Various – Down Home Blues – Miami Atlanta & The South Eastern States – Blues In The Alley – 3CD

Blues In The Alley features 29 artists that were influential in continuing and developing the traditions of the blues in the southeast. This release includes early down home blues recordings from none other than Ray Charles, before his climb to fame with his bigger sounding jazz-tinged blues. Alongside this, there are early recordings from Earl Hooker and Jerry McCain, two exceptionally gifted musicians who were always left from the cusp of success. Don’t forget to check out the first recordings from Frank Edwards, who captivated audiences with his rack-mounted harmonica guitar one man band style, from the 1940s right up to his last years of performing and recording in 2003.
Down Home Blues: Miami, Atlanta & The South Eastern States is a three CD set, packaged in a deluxe digipak with outer slipcase, featuring 83 tracks, all of them superbly remastered. This collection has been collated thanks to the generous help of blues collectors from both sides of the Atlantic, with rare recordings that are for the first time made available for listening via today’s compact disc medium.
An outstanding 78-page book, featuring a 15,000-word essay by blues historian Chris Bentley, accompanies the release. Rare period photographs illustrate the essay throughout with a complete sessionography and extensive gallery of original 78 and 45 record labels.
Blues In The Alley is a close companion to Wienerworld’s Tough Enough collection (WNRCD5104), with both sets dovetailing the post-war blues from America’s north and southeastern states. The southeastern states were known as slow starters in having record companies to start up to record, produce and distribute the artistes that were performing on their own doorsteps after the Second World War.
The best chance for any blues artistes in this region, looking to record, was to get up to New York for any opportunity to arise. By 1950 things certainly were different, and new recording companies who had taken the time and trouble to record such fine music had made up for a lot of lost time. Blues In The Alley captivates the efforts of those producers who gambled on their feel for the music – and their pockets to produce sounds from unadulterated country blues to the hard-edged electric tough blues sounds similar to that then being recorded in Chicago and Detroit.

Track Listing:

CD1:
Frank Edwards: 1. Sweet Man Blues - 2:49   2. Three Woman Blues - 3:00   Curley Weaver: 3. Brown Skin Woman - 3:15   4. She Don't Treat Me Good No More - 2:55   5. I Keep On Drinkin' - 2:31   David Wylie: 6. Baby, You Don't Mean Me No Good - 2:33   7. Baby, You're Gonna Change My Mind - 2:31   Frank Edwards: 8. Terraplane Blues - 2:47   9. We Got To Get Together - 2:37   Poor Jim: 10. Spots Boogie - 2:46   11. Brand New Woman - 2:45   John Lee: 12. Baby Please Don’t Go - 3:05   13. Slappin' The Boogie - 2:14   Frank Edwards: 14. Love My Baby - 2:42   15. Gotta Get Together - 2:16   Poor Jim: 16. She Fooled Me - 3:11   17. Rubber Ball Blues - 2:52   Marylin Scott: 18. The Monkey Song - 3:45   John Ferguson: 19. John Henry Boogie - 3:17   Rudy Greene: 20. No Good Woman Blues - 2:54   21. Florida Blues - 2:42   Richard Armstrong: 22. Gene Nobles Boogie (Instrumental) - 2:38   23. Gene Nobles Blues (Instrumental) - 2:48   Marylin Scott: 24. Beer Bottle Boogie - 2:49   25. Uneasy Blues - 2:47   John Bullard: 26. Ain't I Got You - 3:17   27. Bonus Blues - 3:28

