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)

VA - The George Mitchell Collection [13 CD, Fat Possum Records]

 

George Mitchell is an American music historian, writer, record producer, musician and photographer.

Born in Coral Gables, Florida, January 9, 1944 and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, from the 1960s until the 1980s he recorded blues musicians such as Jessie Mae Hemphill, Fred McDowell and Johnny Woods, George Henry Bussey and Jim Bunkley, Charlie Burse and Will Shade, Gus Cannon, Mississippi Joe Callicott, John Lee Ziegler, Jimmy Lee Williams, Furry Lewis, Houston Stackhouse, R. L. Burnside and Sleepy John Estes, later to be issued on Arhoolie Records (late 1960s), Revival Records (1971) and Rounder Records (from c. 1975) as 33 rpm albums, on Arhoolie Records (2000) and Fat Possum Records (2003 ff.) as CDs.

George Mitchell also plays the blues himself on an oil-can bass.


Big Joe Williams

1. Shake Your Williams
2. Everyone Got A Woman
3. Sugar Mama
4. Terraplane Blues
5. Limousine Blues
6. Baby Please Don't Go
7. Who's Been Foolin' You
8. What She Need With A Rooster
9. Sink Or Swim
10. Prison Bound

• Big Joe Williams - guitar & vocal - rec. 1963

Bud Grant

1. Mean Ole Frisco
2. Rock Me Mama
3. Instrumental
4. Freight Train Blues
5. What's the Matter with the Mill
6. Trouble in Mind
7. Rattlesnake Moan
8. So Sweet
9. Blues Around My Bed
10. Bud Grant's Grunt

• Bud Grant - guitar & vocal - 1969

Buddy Moss

1. In The Evening2. Amy
3. Hey Lawdy Mama
4. Cold Rainy Day
5. Blue Shadow Falling
6. Instrumental #1
7. Thousand Woman Blues
8. Unfinished Business
9. You Need A Woman
10. That Will Never Happen

• Buddy Moss - guitar & vocal - 1963

Cecil Barfield

01 - Love Blues
02 - Sun Goin' Down
03 - Tell Me Rider
04 - See What You Made Me Do
05 - My Babe
06 - Left My Baby Crying
07 - Captain Had A Bulldog
08 - Lonesome House Blues
09 - I Woke Up Crying
10 - Lucy Mae Blues
11 - Big Legged Woman
12 - Five Long Years
13 - William Robertson Blues
14 - Talk To Your Daughter
15 - Root Blues
16 - Hooks In The Water
17 - I Told You Not To Do That
18 - Bottle Up And Go
19 - I Want Your Little Lovin'

• Cecil Barfield - guitar & vocal   70's/80's

Jimmy Lee Harris - I Wanna Ramble

1. All Night Long
2. 16-20
3. Rock Me
4. Dark Cloud Rising
5. Rocking Brother Blues
6. I Wanna Ramble
7. Don't the Moon Look Lonesome
8. Bad Whiskey and Bad Women
9. Rabbit On A Log
10. Sitting Here Looking A 1000 Miles Away
11. Ain't Nobody to Hold My Aching Head

• Jimmy Lee Harris - guitar & vocal - 1980

Leon Pinson

1. What Can God Do
2. Only Believe
3. Blessed Question
4. I Have A Savior I Can Depend On
5. Motherless Child
6. Hush - Somebody Is Calling Me
7. Search Me Lord
8. Pray For Me
9. What A Friend We Have In Jesus
10. Where's No Friend Like The Lonely Jesus
11. What To Die Easy When I Die
12. He'll Understand And Say Well Done

• Leon Pinson - guitar & vocal - 1967

Lonzie Thomas

1 - Dragaround #12 - Red Cross Store
3 - Rabbit On A Log
4 - Dear Old Mother
5 - Tin Top Alley
6 - Raise A Ruckus Tonight #1
7 - Raise A Ruckus Tonight #2
8 - Struttin' That Thing
9 - Sitting Here Studying As The Time Roll On
10 - Hard Pill To Swallow
11 - Barnyard
12 - Dragaround #2
13 - My Three Women
14 - John Henry

