ADA MOORE | BUCK CLAYTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA | JIMMY RUSHING — Cat Meets Chick A Story In Jazz (1955) Vinyl, LP | Mono | FLAC (tracks), lossless

As the common format for LPs became 12" rather than 10" in the mid-'50s, record companies and artists struggled to come up with ideas for sustained musical performances lasting 30 to 45 minutes. In 1955, Columbia Records producer Irving Townsend put together a selection of pop songs with the singers Felicia Sanders, Peggy King, and Jerry Vale to come up with Girl Meets Boy, and he had a similar concept in the jazz realm for Cat Meets Chick. Borrowing Jimmy Rushing from Vanguard Records and hiring young Ada Moore, who had recently made her Broadway debut in the musical House of Flowers, he put them in front of an orchestra led by Buck Clayton and had them perform a series of songs in which the story line was that Clayton (through the medium of his trumpet) and Rushing were vying for Moore's attention. For example, Moore would say, "Buck, if I choose you, what are you gonna give me?," which would be a cue for Clayton to launch into "I Can't Give You Anything But Love." "Nothin' but love?" Moore would say, "Uh-huh, you got the wrong girl," after which Clayton would play "The Blues." The concept, of course, was just an excuse to have Rushing and Moore sing a bunch of old favorites before Clayton's band, and that was fine, especially because Moore, sporting a Sarah Vaughan-like alto, held her own against the great blues shouter. Of course, the ruling presence, even in his absence, was Count Basie, who had previously employed both Rushing and Clayton for extended periods. The music had much of the verve and swing of the Basie band, even without the leader being on the date. The story might be silly, but the music was not. William Ruhlmann
Tracklist :
Opening - Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home    0:42
A1a    Unknown Artist–    Opening
A1b    Ada Moore–    Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home
Written-By – Mercer-Arlen
A2    Jimmy Rushing–    Pretty Little Baby 1:32
Written-By – Bernie, P. Baker, S. Silvers
A3    Ada Moore–    I've Got A Feeling I'm Falling 2:26
Written-By – B. Rose, Waller, Link
A4    Jimmy Rushing And Ada Moore–    If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight) 2:44
Written-By – Creamer, J. Johnson
A5    Buck Clayton–    Ain't She Sweet 2:39
Written-By – Yellen, Ager
A6    Ada Moore–    Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home 2:17
Written-By – Mercer-Arlen
A7    Buck Clayton And Ada Moore–    You're My Thrill 3:38
Written-By – Gorney, Clare
B1    Ada Moore–    Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea 2:41
Written-By – Arlen, Koehler
B2    Jimmy Rushing–    Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good To You 2:36
Written-By – Razaf, Redman
B3    Jimmy Rushing–    Cool Breeze, Woman 2:28
Written-By – Rushing
B4    Buck Clayton–    I Can't Give You Anything But Love 2:02
Written-By – Fields-McHugh
B5    Buck Clayton–    The Blues    1:20
Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home - After You've Gone - Conclusion    4:42
B6a    Ada Moore–    Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home
Written-By – Mercer-Arlen
B6b    Jimmy Rushing And Buck Clayton–    After You've Gone
Written-By – Creamer, Layton
B6c    Unknown Artist–    Conclusion
Credits :
Arranged By – Buck Clayton
Bass – Aaron Bell, Milt Hinton
Drums – Jo Jones, James Osie Johnson
Guitar – Steve Jordan
Piano – Ken Kersey, Sir Charles Thompson
Saxophone – Bud Johnson, Eddy Barefield, Willard Brown
Trombone – Dicky Wells
Trumpet – Buck Clayton, Emmett Berry
Vocals – Ada Moore, Jimmy Rushing

