20s Brother was sufficiently versatile to work in hot dance (i.e. jazz) bands with the likes of “buddy P. T.“, as he wrote it, for Buddy Petit and clarinetist George Lewis, the towering figure of the New Orleans revival. A few years later he progressed into the note-reading orchestra of Clarence Desdune, and in the ’30s Brother even led a swing band of his own in Mississippi. His unsurpassed mastery is documented by the mammoth Oct. 1936 session, when he cut 23 sides on one day — all his 17 solo recordings are assembled here while the five accompaniments are to be found on Document BDCD-6034. Little Brother Montgomery was not a one-strain player like most of the blues specialists. The magnificent Crescent City Blues is a case in point, with its ragtime-like structure. He learned it from one Lumis (or Loomis) Gibson, a pianist about whom nothing else seems to be known. His masterpiece, however, was Vicksburg Blues, his version of the wide-spread theme commonly known as “the 44s”. In those days pianists rarely mixed with “country” blues guitarists — if they brought along another player it was usually a drummer. Brother did recall working with Big Joe Williams but not with Skip James, who insisted that they had worked together. When Skip came here with the American Folk Blues Festival in 1967 he took a thrilled young blues (and jazz) enthusiast backstage to meet Son House, Bukka White and other greats — they all knew Brother “from way back”. Little Brother Montgomery‘s musical experience between the two World Wars spans an amazing scope of regions, milieus and thus styles, and much of this is reflected in this grand collection of vocal and piano blues. DOCD-5139
Tracklist :
1        No Special Rider Blues    2:53
2        Vicksburg Blues    2:56
3        Louisiana Blues    3:28
4        Frisco Hi-Ball Blues    2:33
5        The Woman I Love Blues    3:38
6        Pleading Blues    2:53
7        Vicksburg Blues No. 2    2:58
8        Mama You Don't Mean Me No Good    3:12
9        Misled Blues    2:43
10        The First Time I Met You    2:46
11        A&V Railroad Blues    2:34
12        Tantalizing Blues    2:48
13        Vicksburg Blues, Part 3    3:10
14        Louisiana Blues, Part 2    2:56
15        Santa Fe Blues    2:33
16        Something Keeps A-Worryin' Me    2:47
17        Out West Blues    2:46
18        Leaving Town Blues    3:00
19        West Texas Blues    2:50
20        Never Go Wrong Blues    3:07
21        Sorrowful Blues    2:57
22        Mistreatin' Woman Blues    3:08
23        Chinese Man Blues    2:45
24        Farish Street Jive    2:34
25        Crescent City Blues    2:36
26        Shreveport Farewell    2:36
Credits :
Guitar – Minnie Hicks (tracks: 3,4), Walter Vinson (tracks: 5 to 8)
Speech – Jesse "Monkey Joe" Coleman (tracks: 5 to 8)
Vocals, Piano – Little Brother Montgomery

BO CARTER — The Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 1 • 1928-1931 | DOCD-5078 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. Bo’s first appearance on record seems to be a Columbia session held in Atlanta, Georgia on November 2, 1928, where he, Charlie and Joe McCoy, and an unknown pianist, backed a singer named Alec Johnson. A Columbia session did take place on December 17, 1928 in New Orleans, with Bo Carter, Charlie McCoy and Walter Vincson, where two titles were cut as the Jackson Blue Boys. But before that session, the group ran into the Brunswick mobile unit and recorded as Charlie McCoy and Bo Chatman, as well as backing Mary Butler on four titles. After Good Old Turnip Greens the vocal chores were turned over to Mary Butler for four blues titles. Bungalow Blues was handled smoothly, although a bit stiffly, with its occasional II and VI chords lending it a vaudeville flavour. On Mary Blues the blues style in the vocal was harder and the guitarist (probably Vincson) begins the instrumental introduction with a few bluesy slurs. On Electric Chair Blues the mandolinist had the same difficulty as on Mary Blues, and Butler cut Mad Dog Blues to better effect with only Vincson on guitar (including some mandolin imitation on the breaks). Chatman and McCoy returned with Bo’s standard Corrine Corrina a lilting vocal duet, but closer to Hillbilly blues than