• Lonzie Thomas - guitar & vocal. - 1980

Teddy Williams

1. Shaggy Hound2. The Swing Blues
3. Catfish Blues #1
4. Down Home Blues
5. Going Away Blues
6. Catfish Blues #2
7. Black Mattie
8. Hard Time Blues
9. Sun Don't Shine
10. You See Me Laughing

• Teddy Williams - guitar & vocal - 1967

Tom Turner

1. Old Breakdown2. Drop Down Mama #1
3. Howlin' at Your Door #1
4. Jack of Diamonds
5. Frankie, Johnny & Albert
6. Catfish Blues
7. 44 in My Hand
8. Gonna Bring Her Right Back Home
9. Black Rat
10. Ain't Gonna Rain No More
11. Howlin' at Your Door #2
12. My Baby's Gone and I'll Soon Be Gone Myself
13. I Been Here Before
14. Interview

• Tom Turner - guitar & vocal - 1967

VA - Georgia Blues Today


1. William Robertson - Love Blues
2. William Robertson - Baby Please Don't Go
3. James Davis - Old Country Book
4. John Lee Ziegler - Poor Boy
5. John Lee Ziegler - John Henry
6. Jimmy Lee Williams - Hoot Your Belly Give Your Backbone Ease
7. Jimmy Lee Williams - Shortening Bread
8. John Lee Ziegler - Used To Be Mine But Look Who Got Her Now
9. James Davis - James' Boogie
10. William Robertson - My Babe
11. William Robertson - Hoochie Coochie Wagon
12. John Lee Ziegler - If I Lose Let Me Lose
13. James Davis - Good Morning Little School Girl


VA - Lower Chattahoochie Valley

1. Flat Foot Boogie - Alber Macon and Robert Thomas
2. Don't Nothing Hurt Me But My Back And Side - Alber
3. Jack of Diamonds - William Grant
4. Sitting Here 1000 Miles - Jimmy Lee Harris
5. All Night Long - Jimmy Lee Harris
6. I've Been Treated So Bad - Cliff Davis
7. Lonze Thomas Dragaround - Lonzie Thomas
8. Red Cross Store - Lonzie Thomas
9. When The Saints Go Marching In - Precious Bryant
10. Georgia Buck - Precious Bryant
11. True Love - Cecil Barfield
12. Lonesome House Blues - Cecil Barfield
13. Baby Please Don't Go - Eddie B. Hodge
14. Hambone - Ray Favors
15. If I Had My Way - Ray Favors and James Lloyd

VA - Rosa Lee Hill & Friends

1. Pork and Beans - Rosa Lee Hill2. Roll and Tumble - Rosa Lee Hill
3. Count The Days That I'm Gone - Rosa Lee Hill
4. Bullying Well - Rosa Lee Hill
5. Come Here Fairer - Rosa Lee Hill
6. Lord I Feel Better - Rosa Lee Hill and Jessie Mae Hemphill
7. I Wanna Be Ready - Jessie Mae Hemphill
8. Georgia Buck (instrumental) - Precious Bryant
9. That's The Way The Good Thing Go - Precious Bryant
10. Black Gal - Lottie Kate and Jim Bunkley
11. The Lord Will Make A Way - Lottie Kate and Jim Bunkley
12. Move On Up A Little - Essie Mae Brooks
13. Horn Going - Essie Mae Brooks
14. Won't You Ride With Me Tonight - Catherin Porter and Will Shade


VA - Tennessee Recordings

1. Sleepy John Estes - Floating Bridge
2. Sleepy John Estes - Special Agent
3. Sleepy John Estes - Mr. Pat
4. Sleepy John Estes - Rats in My Kitchen
5. Furry Lewis - Brownsville Blues
6. Furry Lewis - Mistreatin' Woman
7. Furry Lewis - Fare-Thee-Well, Old Tennessee
8. Will Shade - Kansas City Blues
9. Will Shade & Furry Lewis - The Train
10. Gus Cannon - Boll Weevil Blues
11. Will Shade - Wine Headed Woman
12. Furry Lewis & Will Shade - Furry Lewis Rag
13. Charlie Burse & Will Shade - Beale Street Shuffle
14. Jennie Mae Clayton & Will Shade - What Must I Do?
15. Will Shade - Jump & Jive