CD2:
Ray Charles: 1. Guitar Blues (Instrumental) - 2:30   2. Why Did You Go - 2:50   Earl Hooker: 3. Shake 'Em Up - 2:42   4. Race Track - 2:30   Charlie Harding: 5. Train Porter Blues - 2:32   6. I'm A Man Of Experience - 2:24   John Bullard: 7. Help Me To Find My Right Mind - 2:35   8. Western Union Blues - 2:42   9. Spoiled Hambone Blues - 2:49   Willie Baker: 10. Skin To Skin - 2:19   11. Goin' Back Home - 3:31   Charlie Harding: 12. Moonrise Blues (Instrumental) - 2:39   13. Peach Tree Boogie - 2:15   Earl Hooker: 14. Happy Blues (Instrumental) - 2:15   15. Blue Guitar Blues (Instrumental) - 2:48   Willie Baker: 16. I Went Back Home - 2:21   17. Kenny's Hop (Instrumental) - 2:54   18. Going Back Home Today - 2:46   Jerry McCain: 19. Middle Of The Night - 2:55   20. Crazy 'Bout That Mess - 2:23   21. Fall Guy - 2:29   Tommy Malone: 22. I'm Wading In Deep Water - 3:11   23. It's Been So Long Baby - 2:36   Bill Reese: 24. Whiskey, Ol' Whiskey - 3:13   25. I Gotta Find My Baby - 2:38   Jimmy Wilson: 26. Alley Blues - 2:58   27. Poor, Poor Lover - 2:57   28. Alley Blues (Alternate) - 2:58

CD3:
Earl Hooker: 1. Sweet Angel - 3:07   2. After Hours (Instrumental) - 2:50   Jimmy Wilson: 3. I've Found Out - 2:45   4. Blues In The Alley - 2:48   Eddie Hope: 5. A Fool No More - 2:22   6. Lost Child - 2:08   Robert Willis: 7. You're Mine - 2:17   8. Never Let Me Go - 2:01   Shorty Long: 9. Redstone John - 3:04   Sonny Boy Williams: 10. Alice Mae Blues - 2:30   Crook Jr.: 11. Wiggle It Baby - 2:28   12. Please Believe Me Darling - 4:08   Rudy Greene: 13. Oh Baby - 2:10   Dan Harrison: 14. Piney Brown Blues - 3:01   15. Straighten Up Juice Head - 2:49   Johnny Shaw: 16. May’s Shuffle - 2:26   17. Any May - 2:11   Clifford King: 18. Chicken Shack Boogie - 2:38   19. Want To Jump With You Baby - 3:24   Leroy Dallas: 20. Sweet Man Blues - 4:27   21. She Caught The M & O - 3:44   Danny Boy Thomas: 22. Kokomo Me Baby - 2:36   23. Wild Women - 2:36   Jerry McCain: 24. She’s Tough - 2:26   25. Steady (Instrumental) - 2:09   Willie Brown: 26. Cut It Out - 2:50   27. Do It Like That (Instrumental) - 2:16   28. Tell Me Why Love Don’t Last - 2:17

Reviews:

