To many blues enthusiasts, Josh White was a folk revival artist. It's true that the second half of his music career found him based in New York playing to the coffeehouse and cabaret set and hanging out with Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, and fellow transplanted blues artists Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee.
In Chicago during the 1960s, his shirt was unbuttoned to the waist à la Harry Belafonte and his repertoire consisted of folk revival standards such as "Scarlet Ribbons." He was a show business personality -- a star renowned for his sexual magnetism and his dramatic vocal presentations. Many listeners were unaware of White's status as a major figure in the Piedmont blues tradition. The first part of his career saw him as apprentice to some of the greatest blues and religious artists ever, including Willie Walker, Blind Blake, Blind Joe Taggart (with whom he recorded), and allegedly even Blind Lemon Jefferson. On his own, he recorded both blues and religious songs, including a classic version of "Blood Red River." A fine guitar technician with an appealing voice, he became progressively more sophisticated in his presentation. Like many other Carolinians and Virginians who moved north to urban areas, he took up city ways, remaining a fine musician if no longer a down-home artist. Like several other canny blues players, he used his roots music to broaden and enhance his life experience, and his talent was such that he could choose the musical idiom that was most lucrative at the time.
Vol. 1 - 6 September 1929 to 13 November 1933
Vol. 2 - 24 November 1933 to 18 March 1935
Vol. 3 - 18 March 1935 to 7 March 1940
Vol. 4 - 4 June 1940 to 1941
Vol. 5 - 1944
Vol. 1 - 6 September 1929 to 13 November 1933
01 - Wang wang harmonica blues (Carver Boys)
02 - Sisco harmonica blues (Carver Boys)
03 - Black and evil blues
04 - Little brother blues
05 - Baby, won`t you doodle-doo-doo
06 - Howling Wolf blues
07 - Crying blues
08 - Things about coming my way
09 - Bad depression blues
10 - Greenville sheik
11 - Good gal high brown cheater
12 - Double crossing women
13 - So sweet, so sweet
14 - Lazy black snake blues
15 - Downhearted man blues
16 - Low cotton
17 - Blood red river
18 - Jesus gonna make up my dying bed
19 - Motherless children
20 - Pure religion hallilu (tk. 1)
21 - Pure religion hallilu (tk. 2)
22 - I don`t intend to die in Egyptland
23 - This heart of mine
24 - There`s a man goin` around taking names
25 - Lay some flowers on my grave
Vol. 2 - 24 November 1933 to 18 March 1935
01 - Lord, I Want to Die Easy
02 - My Father Is a Husbandman
03 - Death's Coming Back After You
04 - Can't Help But Crying Sometimes
05 - Four and Twenty Elders
06 - Down on Me
07 - You Sinner You
08 - Welfare Blues
09 - Stormy Weather No. 1
10 - I Believe I'll Make a Change
11 - Friendless City Blues
12 - Gone Mother Blues
13 - Mean Mistreatin' Mama
14 - Evil Man Blues
15 - She's Alright with Me
16 - Black Gal
17 - Milk Cow Blues
18 - D.B.A. Blues
19 - New Mean Mistreater Man
20 - Badly Mistreated Man
21 - Bed Springs Blues
22 - New Milk Cow Blues
23 - New D.B.A. Blues
24 - Sissy Man
25 - Homeless and Hungry Blues
Vol. 3 - 18 March 1935 to 7 March 1940
01 - I Got a Home in That Rock
02 - Paul and Silas Bound in Jail
03 - Jet Black Woman
04 - Pigmeat and Whiskey Blues
05 - Prodigal Son
06 - While the Blood Runs Warm in Your Veins
07 - Trying to Get Home
08 - Got a Key to the Kingdom
09 - My Soul Is Gonna Live with God
10 - On My Way
11 - How About You
12 - Talking About My Time
13 - Did You Read That Letter
14 - When the Sun Goes Down
15 - No More Ball and Chain
16 - Silicosis Is Killin' Me
17 - Careless Love
18 - Milk Cow Blues
19 - Careless Love
20 - Prison Bound
21 - Hard Time Blues
22 - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
23 - Motherless Children (Part 1)
24 - Motherless Children (Part 2)
Vol. 4 - 4 June 1940 to 1941
01 - chain gang boun`
02 - Nine foot shovel
03 - Trouble
04 - Told my cap`n
05 - Goin` home, boys
06 - Cryin` who? Cryin` you! (part 1)
07 - Cryin` who? Cryin` you! (part 2)
08 - Jerry
09 - I don`t care where dey bury my body
10 - Glory to his name
11 - King Jesus knows I`m coming
12 - I wonder will my mother be on dat train
13 - Soon in de mornin`
14 - I lay a-dreamin`
15 - Gotta go
16 - Eve`s apple tree
17 - She`s a married woman
18 - Defense factory blues
19 - Bad housing blues
20 - Hard times blues
21 - Uncle Sam says
22 - Southern exposure
23 - Jim Crow train
Vol. 5 - 1944
01. When I Lay Down and Die (2:37)
02. Fare Thee Well (3:22)
03. Motherless Children (2:26)
04. Freedom Road (2:19)
05. No More Blues (2:51)
06. Outskirts of Town (3:04)
07. I Got a Head Like a Rock (? Work Blues) (2:34)
08. The House I Live In (2:33)
09. One Meat Ball (3:05)
10. Hard Times (2:34)
11. Strange Fruit (3:09)
12. Jim Crow Train (2:49)
13. Evil Hearted Man (2:21)
14. Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho (2:32)
15. St. James Infirmary (2:43)
16. Jerry (2:33)
17. No. 12 Train (2:44)
18. Trouble (2:43)
19. Waltzing Matilda (3:36)
20. The Lass with the Delicate Air (3:14)
21. Blues in Berlin (2:13)
22. TB Blues (3:15)
23. Careless Love (3:16)
24. Well Well Well (3:07)
25. Mean Mistreatin' Woman (3:13)
26. Miss Otis Regrets (2:56)
Vol. 6 - 1944-1945
01 - Baby, Baby
02 - Dupree
03 - Waltzing Matilda
04 - House of the Rising Sun
05 - Cotton Eyed Joe-One Meat Ball
06 - Jelly, Jelly
07 - Evil Hearted Man
08 - Backwater Blues
09 - Frankie and Johnnie
10 - John Henry
11 - Beloved Comrade
12 - Lord Randall, My Son
13 - Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier
14 - I Want You, I Need You
15 - Waltzing Matilda
16 - The Riddle Song (I Gave My Love a Cherry)
17 - The House I Live In (That's America to Me)
18 - I Left a Good Deal in Mobile
19 - Did You Ever Love a Woman?
20 - Watercress
21 - Molly Malone
22 - Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
