VA - The George Mitchell Collection Volumes 1 - 45 [7 CD, 2008]

As a high school senior in 1962, George Mitchell began wandering Memphis back alleys and the rural roads of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi in search of the blues. He found them all right, as evidenced by this 7-CD collection of recordings spanning 20 years and including a few familiar names like R.L. Burnside, Robert Nighthawk, and Big Joe Williams, as well as dozens of virtual unknowns. Don't call Mitchell a folklorist, however. In lively liner notes, Sam Sweet derides the field – John and Alan Lomax in particular – as "frosty, insular, uptight types." He contends that Mitchell "radiated warmth and eccentricity" and thus connected with bluesmen he recorded because of his generosity of spirit and a shared Southern culture. Purists offended by Burnside's rocking electro-infused collaborations with Jon Spencer and Kid Rock in the 1990s will no doubt prefer the four dirty Delta originals included here, the first-ever recordings of the Mississippi bluesman. Mitchell's recollections of the sessions are often hilarious and always honest. He remembers the one-string-bass- and kazoo-playing Dewey Corley, recorded 1967 in Memphis, as "a crotchety old motherfucker, very irritable." Cecil Barfield, also recorded that same year in Albany, GA., provides four standout cuts highlighted by his hypnotizing if barely decipherable swampy howl. Excellent sides of Precious Bryant, Rosa Lee Hill, and Jessie Mae Hemphill are among the only known recordings of black female guitarists from the South in the 1960s. Percussion is generally limited to stomping of feet, and children playing and friendly chatter are par for the background on these intimate sessions. Clocking in at more than eight hours and 174 tracks, the collection might be overkill for the casual fan, but for the serious collector, The George Mitchell Collection comes available as 45 7-inches.


CD 1 (1:13:35)
01. Cecil Barfield - Lucy Mae Blues (3:32)
02. Cecil Barfield - I Woke Up Crying (1:35)
03. Cecil Barfield - Love Blues (3:15)
04. Cecil Barfield - I Told You Not To Do That (2:37)
05. Buddy Moss - In The Evening (2:21)
06. Buddy Moss - Hey Lawdy Mama (2:25)
07. Buddy Moss - Thousand Woman Blues (1:17)
08. Buddy Moss - Blue Shadow Falling (2:05)
09. Buddy Moss - Cold Rainy Day (1:50)
10. Buddy Moss - Amy (2:46)
11. Leon Pinson - Motherless Child (2:16)
12. Leon Pinson - Hush, Somebody Is Calling My Name (2:59)
13. Leon Pinson - What God Can Do (1:25)
14. Leon Pinson - He'll Understand And Say Well Done (4:26)
15. Houston Stackhouse - Big Road Blues (2:31)
16. Houston Stackhouse - Cool Water Blues (3:20)
17. Houston Stackhouse - Big Fat Mama Blues (2:52)
18. Houston Stackhouse - Take A Little Walk With Me (2:55)
19. Big Joe Williams - Everyone Got A Woman (2:30)
20. Big Joe Williams - What She Need With A Rooster (2:35)
21. Big Joe Williams - Sink Or Swim (2:41)
22. Big Joe Williams - Prison Bound (2:24)
23. John Lee Ziegler - Who's Gonna Be Your Man (4:36)
24. John Lee Ziegler - If I Lose Let Me Lose (4:54)
25. Othar Turner - Black Woman (3:25)
26. Othar Turner - Bumble Bee (4:04)

CD 2 (1:06:02)
01. Lonzie Thomas - Rabbit On A Log (2:24)
02. Lonzie Thomas - Raise A Ruckus Tonight (2:21)
03. Lonzie Thomas - My Three Women (2:49)
04. Lonzie Thomas - Red Cross Store (2:34)
05. Sleepy John Estes - Rats In The Kitchen (1:42)
06. Sleepy John Estes - Special Agent (2:54)
07. Sleepy John Estes - Trying To See (2:52)
08. Sleepy John Estes - Mail Man Blues (1:52)
09. Teddy Williams - Down Home Blues (3:36)
10. Teddy Williams - Catfish Blues (1:44)
11. Teddy Williams - Black Mattie (2:57)
12. Teddy Williams - Sun Don't Shine (2:16)
13. Green Paschal - Trouble Brought Me Down (1:41)
14. Green Paschal - My Lord (2:10)
15. Green Paschal - Mother Is Dead (1:24)
16. Green Paschal - Lay My Burden Down (1:35)
17. Green Paschal - Your Close Friend (1:19)
18. Green Paschal - I'm Gonna Leave You In The Hands Of The Lord (1:52)
19. William ''Do Boy'' Diamond - Hard Time Blues (3:24)
20. William ''Do Boy'' Diamond - Just Want To Talk To You (4:21)
21. Dewey Corley & Walter Miller - Just A Dream I Got On My Mind (2:53)
22. Dewey Corley & Walter Miller - Memphis Is A Wonderful City (1:50)
23. Dewey Corley & Walter Miller - Down To Arkansas (3:47)
24. Bud Grant - Rock Me Mama (2:07)
25. Bud Grant - Freight Train Blues (2:32)
26. Bud Grant - So Sweet (2:54)
27. Bud Grant - Bud Grant's Grunt (2:13)