to the tracks just laid down by Mary Butler. Finally, Bo appeared to give in and sang East Jackson Blues, although he didn’t seem quite comfortable with the style. At his first session using the name Bo Carter in Jackson, Mississippi on December 15, 1930, the guitarist had the benefit of two years of varying recording experiences. He neatly divided the songs into three categories. The two finger picked blues numbers were the standouts (I’m An Old Bumble Bee and Mean Feeling Blues); with the next two (I’ve Got The Whole World In My Hands – a version of the Sheiks’ “Sitting On Top Of The World” – and She’s Your Cook) sounding like the Hillbilly approximations of the blues so often favoured by Bo and his brothers. The last two tracks on this date were hokum blues in deference to the popularity of Tampa Red, Georgia Tom, Big Bill and numerous others who rode the wave of the hokum fad into lengthy careers. Clearly, Bo Carter was doing his homework. DOCD-5078
Tracklist :
1    Bo Chatman–    Good Old Turnip Greens    3:06
2    Mary Butler–    Bungalow Blues    2:48
3    Mary Butler–    Mary Blues    2:40
4    Mary Butler–    Electrocuted Blues    2:45
5    Bo Chatman–    Corrine Corrina    3:17
6    Bo Chatman–    East Jackson Blues    2:55
7    Bo Carter–    I’m An Old Bumble Bee    2:53
8    Bo Carter–    Mean Feeling Blues    3:10
9    Bo Carter–    I’ve Got The Whole World In My Hand    2:46
10    Bo Carter–    She’s Your Cook But She Burns My Bread Sometimes    2:58
11    Bo Carter–    Same Thing The Cats Fight About    3:20
12    Bo Carter–    Times Is Tight Like That    3:08
13    Bo Carter–    My Pencil Won’t Write No More    2:55
14    Bo Carter–    Banana In Your Fruit Basket    3:06
15    Bo Carter–    Pin In Your Cushion    3:04
16    Bo Carter–    Pussy Cat Blues    2:52
17    Bo Carter–    Ram Rod Daddy    2:58
18    Bo Carter–    Loveless Love    2:55
19    Bo Carter–    I Love That Thing    2:44
20    Bo Carter–    Backache Blues    2:59
21    Bo Carter–    Sorry Feeling Blues    3:07
22    Bo Carter–    Baby, When You Marry    2:55
23    Bo Carter–    Boot It    3:04
24    Bo Carter–    Twist It, Baby    3:17

MISSISSIPPI SHEIKS — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 1 • 1930 | DOCD-5083 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. It wasn’t until February 1930 that the Mississippi Sheiks encountered Okeh’s field recording unit in Shreveport, Louisiana, some distance from their base in the Jackson, Mississippi area. Their name was made up at the recording session at the request of producer Polk Brockman, and was apparently inspired by the pop hit “Sheik of Araby”, although the word was common in black speech, thanks to Rudolph Valentino. At their first session, the Sheiks recorded their two biggest hits. Sitting On Top Of The World, with its mournful delivery in ironic contrast to the jaunty words, was a perfect song for the coming Depression, and attracted a host of cover versions. Stop And Listen Blues was musically based on Tommy Johnson’s “Big Road Blues”, and gave Walter Vinson a chance to display his considerable guitar prowess, playing with unrestrained force. The lyrics, recounting a girlfriend’s funeral, are equally impressive, and this song, too, was widely covered. There was more to the Sheiks than blues, though; they were accustomed to playing for white dances, and The Sheik Waltz and The Jazz Fiddler reflect this side of their work, and were issued in Okeh’s old-time series, while Lonely One In This Town is more pop than blues. The waltz, which includes Charles K. Harris’s “After The Ball” among its strains, is also a showcase for Lonnie’s technique. Driving That Thing was the first of the many sexual metaphors they employed when playing a rural version of the hokum popularized by Tampa Red and others. Alberta Blues was a version of “Corrine Corrina”, which Bo Chatmon had recorded in 1928 which became a standard, recorded by blacks, hillbillies, folk revivalists and pop singers. At their next session, spread over four days in San Antonio, the Sheiks were equally eclectic, ranging from the tough and very black West Jackson Blues to the sentimental, white-influenced Jail Bird Love Song. This may be one of the sessions on which Sam