Various – Head Rag Hop – Piano Blues 1925-1960 – 4CD

A search for the roots of blues piano will end up in a swirling mist in which blues guitar germinated. One belief is that blues piano developed from the rhythms with which guitarists accompanied themselves. The piano’s wider musical spectrum then encouraged players to create rhythms and melodies with each hand.
When it came to mobility, pianists had to rely on residencies. They could never foresee the condition of the pianos they encountered on their travels. Also, unlike their guitarist confreres, they had to be equally adept singers and players, needing at least one instrumental showpiece to satisfy their audiences.
St. Louis, Memphis, Birmingham and New Orleans unsurprisingly had coteries of musicians but so did Houston and Dallas in Texas - each with something approaching a regional flavour.    The last years of the 1920s saw a proliferation of blues pianists, including Cow Cow Davenport, Pine Top Smith, Will Ezell, Henry Brown and Montana Taylor).
Their records - too often overlooked - reveal them as innovators and gifted musicians.

Track Listing:

CD1:
Hersal Thomas: 1. Suitcase Blues - 2:34   Hociel Thomas: 2. Fish Tail Dance - 2:40   Meade "Lux" Lewis: 3. Honky Tonk Train Blues - 3:15   Boodle It Wiggins: 4. Evil Woman Blues - 3:04   Hattie Hudson: 5. Doggone My Good Luck Soul - 3:13   Cow Cow Davenport: 6. Cow Cow Blues - 3:10   Herve Duerson: 7. Avenue Strut - 2:50   Bessie Tucker: 8. Penitentiary - 3:26   Will Ezell: 9. Mixed Up Rag - 2:41   Bert M. Mays: 10. Michigan River Blues - 3:07   Bobbie Cadillac: 11. Carbolic Acid Blues - 3:00   Pinetop Smith: 12. Pine Top's Blues - 2:54   Will Ezell: 13. Heifer Dust - 3:00   Bernice Edwards: 14. Moaning Blues - 2:38   Barrel House Welch: 15. Dying Pickpocket Blues - 2:50   Pinetop Smith: 16. Jump Steady Blues - 3:19   Cow Cow Davenport: 17. Slum Gullion Stomp - 3:05   St. Louis Bessie: 18. Sweet Black Woman - 2:31   Montana Taylor: 19. Detroit Rocks - 3:21   Henry Brown: 20. Stomp 'em Down to the Bricks - 3:35   Raymond Barrow: 21. Walking Blues - 3:06   Lil Johnson: 22. House Rent Scuffle - 2:50   Will Ezell: 23. Pitchin' Boogie - 3:04   Mary Johnson: 24. Black Men Blues - 3:02   Cow Cow Davenport: 25. Mooch Piddle - 2:49

CD2:
Blind Leroy Garnett: 1. Louisiana Glide - 3:08   Henry Brown: 2. Henry Brown Blues - 2:58   Speckled Red: 3. The Dirty Dozen - 3:14   Romeo Nelson: 4. Head Rag Hop - 2:59   Eddie Miller: 5. Freight Train Blues - 2:48   James Wiggins: 6. Gotta Shave 'Em Dry - 3:04   Charles Avery: 7. Dearborn Street Breakdown - 3:17   Romeo Nelson: 8. Gettin' Dirty Just Shakin' That Thing - 2:57   Henry Brown: 9. Eastern Chimes Blues - 3:28   Wesley Wallace: 10. No. 29 - 3:15   Whistlin' Alex Moore: 11. They May Not Be My Toes - 3:07   James "Stump" Johnson: 12. The Duck's Yas-Yas-Yas - 2:40   Bob Call: 13. 31 Blues - 2:42   Jim Clarke: 14. Fat Fanny Stomp - 3:06   Charley Taylor: 15. Louisiana Bound - 3:10   Lonnie Johnson: 16. She Don’'t Know Who She Wants - 3:24   Speckled Red: 17. The Right String But the Wrong Yo-Yo - 2:29   Mozelle Alderson: 18. Tight Whoopee - 2:47   Louise Johnson: 19. All Night Long Blues - 3:03   Roosevelt Sykes: 20. 3,6 and 9 - 2:59   Peetie Wheatstraw: 21. Don't Feel Welcome Blues - 3:10   Little Brother Montgomery: 22. Vicksburg Blues - 2:59   Piano Kid Edwards: 23. Gamblin' Man's Prayer - 2:55   Bat the Hummingbird: 24. Humming Blues - 2:52   Jabo Williams: 25. Jab Blues - 3:21