TOO LATE, TOO LATE BLUES — Newly Discovered Titles & Alternate Takes ★ Volume 1 • 1926-1944 | DOCD-5150 (1993) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This CD initiated a logical series for the Document label. The company's goal of reissuing every single prewar recording has resulted in hundreds of valuable CDs being reissued. Inevitably, there were new discoveries of music after the fact, so this series consists of previously unreleased titles, alternate takes, and discoveries. Vol. 1 has selections from Blind Blake ("Early Morning Blues"), Blind Lemon Jefferson ("Lock Step Blues" and "Hangman's Blues"), George "Bullet" Williams, Bessie Tucker, the Memphis Jug Band, Willie Baker, Rev. D.C. Rice, Charlie Spand, Robert Peeples, Charley Patton (an alternate of "I Shall Not Be Moved"), Big Bill Broonzy, Frank Brasswell, Memphis Minnie, the team of Kansas City Kitty & Georgia Tom Dorsey, Bo Carter, Joe McCoy, Kokomo Arnold (a test pressing of his famous "Milk Cow Blues"), Little Buddy Doyle, and Lonnie Johnson. More general blues collectors should explore the more obvious releases first, but specialists will find these 26 performances (and those in later CDs included in this series) to be quite fascinating. Scott Yanow

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. Document strives to preserve and present each artist’s oeuvre in a concise, logical format that will make it available for further enjoyment and study for many years to come. Inevitably, however, some items do turn up and become available to Document after (or perhaps even because) the major alcum issue is released. It is only then that some collectors realize what rare and unusual items they already have in their collections, and they make them available for Document to share with the larger community. This issue, then, acts as a clearing house to preserve and expand on what has previously been available, and also can serve as a sampler of artists that have been featured. These additional items fall into several main categories. The Rev. D. C. Rice test pressing was one I had a dub of for some ten years, but I realized only in hindsight that it was not generally known to exist. When I sent it to Document, it turned out that technical limitations (absolute album playing time) precluded its earlier use in any case, but this is a case of better late than never. I think it was Bob Dixon who pointed out this fact of life for the compiler; as soon as the work is completed as much and as well as possible, in come the corrections and additions to keep him humble and constantly on the lookout for more. Some of these are items that have only been found in the last year or so. One of these Big Bill’s is a case in point, having been picked up in a lot that was brought in “off the street” for disposal. Richard Hite sold the 78 to Pete Wielan who made it available. Mike Kirsling has made available items that he found in the great Paramount test lot of several years ago, but which he retained. Now they will be available. Several items have been tracked down via the Rarest 78’s column in 78 Quarterly. Those we’ve been able to contact have been most generous and forthcoming to help make this (and, indeed, the whole series in general) as complete and good sounding as it is. As for the question of alternate takes, Document has been including them when they are aurally different. The Charley Patton -2 included here is an exception – not noticeably different to our ears, but a better copy in any case. Some of these alternates come to our attention aurally, as in the case of Memphis Minnie‘s Reachin’ Pete, of which only one take was thought to exist. So we know for sure that some people at least listen to these issues with intense concentration. No doubt there are interesting stories behind each item presented here, but here are included the newly found, newly recognized, and newly offered items and the background of only a few of them. In conclusion, we dedicate this issue to you, the listener, who makes this task of retrieval, preservation and presentation such a labor of love for us all. DOCD-5150
Tracklist :
1    Blind Blake–    Early Morning Blues (3057-2)    2:57