Chatmon appears; compare the singing on Grinding Old Fool to that on the earlier Driving That Thing. Jake Leg Blues and Bootleggers’ Blues were alcohol-related topical commentary, the first blaming the “jake leg” epidemic caused by adulterated Jamaica Ginger on Prohibition, the second adapted from “To The Pines”. Topical in a different way were Yodeling Fiddling Blues and Loose Like That, respectively indebted to Jimmy Rodgers and Tampa Red. (Tampa’s “Chicago Moan” also inspired River Bottom Blues.) Stars themselves by now, as all-round entertainers the Mississippi Sheiks weren’t above covering the work of two of the most popular musicians in the country. DOCD-5083
Tracklist :
1    Mississippi Sheiks–    Driving That Thing 3:20
Violin, Vocals – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
2    Mississippi Sheiks–    Alberta Blues 3:12
Guitar, Vocals [Poss.] – Walter Vincson
Violin, Vocals [Poss.] – Lonnie Chatman
3    Mississippi Sheiks–    Winter Time Blues 3:17
Guitar, Vocals [Poss.] – Walter Vincson
Violin, Vocals [Poss.] – Lonnie Chatman
4    Mississippi Sheiks–    The Sheik Waltz 3:12
Guitar – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
5    Mississippi Sheiks–    The Jazz Fiddler 3:10
Guitar, Vocals [Poss.] – Walter Vincson
Violin, Vocals [Poss.] – Lonnie Chatman
6    Mississippi Sheiks–    Sitting On Top Of The World 3:02
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
7    Mississippi Sheiks–    Stop And Listen Blues 3:29
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
8    Mississippi Sheiks–    Lonely One In This Town 3:20
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
Violin [Poss.] – Bo Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
9    Mississippi Sheiks With Bo Carter–    We Are Both Feeling Good Right Now 3:01
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatman
Vocals, Guitar, Violin – Bo Chatman
10    Mississippi Sheiks With Bo Carter–    Cracking Them Things 3:13
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatman
Vocals, Guitar, Violin – Bo Chatman
11    Mississippi Sheiks With Bo Carter–    Grinding Old Fool 2:46
Vocals, Guitar – Bo Chatman, Sam Chatman
12    Mississippi Sheiks With Bo Carter–    Jake Leg Blues 3:06
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatman
Vocals, Guitar, Violin – Bo Chatman
13    Mississippi Sheiks With Bo Carter–    Back To Mississippi 3:08
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatman
Vocals, Guitar, Violin – Bo Chatman
14    Mississippi Sheiks With Bo Carter–    West Jackson Blues 3:16
Vocals, Guitar – Bo Chatman, Sam Chatman
15    Mississippi Sheiks–    Jail Bird Love Song 2:54
Guitar [Poss.], Vocals – Bo Chatman
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
16    Mississippi Sheiks–    Yodeling Fiddling Blues 3:08
Guitar [Poss.] – Bo Chatman
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Yodeling, Guitar – Walter Vincson
17    Mississippi Sheiks–    Baby Keeps Stealin’ Lovin’ On Me 3:07
Guitar [Poss.], Vocals – Bo Chatman
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
18    Mississippi Sheiks–    River Bottom Blues 3:04
Guitar [Poss.] – Bo Chatman
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
19    Mississippi Sheiks–    Bootleggers’ Blues 3:30
Guitar [Poss.] – Bo Chatman
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
20    Mississippi Sheiks–    Loose Like That 2:59
Guitar [Poss.], Voice [Speech] – Bo Chatman
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Voice [Speech], Guitar – Walter Vincson

MISSISSIPPI SHEIKS — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 2 • 1930-1931 | DOCD-5084 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Walter Vinson and the Chatman Brothers made their first records together in Shreveport, LA and San Antonio, TX in February and June 1930. Those performances, which were captured by an Okeh field recording unit, were reissued in the early '90s on Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 of Document's four-volume series which presented the group's complete works in chronological order. Volume 2 opens with their first "home turf" session, which took place at the King Edward Hotel in Jackson, MS on December 15, 1930, followed by five titles recorded four