CD3:
Turner Parrish: 1. Trenches - 3:13   Jane Lucas & The Hokum Boys: 2. Hokum Stomp - 2:54   Peetie Wheatstraw: 3. Pete Wheatstraw - 3:17   Pinetop & Lindberg: 4. I Believe I'll Make a Change - 3:03   Mary Johnson: 5. Rattlesnake Blues - 2:57   Jabo Williams: 6. Pratt City Blues - 3:19   Skip James: 7. If You Haven't Any Hay Get on Down the Road - 2:55   Stump Johnson: 8. Money Johnson - 2:37   Turner Parrish: 9. The Fives - 3:19   Walter Davis: 10. L & N Blues - 2:55   The Sparks Brothers: 11. Chicago's Too Much for Me - 3:13   Walter Roland: 12. Piano Stomp - 2:55   Charlie Segar: 13. Cuban Villa Blues - 3:19   Leroy Carr: 14. Suicide Blues - 2:53   Memphis Slim: 15. Beer Drinking Woman - 2:58   Walter Roland: 16. Red Cross Blues - 3:15   Peetie Wheatstraw: 17. Throw Me in the Alley - 2:48   Walter Davis: 18. Sweet Sixteen - 2:49   Cripple Clarence Lofton: 19. Strut That Thing - 2:58   Barrelhouse Buck: 20. Weeping Willow Blues - 2:52   Bumble Bee Slim: 21. Who's Been Here Today - 2:57   Pinetop: 22. Tell Her About Me - 3:09   Cripple Clarence Lofton: 23. Brown Skin Girls - 2:52   Blind Mack: 24. Rootin' Ground-Hog Blues - 2:51   Red Nelson: 25. Streamline Train - 2:50

CD4:
Brownie Stubblefield & Mack Rhinehart: 1. Dirty No Gooder - 3:01   Black Boy Shine: 2. Brown House Blues - 2:37   Mary Johnson: 3. I Just Can't Take It - 2:38   Black Ivory King: 4. The Flying Crow - 2:47   Lee Brown: 5. Little Girl Little Girl - 2:56   Alice Moore: 6. Push Cart Pusher - 3:04   Albert Ammons: 7. Shout for Joy - 2:27   Champion Jack Dupree: 8. Junker Blues - 2:45   Albert Ammons & Pete Johnson: 9. Boogie Woogie Man - 2:43   Jimmy Yancey: 10. The Rocks - 3:38   Big Maceo: 11. Chicago Breakdown - 2:56   Jimmie Gordon: 12. That Woman's a Pearl Diver - 2:52   Dick Davis: 13. Screamin' Boogie - 2:39   Dirty Red: 14. Mother Fuyer - 2:26   Amos Milburn: 15. Chicken Shack Boogie - 2:50   Camille Howard: 16. X-Temporaneous Boogie - 2:06   Sunnyland Slim: 17. Down Home Child - 2:52   Little Willie Littlefield: 18. Little Willie's Boogie - 2:56   Lee Hunter: 19. Lee's Boogie - 2:28   Roosevelt Sykes: 20. Blues N' Boogie - 2:34   Willie Johnson and His Orchestra: 21. Sampson Street Boogie - 2:37   Piano Red: 22. Red's Boogie - 2:25   Jimmy McCracklin: 23. My Life Depends on You - 3:05   Willard McDaniel: 24. 3 A.M. Boogie - 2:17   Eddie Boyd: 25. Five Long Years - 2:41   Otis Spann: 26. Otis in the Dark - 4:32