2    Blind Lemon Jefferson–    Lock Step Blues (20750)    3:05
3    Blind Lemon Jefferson–    Hangman's Blues (20751-2)    3:04
4    George "Bullet" Williams–    Frisco Leaving Birmingham (Take 3)    2:52
5    Bessie Tucker–    My Man Has Quit Me (Take 2) 3:08
Piano – K.D. Johnson
6    Memphis Jug Band–    Stealin' Stealin' (Take 3) 3:07
Vocals [Group Vcl] – Memphis Jug Band
7    Willie Baker–    Weak-Minded Woman (14782 - Test)    3:04
8    Rev. D.C. Rice–    Will They Welcome Me There? (Test) 3:17
Mandolin – Unknown Artist
Piano – Unknown Artist
Tambourine – Unknown Artist
Triangle – Unknown Artist
Trombone – Unknown Artist
Trumpet – Unknown Artist
9    Charlie Spand–    Levee Camp Man (Breakdown) (Take 6 - Test)    1:31
10    Charlie Spand–    Mississippi Blues (Take V6 - Test)    2:49
11    Robert Peeples–    Worry Blues (Test)    2:39
12    Charley Patton–    I Shall Not Be Moved (Take 2)    3:02
13    Big Bill–    Bow Leg Baby 2:38
Piano – Georgia Tom Dorsey
14    Frank Brasswell–    Mountain Jack Blues (16575) 2:26
Piano – Unknown Artist
15    Memphis Minnie–    Memphis Minnie-Jitis Blues (Take B) 3:15
Guitar – Kansas Joe McCoy
16    Kansas City Kitty & Georgia Tom–    Do It Some More    3:11
17    Kansas City Kitty & Georgia Tom–    Knife Man Blues    3:11
18    Bo Carter–    New Auto Blues    3:02
19    Big Bill–    Worried In Mind Blues    3:00
20    Joe McCoy–    Meat Cutter Blues (Alternate Take) 3:08
Guitar [Possibly] – Charlie McCoy
21    Joe McCoy–    What's The Matter With You? 2:55
Piano – Jimmie Gordon
22    Memphis Minnie–    Reachin' Pete (Take B)    3:10
23    Kokomo Arnold–    Milk Cow Blues – No. 5 (Test)    2:44
24    Memphis Minnie–    Running And Dodging Blues (Take 2 - Test) 2:43
Bass [String Bass, Probably] – Ransom Knowling
Clarinet – Arnett Nelson
Piano – Blind John Davis
25    Little Buddy Doyle–    Slick Capers Blues (Test) 2:35
Harmonica [Probably] – Walter Horton
26    Lonnie Johnson–    The Victim Of Love 3:10
Bass [String Bass] – Ransom Knowling
Piano – Blind John Davis

MA RAINEY — The Complete 1928 Sessions In Chronological Order with TUB JUG WASHBOARD BAND, TAMPA RED & GEORGIA TOM | DOCD-5156 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Ma Rainey's final 23 recordings find her stubbornly bucking the tides of stylistic change by working with accompanists who played up the rural folk blues element. Exhibit A is her Tub Jug Washboard Band, a scruffy little outfit securely moored by the sounds of Carl Reid huffing on a whiskey jug with banjo licks by Martell Pettiford, kazoo and washboard by one Herman Brown, and Georgia Tom Dorsey at the piano. The blend of sounds and textures was very successful, and it is this session that gave the world "Hear Me Talking to You," the "Hustlin' Blues," and "Prove It on Me Blues," a proud statement from a woman who prefers the intimate company of other females. With "Daddy Goodbye Blues" Rainey appears like the setting sun as she scales her accompaniment down to Dorsey's piano and some very fine guitar playing by Hudson Whitaker, also known as Tampa Red. These are some of the most authentically bluesy recordings of her entire career. In the refrain from the "Black Eye Blues," an unflinching report on domestic violence, the singer addresses her abuser with the words: "You low down alligator/just watch me, sooner or later/I'll catch you with your britches down." Rainey's last two recordings were duets performed in October and December 1928 with singing banjoist Papa Charlie Jackson. "Ma and Pa Poorhouse Blues" depicts two old friends faced with economic hardship. Charlie Jackson's other important appearance on records was as the gritty vocalist with Freddie Keppard's Jazz Cardinals on the 1926 recording of "Salty Dog." He is the perfect counterpart for Ma Rainey on her very last record. arwulf arwulf
Tracklist :
1    Ma Rainey–    Black Cat Hoot Owl Blues    2:28
2    Ma Rainey–    Log Camp Blues    2:54
3    Ma Rainey–    Hear Me Talking To You    3:00