days later, and ten selections from a session that took place it Atlanta, GA on October 24, 1931. The Sheiks at this point consisted of singing guitarist Vinson, who engaged at times in gentle passages of Tommy Johnson-like blue yodeling, and fiddler Lonnie Chatman, whose bowing technique called up awesome tonalities that resonate today like textural premonitions of what Sugarcane Harris accomplished some 40 years after these records were made. The Sheiks' remake of "Sitting on Top of the World" is definitive, and "Things About Comin' My Way" uses the same melody with similar results. In the liner notes, blues historian Chris Smith plausibly suggests that the Sheiks handled requests for songs they didn't know by inventing similarly titled originals on the spot. "Honey Babe Let the Deal Go Down," he theorizes, resulted from a request for a tune by Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, while "Lazy Lazy River" could have been concocted as a sort of "anti-cover" of an air by Hoagy Carmichael. On this collection, Vinson sings about interpersonal relationships, loneliness, depression, body odor, alienation, poverty, and death. Interestingly, the producers of this series did not include six additional titles (four of them waltzes) which were recorded on December 15, 1930 but issued under the name of the Mississippi Mud Steppers. Document has reissued these recordings on Mississippi String Bands and Associates 1928-1931 and threw a few in with Charlie McCoy's recordings from 1928-1932.  arwulf arwulf

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. The Mississippi Sheiks‘ first recordings had been made far afield, in Shreveport and San Antonio, but in December 1930, they were in Jackson, Mississippi, near to their home, when the Okeh field unit came by. Walter Vinson, who handled the vocal duties, could compose a neat pop song if required, but many of the numbers cut in December 1930 are distinctly lowdown and blue. The Sheiks remade their two hits, Sitting On Top Of The World and Stop And Listen, with new lyrics as powerful as the originals, and Still I’m Travelling On was also closely related to the former title. Times Done Got Hard was about the Depression, and Unhappy Blues has a remarkable lyric about imprisonment. Honey Babe Let The Deal Go Down may have been prompted by a record company request for a version of “Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down Blues”, the Charlie Poole song widely known in the South-eastern states by both blacks and whites from Poole’s 1925 recording; if so, it’s evident that the Sheiks weren’t familiar with Poole’s song, but they nevertheless produced a fine blues from the given title. She Ain’t No Good, with its scurrilous comments on the alleged ways of country girls, is in the lighter vein of hokum, but Vinson was back to blues for the rest of the session. Ramrod Blues mines the Sheiks’ rich vein of sexual metaphor, and Church Bell Blues, like Stop and Listen, drew its inspiration from a funeral, a topic to which Vinson returned with a frequency that seems literally morbid, but one which often evoked inspired guitar playing from him. In October 1931, the Mississippi Sheiks and Bo Carter were on the road again, travelling to Atlanta for a session which Bo remembered as one of the rare occasions on which he got drunk along with the others, and at which Walter Vinson explored another of his obsessions, an almost Swiftian attitude of fascinated disgust with body odour; Please Don’t Wake It Up and She’s A Bad Girl (Dozens-based, but heavily expurgated) are concerned with this unusual subject, which he had earlier sung about in “You Got To Keep Things Clean” as “Sam Hill from Louisville” on Brunswick (see Document BDCD-6013). On that occasion, Vinson also recorded Things About Comin’ My Way, a reworking of “Sitting On Top Of The World” which he remade here. If Things About Comin’ My Way was optimistic about the resolution of troubles, the same can’t be said of Livin’ In A Strain, whose dissonant opening, which may have prevented its being issued at the time, seems very appropriate to the disturbing lyrics about a psychological burden that “will take me two years to understand”, and which causes Vinson to be shunned