Butch Cage & Willie B. Thomas – Old Time Black Southern String Band Music

Beide artiesten werden in 1959 ontdekt in Zachary, Louisiana. Zij verdienden daar enkele dollars zak- of leef-geld door het muzikaal opluisteren van ?house parties? en (of) kerkdiensten. Deze opnames dateren van 1960 en worden nu voor het eerst uitgebracht.

Louisiana fiddle and guitar duo Butch Cage and Willie B. Thomas were recorded in 1959 by folklorist Harry Oster, who sought to capture a record of the fast-vanishing tradition of string bands who played dance and worship music for parties and church services. Primitive-sounding yet compelling, Cage and Thomas's versions of rarely heard ancient country blues songs like "I Had a Dream Last Night" and "It Ain't Gonna Rain No More" are a window into a bygone age, while their performance of "The Dirty Dozen" brings to light a song that, like the blues itself, has been constantly evolving for generations.

Track Listing: 
1. Bugle Call Blues - 4:01   2. Some Day Baby - 4:55   3. Mean Old Frisco - 4:13   4. The Piano Blues - 6:40   5. Hen Cackle - 1:22   6. The Dirty Dozen - 2:45   7. Rock Me Mama - 3:16   8. It Ain't Gonna Rain No More - 2:41   9. Easy Rider Blues - 3:44   10. Whoa Mule - 1:31   11. I Had a Dream Last Night (All I Had Was Gone) - 3:39   12. Careless Love Blues - 4:19   13. Sneaky Ways - 2:26   14. Since I Layed My Burden Down - 3:54   15. You've Gotta Move - 2:42

Personnel:
James "Butch" Cage (vocals, fiddle) , Willie B Thomas (vocals, guitar) , Robert Jenkins (vocals, guitar on 11), Rosalie Wilkerson (lead vocal on 14 ,15)