CD 3 (1:09:53)
01. Bud White - Go Ahead On (2:51)
02. Bud White - You've Been Gone So Long (2:26)
03. Bud White - White Horses (4:05)
04. George Henry Bussey - When I'm Sober I'm Drunk Blues (2:52)
05. George Henry Bussey - Mean Mistreater (3:06)
06. George Henry Bussey - Blues Around My Bed (3:54)
07. George Henry Bussey - Looking For My Woman (1:39)
08. Jim Bunkley - Old Red #2 (3:02)
09. Jim Bunkley - Jack Of Diamonds (1:52)
10. Jim Bunkley - Them Greasy Greens (2:42)
11. Jim Bunkley - Rocking Chair (1:42)
12. Tom Turner - Old Breakdown (4:23)
13. Tom Turner - Drop Down Mama #1 (3:34)
14. James Shorter - Search Me Lord (2:36)
15. James Shorter - My Mother Died And Left Me (2:28)
16. James Shorter - Consolation (1:41)
17. James Shorter - Home Going (3:02)
18. Abe McNeil - Better Than Myself (4:16)
19. Abe McNeil - Steady Rollin' Man (2:30)
20. Abe McNeil - Drink Drink Drink (2:20)
21. Joe Callicot - Country Blues (3:24)
22. Joe Callicot - River Blues (2:50)
23. Johnny Woods - 3 O'Clock In The Morning (3:55)
24. Johnny Woods - I's Be Troubled (2:41)

CD 4 (1:08:34)
01. Robert Diggs - Someday Baby (2:50)
02. Robert Diggs - Racehorse Charleston (2:01)
03. Robert Diggs - Done Lost My Health (3:36)
04. Robert Diggs - Drive Your Car (1:38)
05. Cliff Scott - Woke Up This Morning (2:57)
06. Cliff Scott - Long Wavy Hair (2:23)
07. Cliff Scott - Please Come Home (2:55)
08. Cliff Scott - Pole Pattin' (2:10)
09. Jimmy Lee Harris - I Wanna Ramble (4:33)
10. Jimmy Lee Harris - Sitting Here Looking 1000 Miles Away (3:55)
11. R.L. Burnside - Just Like A Bird Without A Feather (3:12)
12. R.L. Burnside - Skinny Woman (2:12)
13. R.L. Burnside - Goin' Down South (2:37)
14. R.L. Burnside - Poor Black Mattie (2:08)
15. Robert Johnson - Hold My Body Down (2:41)
16. Robert Johnson - Trying To Make It Home (2:57)
17. Robert Johnson - Precious Lord (2:00)
18. Robert Johnson - He'll Make A Way (3:17)
19. Robert Longstreet - Sugar Mama (2:59)
20. Robert Longstreet - Black Gal (2:59)
21. Robert Longstreet - Sloppy Drunk (2:41)
22. Robert Longstreet - Decoration Day (3:06)
23. Fred McDowell - Shake 'Em On Down (2:55)
24. Fred McDowell - Mama Says I'm Crazy (3:54)