by his friends, and to plan both to change his name and to leave town. This was a session at which a kind of obscure unhappiness predominated; Kind Treatment, for instance, which also features some remarkable harmonic ideas, refers to being in jail in Bolton, the Sheiks’ hometown, but it’s far from clear who is personified as Kind Treatment. Lazy Lazy River comes as a contrast of mood, therefore, as well as of style. Doubtless inspired by Hoagy Carmichael’s “Up A Lazy River”, it seems, like Honey Babe Let The Deal Go Down, was a response to a request for a song that the Sheiks didn’t know. They weren’t about to let a minor obstacle like that get in the way, and this charming 32-bar pop song was the result. With Too Long, which later became a favourite of their friend Charlie McCoy, the Mississippi Sheiks completed a ten song session, and one at which all the first takes were accepted; one suspects that Okeh didn’t really need to get Lonnie Chatmon and Walter Vinson drunk to persuade them to give of their best. DOCD-5084

 Tracklist :
1    Sitting On Top Of The World No. 2 (A) 3:15
2    Your Good Man Caught The Train And Gone (A) 3:09
3    Times Done Got Hard (A) 3:24
4    Unhappy Blues (A) 3:21
5    Still I’m Traveling On (A) 3:00
6    Honey Babe Let The Deal Go Down (B) 3:22
7    She Ain’t No Good     (B) 3:11
8    Ramrod Blues (B) 2:48
9    Stop And Listen Blues No. 2 (B) 3:15
10    Church Bell Blues (B) 3:17
11    Please Don’t Wake It Up (C) 3:26
12    Please Baby (C) 3:13
13    Things About Comin’ My Way (C) 3:03
14    The World Is Going Wrong (C) 3:20
15    She’s A Bad Girl (C) 3:18
16    Tell Me What The Cats Fight About (C) 3:10
17    Kind Treatment (C) 3:12
18    Livin’ In A Strain (C) 3:15
19    Lazy Lazy River (C) 3:08
20    Too Long     (C) 3:01

MISSISSIPPI SHEIKS — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 3 • 1931-1934 | DOCD-5085 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Document's third helping of the Mississippi Sheiks' chronologically arranged "complete works" is stocked with 23 OKeh, Paramount, and Bluebird recordings made in Atlanta, GA, Grafton, WI, New York, NY, and San Antonio, TX, during the "lean years" of 1931-1934. One reason the Sheiks were able to maintain some measure of popularity and continue making records during a time when phonograph companies were shutting down and established artists had difficulty finding regular work was their practiced ability to appeal to both white and black listeners. The violin that they took turns playing was in that sense the key to success, as live audiences and the record-purchasing public really went in for the Southern rural sound that characterized this fiddle-and-guitar group during the first half of the 1930s. Credit is also due to the strongly steeped chemistry between Walter Vinson and the brothers Lonnie, Sam, and Bo Chatman. Bo succeeded as a solo act under the name Bo Carter by specializing in "dirty blues" that teemed with amusing sexual metaphors. On this intriguing collection, Bo is credited as the creator of such colorful titles as "Bed Spring Poker" and "I've Got Blood in My Eyes for You."  arwulf arwulf

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. The Mississippi Sheiks wrapped up their two days in Atlanta with four titles which show off Walter Vinson‘s guitar playing to particular advantage, as well as including some clever lyrics: When You’re Sick With The Blues is hokum, but Bed Spring Poker gives an unusual warning of the dangers of sexual gambling. I’ve Got Blood In My Eyes For You was one of four titles from these sessions issued on Columbia, the parent company of Okeh. Around the time Columbia 14660-D was released, in June 1932, the Sheiks were recording for Paramount, which was in turn to terminate its 12/13000 race series towards the end of that year. The last two discs issued were both by the Mississippi Sheiks; all through the Depression they had been favourites with black record buyers, and it’s not surprising that they were Paramount’s last throw of the dice. Nor, perhaps, is it surprising that much of the session was devoted to remakes and rewrites. Inevitably, they cut further – and very fine – versions of Stop and Listen and Sitting On Top Of The