4    Ma Rainey–    Hustlin' Blues    2:36
5    Ma Rainey–    Prove It On Me Blues    2:40
6    Ma Rainey–    Victim Of The Blues    2:34
7    Ma Rainey–    Traveling Blues    2:43
8    Ma Rainey–    Deep Moaning Blues (take 1)    2:58
9    Ma Rainey–    Deep Moaning Blues (take 2)    2:43
10    Ma Rainey–    Daddy Goodbye Blues    3:12
11    Ma Rainey–    Sleep Talking Blues (take 1)    3:10
12    Ma Rainey–    Sleep Talking Blues (take 2)    3:16
13    Ma Rainey–    Tough Luck Blues    3:05
14    Ma Rainey–    Blame It On The Blues    3:09
15    Ma Rainey–    Sweet Rough Man    3:05
16    Ma Rainey–    Runaway Blues    2:26
17    Ma Rainey–    Screech Owl Blues 2:56
Piano [Poss.] – Myrtle Jenkins
Vocals – Ma Rainey
18    Ma Rainey–    Black Dust Blues 2:52
Piano [Poss.] – Myrtle Jenkins
Vocals – Ma Rainey
19    Ma Rainey–    Leaving This Morning    3:08
20    Ma Rainey–    Black Eye Blues (take 1)    3:18
21    Ma Rainey–    Black Eye Blues (take 2)    3:12
22    Ma Rainey And Papa Charlie Jackson–    Ma And Pa Poorhouse Blues 3:03
Vocals – Ma Rainey
Vocals, Banjo – Papa Charlie Jackson
23    Ma Rainey And Papa Charlie Jackson–    Big Feeling Blues 2:45
Vocals – Ma Rainey
Vocals, Banjo – Papa Charlie Jackson

THE GREAT HARP PLAYERS — The Complete Works 1927-1936 of WILLIAM FRANCIS & RICHARD SOWELL, OLLIS MARTIN, EL WATSON, PALMER McABEE, GEORGE "BULLET" WILLIAMS, BLUES BIRDHEAD, ELLIS WILLIAMS, ALFRED LEWIS, SMITH & HARPER | DOCD-5100 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Although one may think of the blues harp beginning with Little Walter, the first Sonny Boy Williamson, or Sonny Terry, a variety of harmonica players did record in the '20s. Some of their recordings were technical displays that featured them imitating everything from animals to trains, while other players were more blues-oriented. This valuable CD has two selections from the guitar-harmonica team of William Francis and Richard Sowell; Ollis Martin's "Police and High Sheriff Come Ridin' Down"; six pieces by Eli Watson (including "El Watson's Fox Chase"); two cuts apiece by Palmer McAbee, Ellis Williams, Alfred Lewis, and the team of Smith & Harper (which is the only music on this CD recorded after 1930); plus four songs/displays from Blues Birdhead (including "Get up off That Jazzophone") and George "Bullet" Williams (highlighted by "Frisco Leaving Birmingham" and "The Escaped Convict"). Fascinating music. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1    William Francis And Richard Sowell–    John Henry Blues
Guitar – William Francis
Harmonica – Richard Sowell
2    William Francis And Richard Sowell–    Roubin Blues
Guitar – William Francis
Harmonica – Richard Sowell
3    Ollis Martin–    Police And High Sheriff Come Ridin' Down
Vocals, Harmonica – Ollis Martin
4    El Watson–    Pot Licker Blues
Guitar – Charles Johnson
Harmonica – El Watson
5    El Watson–    Narrow Gauge Blues
Guitar – Charles Johnson
Harmonica – El Watson
6    El Watson–    El Watson's Fox Chase
Harmonica, Speech, Vocals [Effects, possibly] – El Watson, Robert Cooksey
7    El Watson–    Bay Rum Blues
Bones – Unknown Artist
Harmonica – El Watson
8    El Watson–    Sweet Bunch Of Daisies
Harmonica – El Watson
9    El Watson–    One Sock Blues
Harmonica – El Watson
10    Palmer McAbee–    Lost Boy Blues
Harmonica – Palmer McAbee
11    Palmer McAbee–    McAbee's Railroad Piece
Harmonica – Palmer McAbee
12    George "Bullet" Williams–    Touch Me Light Mama
Harmonica, Speech – George "Bullet" Williams
Vocals [perhaps] – Wiley Barner
13    George "Bullet" Williams–    Frisco Leaving Birmingham (Take 2)
Harmonica, Speech – George "Bullet" Williams
14    George "Bullet" Williams–    The Escaped Convict (Take 2)
Harmonica, Speech – George "Bullet" Williams
15    George "Bullet" Williams–    Middlin' Blues
Harmonica, Speech – George "Bullet" Williams
Speech – Unknown Artist
16    The Bubbling-Over Five–    Don't Mistreat Your Good Boy Friend