CD 5 (1:17:01)
01. John Henry Barbee - That Ain't It (3:36)
02. Johny Henry Barbee - Gonna Lose Your Mind (3:37)
03. Albert Macon & Robert Thomas - Flat Foot Boogie (4:05)
04. Albert Macon & Robert Thomas - Mama Can I Lay It Down (1:35)
05. Albert Macon & Robert Thomas - How Can You Do It (2:51)
06. Jessie Clarence Gorman - John Henry (1:36)
07. Jessie Clarence Gorman - Goin' Up To The Country #1 (1:57)
08. Jessie Clarence Gorman - Goin' Up To The Country #2 (1:46)
09. Will Shade - Dirty Dozens (2:44)
10. Will Shade - Won't You Send Me John (2:16)
11. Will Shade - Wine Headed Man (2:47)
12. Will Shade & Charlie Burse - K.C. Blues (3:03)
13. Georgia Fife & Drum Band - Every Time I Come Around (3:11)
14. Georgia Fife & Drum Band - J.W.'s Special (1:51)
15. Georgia Fife & Drum Band - Old Hen Cackle (3:20)
16. Georgia Fife & Drum Band - Buck Dance (1:26)
17. Como Fife & Drum Band - Hey Freddie (1:56)
18. Como Fife & Drum Band - Late In The Evening (2:20)
19. Como Fife & Drum Band - Punky Tony (2:35)
20. Como Fife & Drum Band - Shimmy She Wa (3:05)
21. Maxwell Street Jimmy - You Got Reap What You Sow (3:55)
22. Maxwell Street Jimmy - Everything's Gonna Be Alright (3:05)
23. Precious Bryant - That's The Way The Good Thing Go (2:17)
24. Precious Bryant - Georgia Buck (2:26)
25. Precious Bryant - When The Saints Go Marching In (2:51)
26. Rosa Lee Hill - Pork & Beans (3:29)
27. Rosa Lee Hill - Count The Days I'm Gone (1:42)
28. Rosa Lee Hill - Roll & Tumble (3:44)
29. Rosa Lee Hill - Bullying Well (1:56)

CD 6 (1:08:13)
01. Furry Lewis - Good Morning Judge (5:33)
02. Furry Lewis - Furry Lewis' Careless Love (5:06)
03. Jimmy Lee Williams - What Makes Grandpa Love Grandma So (4:03)
04. Jimmy Lee Williams - Have You Ever Seen Peaches (4:18)
05. J.W. Warren - Hoboing Into Hollywood (3:37)
06. J.W. Warren - Sundown Blues (2:00)
07. J.W. Warren - Rabbit On A Log (2:37)
08. J.W. Warren - You're Gonna Miss Me (2:46)
09. Eddie Harris - House On The Hill (3:37)
10. Eddie Harris - I Have To Love Somebody (4:58)
11. James Davis - Old Country Rock #1 (3:46)
12. James Davis - Instrumental #1 (2:56)
13. James Davis - Who Stole The Lock Off The Henhouse Door (3:16)
14. James Davis - Instrumental #4 (2:07)
15. Robert Nighthawk - Canned Heat (3:26)
16. Robert Nighthawk - Nighthawk Boogie (2:53)
17. Robert Nighthawk - Down By The Woodshed (2:59)
18. Jessie Mae Hemphill - Home Going (2:24)
19. Jessie Mae Hemphill - I Want To Be Ready (1:50)
20. Jessie Mae Hemphill - Interview (4:00)

CD 7 Bonus (1:03:25)
01. Jessie Lee Vortis - Miss Maybelle (4:35)
02. Jessie Lee Vortis - When My Baby Got On Board (4:07)
03. George Hollis - Them Greasy Greens #1 (3:39)
04. George Hollis - Rock And Roll To Milledgeville (1:41)
05. Willie Rockomo - Black Rat Swing (2:32)
06. Bruce Upshaw & Willie Rockomo - Tease Me Baby #2 (2:47)
07. Bruce Upshaw - Someday Baby #1 (2:44)
08. Bruce Upshaw - Wonder Why My Baby Treat Me So Bad (2:23)
09. Bruce Upshaw - Rosa Lee (2:20)
10. Buddy Hubbard - I Got A Woman (2:35)
11. Buddy Hubbard - So Sweet (2:08)
12. Ira ''Tiny'' Coney - You're Gonna Miss Me (2:29)
13. Ira ''Tiny'' Coney - Mamie (3:03)
14. Ira ''Tiny'' Coney - I'm So Lonesome (3:59)
15. Eddie Hodge - Blood Red River (2:57)
16. Eddie Hodge - Sitting On Top Of The World (1:41)
17. Eddie Hodge - Glory Hallelujah (2:35)
18. Pettis Sisters - Jesus Is Coming Back To Me (2:49)
19. Pettis Sisters - Bound For Zion (3:22)
20. Houston & Sara Mae Stovall - You Told Me Baby (2:26)
21. Houston & Sara Mae Stovall - Sweet As An Apple On A Tree (1:39)
22. Houston & Sara Mae Stovall - Juke #2 (1:10)
23. Houston & Sara Mae Stovall - Woke Up This Morning (1:58)
24. Houston & Sara Mae Stovall - Tell Me You Love Me (1:49)