World, and Don’t Wake It Up (taken at a tearing speed) and Please Baby were second attempts at songs recorded in Atlanta the previous year. Shooting High Dice used the tune of W. C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues”, while New Shake That Thing was a tribute to the enduring popularity of Papa Charlie Jackson‘s hit from 1925, given engaging new lyrics that celebrate the ability of Southerners to have fun. Apart from reworking old numbers, the Sheiks also made some excellent originals: She’s Crazy About Her Lovin’ showcases some of the finest and most intuitive playing recorded by either Vinson or Lonnie Chatmon, and He Calls That Religion is a biting attack on clerical hypocrisy. The most unusual song was the last: I’ll Be Gone, Long Gone is unsurprising in being one more lyric to the melody of “Sitting On Top Of The World”, but, uniquely for the Sheiks, it is a piano-guitar duet. As usual, Walter Vinson is the guitarist and vocalist. Even in 1933, there was still a little recording of blues singers going on, and in June of that year the Mississippi Sheiks were allocated a block of eight Columbia matrices, although only two titles were issued. Despite the standard discography, there are two guitars present along with Lonnie’s fiddle. One of the guitars is Walter Vinson; the other has been assumed to be Bo Carter. It’s quite possible, but the duetting, especially on Kitty Cat Blues, has a heavier, more percussive touch than that on “Sales Tax” (see DOCD-5086), where Bo is definitely present, and the second guitarist might be Charlie McCoy, who settled in Chicago about this time. Bo Carter was definitely present on 26th and 27th March 1934 and he is said by “Blues & Gospel Records” to be the vocalist and guitarist for the Sheiks on these dates, with Sam Chatman on second guitar, and Lonnie on violin as usual. Walter Vinson might be present on one of the sessions, as may be heard on DOCD-5086. Vinson was definitely present at both sessions, but it appears that he was absent for the titles on this album; the guitar picking is characteristic of Bo Carter. After much listening it can be concluded that Bo is the singer as well. Unsurprisingly, he recorded a version of Sitting On Top Of The World, although he gave it ingenious lyrics about the numbers game. It’s Done Got Wet was a joyful celebration of the end of Prohibition, with a scat episode, and Bo Carter imitating Walter’s intrusive “r” (“Oh-rit’s done got wet”, etc.). These six titles are all notable for the superb interplay between Bo’s guitar and Lonnie’s violin, which produces a quite different sound to that of the usual Sheiks duo. DOCD-5085
Tracklist :
1    Shake Hands And Tell Me Goodbye 2:54
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
2    Bed Spring Poker 3:08
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
3    When You’re Sick With The Blues 3:07
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
4    I’ve Got Blood In My Eyes For You 3:13
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
5    Shooting High Dice 3:25
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
6    Isn’t A Pain To Me 3:42
Guitar – Walter Vincson
Violin, Vocals – Lonnie Chatman
7    She’s Crazy About Her Lovin’ 2:59
Guitar, Vocals [Poss.] – Walter Vincson
Violin, Vocals [Poss.] – Lonnie Chatman
8    Tell Me To Do Right 3:29
Guitar, Vocals [Poss.] – Walter Vincson
Violin, Vocals [Poss.] – Lonnie Chatman
9    The New Stop And Listen Blues 3:44
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
10    Go ‘Way Woman 3:22
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
11    New Shake That Thing 3:02
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
12    The New Sittin’ On Top Of The World 3:09
Guitar – Walter Vincson
Violin, Vocals – Lonnie Chatman
13    He Calls That Religion 3:29
Guitar – Walter Vincson
Violin, Vocals – Lonnie Chatman
14    Don’t Wake It Up 3:33
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
15    Please Baby 3:31
Guitar – Walter Vincson
Violin, Vocals – Lonnie Chatman
16    I’ll Be Gone, Long Gone 3:16
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Piano – Unknown Artist
17    Kitty Cat Blues 3:12
Guitar [Prob.] – Sam Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Bo Chatman