Harmonica – Blues Birdhead
Soprano Saxophone, Violin, Piano, Banjo, Guitar – Unknown Artist
Vocals – Bob Brown
17    The Bubbling-Over Five–    Get Up Off That Jazzophone
Harmonica – Blues Birdhead
Soprano Saxophone, Violin, Piano, Banjo, Guitar – Unknown Artist
Vocals – Bob Brown
18    Blues Birdhead–    Mean Low Blues
Harmonica – Blues Birdhead
Piano – Unknown Artist
19    Blues Birdhead–    Harmonica Blues
Harmonica – Blues Birdhead
Piano – Unknown Artist
20    Ellis Williams–    Buttermilk Blues
Guitar, Spoons – Unknown Artist
Harmonica – Ellis Williams
21    Ellis Williams–    Smokey Blues
Guitar – Unknown Artist
Harmonica – Ellis Williams
22    Alfred Lewis–    Mississippi Swamp Moan
Harmonica, Vocals [Effects], Speech – Alfred Lewis
23    Alfred Lewis–    Friday Moan Blues
Harmonica, Vocals [Effects] – Alfred Lewis
24    Smith And Harper–    Poor Girl
Vocals [duet], Harmonica, Guitar – Smith And Harper
25    Smith And Harper–    Insurance Policy Blues
Guitar [2nd g.] – Unknown Artist
Vocals [duet], Harmonica, Guitar – Smith And Harper

SINNERS AND SAINTS — The Complete Works 1926-1931 of T.C.I. SECTION CREW, FREEMAN STOWER, "BEANS HAMBONE & EL MORROW, "BIG BOY" GEORGE OWENS, WILL BENNETT, LONNIE COLEMAN, NUGRATE TWINS, BLIND ROGER HAYS, PINK ANDERSON & SIMMIE DOOLEY | DOCD-5106 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Document's Sinners and Saints (1926-1931) presents the complete recorded works of nine artists and groups, whose combined repertoires and performance styles serve as a brief but fascinating lesson in the history of black music, expanding common conceptions of the musical continuum that created the blues. The CD presents minstrel and medicine show material, religious songs, two work songs, a few so-called "blues," and a bad man blues ballad, exhibiting a wide scope of black musical traditions dating back to the 19th century and still in circulation during the 1920s and '30s. The performers not only represent a variety of genres, but demonstrate highly individualized styles that reflect their own personal aesthetics as much as any traditional form. The tones of their offerings range from the bizarre and the mirthful to the plaintive and deeply spiritual; the total effect of the album is hilarious, dark, and genuinely moving. Of the artists collected here, only Pink Anderson would record again after the 1930s, producing three albums with his "rediscovery" in the '60s. Most of the performers on this compilation recorded two sides apiece, appearing in a studio for only one day of their lives; Freeman Stowers and the Pink Anderson-Simmie Dooley team have four tracks each, and the miraculous Nugrape Twins are blessed with six. Stowers performs two harmonica blues numbers, infusing one with a knockout, if grating, impersonation of a train, shrieking underneath the strains of his harp to simulate the roaring locomotive's whistle. In two other tracks, he abandons the instrument altogether for vocal imitations of animals, creating a surreal listening experience that is both terrifying and uproarious. If some of his impersonations, including a hog and a wildcat, are dead on the money, others of the inhabitants of his "Sunrise on the Farm" seem to have sprung out of the sideshows of hell. Taken together, Stowers' menagerie probably comprises some of the strangest six minutes ever recorded commercially. "Beans" Hambone, accompanied by guitarist El Morrow, continues the surrealism of Stowers' "Sunrise" with an eerie comic song called "Beans," plunked out on an unusual homemade guitar whose notes hypnotically punctuate the half-sung and half-spoken tale, in which a doctor writes prescriptions for beans, Biblical figures have gardens and arks full of beans, the singer dies from eating beans and is buried in beans, and his funeral is "preached...in beans, beans, beans." The six tracks by the Nugrape Twins (Matthew and Mark) are full of youthful energy, whether the twins are singing about the pleasures