1. Lahoradelblues.com – februari 2021
La compañía discográfica Wienerworld presenta una nueva caja de su serie que publican con el nombre de Down Home Blues. En esta ocasión y en tres cd’s incluyen a veintinueve artistas que contribuyeron al desarrollo del blues en el sureste de los Estados Unidos. Todas las grabaciones cubren un período de aproximadamente veinte años, desde 1940 a 1960 más o menos. Los tres cd’s contienen un total de ochenta y tres canciones todas ellas perfectamente remasterizadas y con un sonido espectacular, cuidando el detalle con mucho esmero y profesionalidad. Muchas de estas canciones han sido recogidas gracias a la inestimable ayuda de coleccionistas de discos de blues de ambos lados del Atlántico, que han contribuido a que pudieran ser escuchadas por primera vez. Esta caja en formato digipack incluye además un libreto de setenta y ocho páginas escrito por el historiador Chris Bentley, junto a fotografías impagables de la época y de algunos de los músicos que aparecen en esta colección, muchas de ellas completamente desconocidas para el aficionado. “Down Home Blues: Miami, Atlanta & The Southeastern States” rinde también homenaje a aquellas compañías que se jugaron el dinero grabando desde el más genuino country blues hasta los primeros sonidos del blues electrificado. Una colección que comprende a maravillosos y oscuros bluesmen tales como Frank Edwards nacido en Washington, Georgia en 1909 que realizó muchas grabaciones para los sellos Regal y OKeh falleciendo a los noventa y tres años en Greenville, Carolina del Sur, Curley Weaver que empezó a grabar en 1928 y finalizó en 1949, David Wylie quien vivió y grabó en Atlanta hasta su fallecimiento en 1985, Poor Jim de Carolina del Norte de quien solamente se conocen un par de discos grabados para Cam And Free Records, John Lee nacido en Alabama en 1915 conocido por sus canciones “Baby Please Don’t Go” y “Slappin’ The Boogie”, Marylin Scott, la única mujer de la colección, de la que no se conoce ni su fecha de nacimiento ni de su fallecimiento pero que tuvo una prolífica carrera con más de diez discos publicados, Rudy Greene nacido en 1926 que en sus cuarenta años de carrera publicó más de doce discos, Richard Armstrong quien posiblemente sólo publicó un disco o John Bullard un bluesman de Florida con el que finaliza el primer CD y así hasta completar los veintinueve nombres, muchos de ellos desconocidos para el aficionado medio. A lo largo de los tres cd’s van desfilando nombres como Frank Edwards, John Ferguson, Ray Charles, Earl Hooker, Charlie Harding, Willie Baker, Jerry McCain, Tommy Malone, Bill Reese, Jimmy Wilson, Eddie Hope, Robert Willis, Shorty Long, Sonny Boy Williams, Crook Jr, Clifford King, Dan Harrison, Johnny Shaw, Leroy Dallas, Danny Boy Thomas y Little Willie Brown. Una magnifica e indispensable caja de tres discos que no debe pasar inadvertida para el buen aficionado al blues porque en esta magnífica obra se reúne el testimonio de una parte importante de la historia y el desarrollo del blues de postguerra en una de las zonas más ricas y a la vez bastante desconocidas para los amantes del género. IMPRESCINDIBLE. 

Wienerworld presents a new box set belonging to of their essential series Down Home Blues. The box includes three cd's with twenty-nine artists who contributed to the development of blues in the south eastern states. The recordings cover a period of approximately twenty years, from 1940 to 1960, with eighty-three songs, all them perfectly and carefully remastered with a professional staff of sound engineers who have produced a spectacular sound. Some of the songs have been gathered thanks to the valuable help of blues record collectors from both sides of the Atlantic, who have given their contribution and make possible to be heard for the first time. This deluxe digi-pack box also includes a seventy-eight-page book by blues historian Chris Bentley, together with priceless photographs of that time as well as some of the musicians featured in this collection, most of them rather unknown now. "Down Home Blues: Miami, Atlanta & The Southeastern States" also pays homage to those recording companies who bet their money to record from the most genuine country blues to the early sounds of electrified blues. A superb collection with impressive dark bluesmen like Frank Edwards born in Washington, Georgia in 1909 who published many recordings for Regal and OKeh labels and died at ninety-three years old in Greenville, South Carolina, Curley Weaver who began to record in 1928 until 1949, David Wylie who lived and recorded in Atlanta until his death in 1985, Poor Jim coming from North Carolina who is only known for publishing a couple of records for Cam And Free Records, John Lee born in Alabama in 1915 well known for his songs "Baby Please Don't Go" and "Slappin' The Boogie", Marylin Scott, the only woman in this collection, with unknown birth and death dates but with a productive career with more than ten albums released, Rudy Greene who was born in 1926 and during his forty-year career published more than twelve records, Richard Armstrong who possibly only released one recording or John Bullard a Florida bluesman who completes the first CD and the list continues to complete the twenty-nine names, many of them not familiar to the blues lover. The rest of musicians included are Frank Edwards, John Ferguson, Ray Charles, Earl Hooker, Charlie Harding, Willie Baker, Jerry McCain, Tommy Malone, Bill Reese, Jimmy Wilson, Eddie Hope, Robert Willis, Shorty Long, Sonny Boy Williams, Crook Jr, Clifford King, Dan Harrison, Johnny Shaw, Leroy Dallas, Danny Boy Thomas and Little Willie Brown. This is a magnificent valuable three albums set that should not go unnoticed for most blues fans, because it is a testimonial of an important part of the history and development of postwar blues in one of the really rich blues music areas but, at the same time, not very popular among blues lovers. ESSENTIAL.