18    Show Me What You Got 3:08
Guitar [Prob.] – Sam Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Bo Chatman
19    Hitting The Numbers 2:58
Guitar [Prob.] – Sam Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Bo Chatman
20    It’s Done Got Wet 3:16
Guitar [Prob.] – Sam Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Bo Chatman
21    Pencil Won’t Write No More 2:53
Guitar [Prob.] – Sam Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Bo Chatman
22    I Am The Devil 3:06
Guitar [Prob.] – Sam Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Bo Chatman
23    Baby, Please Make A Change 3:09
Guitar [Prob.] – Sam Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Bo Chatman

MISSISSIPPI SHEIKS & CHATMAN BROTHERS — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 4 • 1934-1936 | DOCD-5086 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Document's fourth and final volume devoted to "the complete works" of the Mississippi Sheiks contains their final 15 Bluebird recordings, which were made in San Antonio, TX, and New Orleans, LA, in March 1934 and January 1935. Most of the vocals on these records were by guitarist Walter Vinson, whose collaborations with members of the Chatman or Chatmon family had generated so much great music during the first half of the decade. "Fingering with Your Fingers," their last recording under this name, is a rare example of a Sheiks instrumental. The rest of the compilation follows the trail of Lonnie, Sam, and Armenter "Bo" Chatman after they ceased recording with Vinson as the Mississippi Sheiks. arwulf arwulf

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. As discussed in the notes to DOCD-5085, Walter Vinson was replaced by Bo Carter on the first six numbers made at the Mississippi Sheiks 26th March 1934 session; on You’ll Work Down To Me Someday, however, Vinson can be clearly heard to take over on vocals and guitar, and on Somebody’s Got To Help Me, which is set to his favourite Overtime Blues tune, he even identifies himself as “Poor Walter”. After the Sheiks’ ten titles, Bo Carter cut ten of his own, with Lonnie Chatmon playing fiddle on three of them. The following day was less intensive, Bo making two titles and the Sheiks four. Walter Vinson is again present as a vocalist on all four songs, and his appears to be the only guitar on Lonesome Grave Took My Baby Away and Pop Skull Blues, which is a tribute to the powers of Texan whiskey. The former song is the Sheiks’ last version of Stop and Listen, and not the least powerful of them. Sweet Maggie and Sales Tax were issued as by ‘Mississippi Sheiks with Bo Carter’, and Bo can be clearly heard singing and playing second guitar on both titles, which are respectively a remake of Corrine Corrina and a witty comment on the “three cents more” that had recently become “the Government’s rule”. It was 10 months before the – or rather a – Mississippi Sheiks got together again to record, in New Orleans in January 1935. As before, “Blues & Gospel Records” gives Bo Carter, vocal and guitar, Lonnie Chatmon, violin, possibly Sam Chatmon on second guitar, and “Walter Vincson (sic) might be present”. On this occasion, it is my view that both Vinson and Sam Chatmon are absent; there is one guitar, played by Bo Carter, who sings on It’s Backfiring Now, Lean To One Woman and I Can’t Go Wrong. On Dead Wagon Blues and She’s Going To Her Lonesome Grave, there is a different vocalist, presumably Lonnie Chatmon. The first title is to the tune of Your Good Man’ Caught The Train And Gone, which the Sheiks had recorded in 1930 (see DOCD-5084); the second, though also dealing with death and funerals, is set to a jaunty pop tune, with heavy use of syncopation. The last Mississippi Sheiks recording of all was a lively dance instrumental, displaying the violin prowess that Vinson so much admired in his long-time partner, Lonnie Chatmon. By October 1936, Bo Carter arranged for a group of Jackson musicians to record, again for Bluebird, and again in New Orleans. Walter Vinson was there, recording as Walter Jacobs, and accompanying Little Brother Montgomery, Tommy Griffin and Annie Turner. Also present was Lonnie Chatmon, but the two men did not record together; this time, Lonnie