of heaven or of Nugrape Soda, or, at their most sublime, combining the two ("Way down yonder in the promised land, a-run and tell your mama, here's the Nugrape Man"). "I Got Your Ice Cold Nugrape" is their masterpiece, a simultaneous hymn and jingle that advertises the soda as a cure for any earthly or spiritual ailment; like all of their songs, it pits the two rural voices against a concert piano in a unique synthesis of styles. The twins are succeeded by the New Orleans songster Blind Roger Hays, whose two songs constitute the spiritual climax of the album. Hays' singing and playing are deceptively simple, reflecting a depth of emotion that transforms the sentimentality of his lyrics and tunes into deeply inspiring and soul-shaking work. Following Hays' "I Must Be Blind, I Cannot See" (a beautiful statement with a melody lifted from "Home Sweet Home"), the album concludes with the duets of Anderson and Dooley, whose quick fingerwork, raucous kazoo, and spirited vocals maintain the exuberance if not the spirituality of Hays' performances. The performers assembled here recorded their few minutes of fame with a rich intensity, packing years and decades of experience -- and ultimately disappearing -- into the narrow circumference of a 78 record. Each artist in this well-crafted set presents his own model of rejuvenation and deliverance, whether grounded in the promise of heaven; the sound of a passenger train; the flavor of an ice-cold Nugrape; or the pleasures of stronger drink, sex, and dance -- of "tipping out tonight" and "strutting his stuff." With brief notes by blues writer Paul Oliver, the album is as entertaining and educational as the best of Document's CDs. It is doubly commendable for illustrating the breadth of traditions captured on "race records," while also showcasing the talents of the lesser-known patron saints of the business. Highly recommended. Burgin Mathews

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. The lack of early recordings means that we have no direct contemporary information on the sounds of black music in the formative years from the 1890s to the l920s. So we have to make deductions from what evidence we can obtain. Take work song, for instance. No field recordings were made of the songs of the black section gangs as they physically “lined track” – straightened railroad lines buckled by heat – until Henry Truvillion was recorded in 1939. A dozen years before, a single coupling was made by the T.C.I. Section Crew; the only work song of its type to be recorded on a commercial 78rpm disc. Work songs were unaccompanied. How did instrumental accompaniments enter the blues, which is believed to have been originally a solo form of work song? A harmonica is the easiest instrument to carry, and Freeman Stowers, apparently a Texas field hand from his vocal imitations of animals on the farm, plays – and shrieks – the sounds of passing trains, a ferocious hunt for a Texas wildcat, and a medley of old blues and country dance themes. By later standards his playing may be primitive but it illustrates the origins of blues “vocalised tone”. Then there is the matter of the songs themselves – the precursors of blues and the song traditions that blues slowly replaced. Beans, a comic song half-chanted by James Albert, called “Beans Hambone”, was a song composed by Elmer Bowman and Chris Smith in 1912; all four came from the Carolinas. So did Pink Anderson, the medicine show entertainer, from South Carolina, who made a much more accomplished version of “Tippin’” Out as Gonna Tip Out Tonight. In Beans Hambone and El Morrow we have a rare glimpse of a couple of country musicians trying to learn their craft; in Pink Anderson and Simmie Dooley we hear a couple of professional musicians from the travelling “medicine shows”. As I’ve Got Mine, “The Coon Crap Game” was one of Pink Anderson‘s favourite songs when he was recorded in the l950s; “Big Boy” George Owens recorded it many years