The source of Atlanta’s principal blues style was Curley Weaver’s mother, Savannah Shepard, who also taught the Hicks brothers, Charlie and Robert, known on record as Charlie Lincoln and Barbecue Bob. Her influence is also heard in the music of Willie Baker and George Carter. She didn’t teach Blind Willie McTell but he was probably the inspiration for Riley Puckett’s ‘A Darkey’s Wail’. Weaver and McTell recorded together as the Georgia Cotton Pickers, while Weaver also worked with Fred McMullen and Buddy Moss as the Georgia Browns. Willie McTell also accompanied Weaver and artists such as Harris & Harris and Mary Willis. The wealth of musical talent recorded in Atlanta, included Sloppy Henry, Too Tight Henry, Billy Bird, Lonnie Coleman, Barefoot Bill, Lil McClintock, King David’s Jug Band and the Birmingham Jug Band.
World War II put paid to recording in Atlanta until the end of the 1940s, when record companies returned to the city. McTell and Weaver were still around and other country blues artists like Frank Edwards, David Wylie and Pinetop Slim made their mark. But their music was in decline as rhythm and blues rose in importance. Atlanta’s stars included Billy Wright, Piano Red and Blow Top Lynn, sometimes backed by bands led by tenor-man Fred Jackson. Others included Tommy Brown, Melvin Smith, Zilla Mays, Willie Brown and Joyce Jackson. Most popular of all were Chuck Willis and Little Richard, each went on to greater fame after making impressive recording debuts. They merely underlined once again what a valuable breeding ground for talent Atlanta had continued to be.
Disc 1
01. Ed Andrews / Time Ain't Gonna Make Me Stay [00:02:50]
02. JULIUS DANIELS -- My Mamma Was A Sailor [00:03:28]
03. Blind Lemon Jefferson / Match Box Blues [00:02:57]
04. Barbecue Bob / Barbecue Blues [00:03:15]
05. Earl McDonald's Original Louisville Jug Band / Under The Chicken Tree [00:03:21]
06. Riley Puckett / A Darkey's Wail [00:02:57]
07. Blind Willie McTell / Mama, 'Tain't Long Fo' Day [00:03:03]
08. Emery Glen / Back Door Blues [00:03:04]
09. Memphis Jug Band / Kansas City Blues [00:02:58]
10. Will Weldon / Turpentine Blues [00:03:28]
11. Vol Stevens / Vol Stevens Blues [00:03:22]
12. Charlie Lincoln / Jealous Hearted Blues [00:03:39]
13. Peg Leg Howell / Skin Game Blues [00:03:09]
14. Bobby Grant / Lonesome Atlanta Blues [00:03:02]
15. Pink Anderson & Simmie Cooley / C.C. & O. Blues [00:03:09]
16. Henry Williams & Eddie Anthony / Georgia Crawl [00:03:26]
17. Nellie Florence / Midnight Weeping Blues [00:03:01]
18. Uncle Bud Walker / Look Here Mama Blues [00:02:58]
19. Sloppy Henry / Canned Heat Blues [00:02:59]
20. Curley Weaver / No No Blues [00:03:12]
21. Too Tight Henry / Charleston Contest Pt.1 [00:03:29]
22. Billy Bird / Down In The Cemetery [00:03:15]
23. Alec Johnson / Miss Meal Cramp Blues [00:03:03]
24. Willie Baker / Mama, Don't Rush Me Blues [00:02:57]
25. George Carter / Rising River Blues [00:02:49]
Disc 2
01. Macon Ed & Tampa Joe / Worrying Blues [00:03:13]
02. Hambone Willie Newbern / Shelby County Workhouse Blues [00:02:57]
03. Lonnie Coleman / Old Rock Island Blues [00:03:17]
04. Peg Leg Howell & Jim Hill / Ball And Chain Blues [00:03:05]
05. Harris & Harris / This Is Not The Stove To Brown Your Bread [00:02:34]
06. Eli Framer / Framer's Blues [00:03:09]
07. Barbecue Bob / She Shook Her Gin [00:03:13]
08. Pillie Bolling / Brown Skin Woman [00:03:24]
09. Barefoot Bill / Snigglin' Blues [00:02:41]
10. Blind Willie Johnson / You're Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond [00:03:14]
11. Jaybird Coleman / Coffee Grinder Blues [00:03:08]
12. Lil McClintock / Furniture Man [00:03:19]
13. Willie Walker / South Carolina Rag [00:03:12]
14. Georgia Cotton Pickers / I'm On My Way Down Home [00:03:16]
15. Lillie Mae / Buggy Jail House Blues [00:02:44]
16. Birmingham Jug Band / Giving It Away [00:03:15]
17. King David's Jug Band / What's That Tastes Like Gravy [00:03:10]
18. Bo Carter / What Kind Of Scent Is This [00:03:29]
19. Mississippi Sheiks / Bed Spring Poker [00:03:14]
20. Mary Willis & Blind Willie McTell / Talkin' To You Wimmen About The Blues [00:03:06]
21. Fred McMullen / DeKalb Chain Gang [00:03:08]
22. Georgia Browns / Decatur Street 81 [00:02:48]
23. Buddy Moss / Hard Times Blues [00:03:18]
24. Chasey Collins / Atlanta Town [00:02:39]
25. Blind Willie McTell / Dying Crapshooter's Blues [00:03:11]
Disc 3
01. Pinetop Slim / Applejack Boogie [00:02:42]
02. Curley Weaver / Brown Skin Woman [00:03:19]
03. Blind Willie McTell / Love Changin' Blues [00:02:32]
04. Frank Edwards / Gotta Get Together [00:02:13]
05. David Wylie / You're Gonna Weep And Moan [00:03:30]
06. Fred Jackson / Duck Fever [00:02:30]
07. Billy Wright / Stacked Deck [00:03:00]
08. Blow Top Lynn / Reliefin' Blues [00:02:27]
09. Tommy Brown / V-8 Baby [00:02:59]
10. Chuck Willis / It Ain't Right To Treat Me Wrong [00:02:52]
11. Joyce Jackson / Body Rocking Daddy [00:02:35]
12. Waymon Brown / Barefoot Susie [00:02:28]
13. Roy Mays Orchestra / Royal Peacock Boogie [00:02:55]
14. Willie Brown / Korea Blues [00:02:40]
15. Little Richard / Get Rich Quick [00:02:20]
16. Piano Red / Hey Good Lookin' [00:02:23]
17. Junior Tamplin / Under the Viaduct (in Atlanta G.A.) [00:02:53]
18. Little Richard / Thinkin' 'bout My Mother [00:02:56]
19. Melvin Smith / Everybody's Got The Blues [00:02:46]
20. Zilla Mays & The Blues Caravan / Nite Shift Blues [00:02:38]
21. H-Bomb Ferguson / You Made Me Baby [00:02:37]
22. Billy Wright / Four Cold, Cold Walls [00:02:50]
23. Arthur ''Big Boy'' Crudup / If You Ever Been To Georgia [00:02:37]
24. Papa Lightfoot / Mean Old Train [00:02:16]
25. Piano Red / Wrong Yo-Yo [00:03:15]