was partnered by his brother Sam, and five discs appeared by “The Chatmon Brothers (Lonnie And Sam)“. Most of these are hokum type numbers, relying on the usual doubles entendres; Sam Chatmon, who sings on all Chatmon Brothers titles on this disc, was still a master of clever sexual metaphors when he resumed his performing career in the late 60s. If You Don’t Want Me, however, is different, being a valuable, and beautifully played version of Make Me Down A Pallet On Your Floor. (Beautifully played by Lonnie, that is; Sam’s guitar is, as usual, accurate and rhythmically steady, rather than inspired.) Old Grey Mule seems to be another example of the Chatmon family’s ability to play any song, even if they didn’t know it; it bears no relation to the old vaudeville number of the same title. On Radio Blues, Sam does a pretty good imitation of Peetie Wheatstraw; on this title and Please Don’t Give My Love Away he and Lonnie are joined by Eugene Powell (Sonny Boy Nelson), who plays some unobtrusive treble figures; Powell was about to accompany his wife, Mississippi Matilda, on the next four matrices before making six sides of his own, and accompanying Robert Hill on ten more. DOCD-5086
Tracklist :
1    Mississippi Sheiks–    She’s Got Something Crazy 3:10
Guitar, Vocals – Bo Chatman
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
2    Mississippi Sheiks–    You’ll Work Down To Me Someday 3:21
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
3    Mississippi Sheiks–    Somebody’s Got To Help Me 3:09
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
4    Mississippi Sheiks–    Good Morning Blues 2:46
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
5    Mississippi Sheiks–    Blues On My Mind 2:40
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
6    Mississippi Sheiks–    Lonesome Grave Took My Baby 3:11
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
7    Mississippi Sheiks–    Pop Skull Blues 3:14
Guitar – Bo Carter
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
8    Mississippi Sheiks–    Sweet Maggie 3:31
Guitar, Vocals – Bo Carter, Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
9    Mississippi Sheiks–    Sales Tax 3:00
Guitar, Vocals – Bo Carter, Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
10    Mississippi Sheiks–    It’s Backfiring Now 2:43
Guitar, Vocals – Bo Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
11    Mississippi Sheiks–    Lean To One Woman 2:58
Guitar, Vocals – Bo Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
12    Mississippi Sheiks–    I Can’t Go Wrong 3:06
Guitar, Vocals – Bo Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
13    Mississippi Sheiks–    Dead Wagon Blues 3:00
Guitar – Bo Chatman
Violin, Vocals – Lonnie Chatman
14    Mississippi Sheiks–    She’s Going To Her Lonesome Grave 2:33
Guitar – Bo Chatman
Violin, Vocals – Lonnie Chatman
15    Mississippi Sheiks–    Fingering With Your Finger 2:43
Guitar – Bo Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
16    Chatman Brothers–    If You Don’t Want Me Please Don’t Dog Me ‘Round 3:12
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatmon
Vocals, Violin – Lonnie Chatmon
17    Chatman Brothers–    Wake Me Just Before Day 2:56
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatmon
Vocals, Violin – Lonnie Chatmon
18    Chatman Brothers–    Old Grey Mule, You Ain’t What You Used To Be 2:48
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatmon
Vocals, Violin – Lonnie Chatmon
19    Chatman Brothers–    What’s The Name Of That Thing? 2:45
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatmon
Vocals, Violin – Lonnie Chatmon
20    Chatman Brothers–    Stir It Now 2:45
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatmon
Vocals, Violin – Lonnie Chatmon
21    Chatman Brothers–    Jumping Out Blues 2:43
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatmon
Vocals, Violin – Lonnie Chatmon
22    Chatman Brothers–    Radio Blues 3:13
Guitar – Eugene Powell
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatmon
Vocals, Violin – Lonnie Chatmon
23    Chatman Brothers–    Please Don’t Give My Love Away 2:54
Guitar – Eugene Powell
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatmon
Vocals, Violin – Lonnie Chatmon