before, but it was an old song by then, having been written by a white minstrel show entertainer, John Queen, in 1901. George Owens also cut a blues, using a number of standard verses that had been collected soon after Queen wrote his “Coon” song. Kentucky Blues may be a clue to his home state. Will Bennett might have come from Tennessee, where he recorded the song of a rambler who did not want to be burdened with property: “any-old-where I hang my hat is home sweet home to me”. He was another old-time “songster”, the kind of singer who could draw on a wide repertoire to entertain on street corners. His song about Railroad Bill extolled the exploits of a real-life black train robber and Alabama hero, Morris Slater, who was gunned down in 1897. Bennett identifies with the bandit in the ballad. Stack O Lee, Frankie and Albert and Railroad Bill were of this type, which may well have influenced the form of the blues. It was the songsters who adopted the guitar, replacing the 19th Century combination of banjo and fiddle. By the time they were recorded there were few banjoists left, but Lonnie Coleman was one. His rasping voice and ringing banjo give us the flavour of country music at the time when blues was an emergent music. Simply known as Matthew and Mark, the “Nugrape Twins” took their name from a proprietary non-alcoholic drink. Three of their harmonised songs bridged the old spiritual tradition and the emerging gospel songs of the Sanctified churches. Their accents were rural but their pianist was used to concert-styled accompaniments. There’s A City Built of Mansions was based on a traditional spiritual, but I Got Your Ice Cold Nugrape made a gospel message out of a contemporary secular theme. The twins may be contrasted with Blind Roger Hays from New Orleans who accompanied his rough and simple songs on harmonica and a briskly strummed guitar. On I Must Be Blind, I Cannot See he sang of his affliction, made all the more touching by the cheerful dance time. Blind Simmie Dooley partnered Pink Anderson, exchanging verses on Every Day in the Week Blues based on a Harry von Tilzer song from 1900, and taking the nasal lead on C. C. And O. Blues, a four-line, sixteen bar blues on the railroad theme. It wasn’t the blues in its mature form, but the singing and playing of these songsters showed that it was on its way. DOCD-5106
Tracklist :
1    T.C.I. Section Crew–    Track Linin    2:40
2    T.C.I. Section Crew–    Section Gang Song    2:25
3    Freeman Stowers–    Railroad Blues     3:07
4    Freeman Stowers–    Texas Wild Cat Chase    2:55
5    Freeman Stowers–    Medley Of Blues (All Out And Down: Old Time Blues: Hog In The Mountain)    2:50
6    Freeman Stowers–    Sunrise On The Farm    2:57
7    "Beans" Hambone-El Morrow–    Beans    2:50
8    "Beans" Hambone-El Morrow–    Tippin' Out    2:41
9    "Big Boy" George Owens*–    Kentucky Blues    2:57
10    "Big Boy" George Owens*–    The Coon Crap Game    2:41
11    Will Bennett–    Railroad Bill    2:57
12    Will Bennett–    Real Estate Blues    2:29
13    Lonnie Coleman–    Old Rock Island Blues    3:12
14    Lonnie Coleman–    Wild About My Loving    3:05
15    The NuGrape Twins–    I Got Your Ice Cold Nugrape    2:54
16    The NuGrape Twins–    There's A City Built Of Mansions    2:55
17    The NuGrape Twins–    The Road Is Rough And Rocky    2:42
18    The NuGrape Twins–    Pray Children If You Wan't To Go To Heaven    2:41
19    The NuGrape Twins–    Nugrape - A Flavor You Can't Forget    2:53
20    The NuGrape Twins–    Can't You Watch Me For One Hour    2:34
21    Blind Roger Hays–    On My Way To Heaven    3:08
22    Blind Roger Hays–    I Must Be Blind, I Cannot See     3:01
23    Pink Anderson & Simmie Dooley–    Every Day In The Week Blues    2:52
24    Pink Anderson & Simmie Dooley–    C.C. & O. Blues    3:09
25    Pink Anderson & Simmie Dooley–    Papa's 'Bout To Get Mad    2:54
26    Pink Anderson & Simmie Dooley–    Gonna Tip Out Tonight    3:10