Blues Vinyl 217 Items

One of the earliest blues performers of the pre-war era, and an offspring of a family of freed slaves, Henry "Ragtime Texas" Thomas was one of the most influential, but also one of the most enigmatic practitioners of the blues genre. Much of Thomas' life was un-chronicled by historians (The exact date of his death is still a point of contention) except to say that much of his life he lived as a drifter, making his living by performing on street corners and for railway employees. Though his personal life is still shrouded in mystery, his music remains significant, so many decades later. Thomas stood out from his peers primarily by the way he strummed his guitar; as one would strum a banjo. His songs emphasized dance rhythm over complex picking, and often utilized instruments unorthodox to blues music, such as the Deep South folk instrument the quills. This sound proved to be instrumental in the development of the Texas blues sound, and would be his trademark across the 24 sides that he recorded for Vocalion Records, of which only 23 would be released commercially.

Ivory Coast isn’t known for country music. But Jess Sah Bi & Peter One’s 1985 recording Our Garden Needs Its Flowers, a massive-selling regional hit, brought a burgeoning interest in folk and Americana into the mainstream and carried two young men to international prominence, culminating in stadium-filling concerts and performances for the first lady of Cote d’Ivoire and dignitaries.

The album was made following a chance introduction via Jess’s nephew, who heard Peter playing for fun around his university dormitory. At the time, Jess Sah Bi (Die Sah Bi) was Ivory Coast’s first political cartoonist, having already published in dozens of magazines and newspapers across West Africa and France. Meanwhile Peter One (Pierre-Evrard Tra) was a university student and soon-to-be high school history teacher. Both musicians had spent time singing and playing guitar and composing songs on their own until they came together to record their independently-released opus.

The music contrasted starkly with the popular sounds of the time, ranging from fast-paced regional dance music genres to ziglibithy to soukous to straight-up funk played by Abidjan’s plethora of bands. Country music and folk-rock weren’t very popular with the general public. But interest was bubbling up within the growing student population, who connected with the protest sentiments expressed by many English and American artists of the era. “It’s very nice music, with very nice harmonies, and it’s different from what you hear every day,” Peter says. “The language was a big barrier though. You had to learn English to understand the songs, and the students were the ones learning English.” Having access to education along with their awareness of social and political inequality and injustice made students the perfect audience for folk music in Ivory Coast.

Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton and Don Williams’ music could be heard on some radio programs around Ivory Coast’s major cities, and some younger people were getting hip to Simon & Garfunkel, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Cat Stevens and Crosby Stills & Nash. The stage was set for Jess Sah Bi & Peter One’s homegrown country music to make a mark on Ivorians’ consciousness. Complete with slide guitar, soaring vocals and anthemic, politically-conscious lyrics in three languages, the recording became ubiquitous across French-speaking West Africa. “We expected the album to be a big success, but we could not have imagined how far it would go,” Peter says.

After Our Garden Needs Its Flowers release, Jess and Peter’s profile lifted rapidly, leading to stadium performances in Togo, Burkina Faso and elsewhere. Their ascent was accompanied by critical acclaim from the local press and television programs, appearances at galas organized by Marie-Thérèse Houphouët-Boigny, the wife of the late Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the first president of the Ivory Coast and even a performance during the 1988 ECOWAS (Economic Coalition of West African States) summit in Yamoussoukro at President Houphouët-Boigny’s request. Jess and Peter’s run lasted until the early 1990s, capped off with the BBC using their song African Chant as theme music the day Nelson Mandela was released from prison.

Jess and Peter now live in San Francisco and Nashville, respectively, and continue to make music on their own. Plans for shows reuniting the duo are in the works for later this year.

Limited edition for Record Store Day 2018!

Muddy Waters was the greatest blues musician ever, and the most influential. He invented electric blues, inspired
the Rolling Stones and created the template for the rock’n’roll band and its wild lifestyle. Enjoy his Chess singles
here on our superb 2LP set.

At age 82, bluesman LEO “BUD” WELCH rocks on stage like a teenager—dancing and spinning as he beats out jagged chords and grimy solos on his pink, sparkle-covered guitar. That raw youthful energy and Welch’s old-school juke-joint jones blend full-throttle in the 10 songs on I Don’t Prefer No Blues, his second release for Fat Possum Records’ subsidiary Big Legal Mess. The album is a garage-blues manifesto that weds waves of prickly six-string distortion and gutbucket drums with Welch’s smoke-and-ash voice and mud-crusted guitar—and lives up to Fat Possum’s history of producing edgy but deeply rooted recordings by artists like Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside.

Limited edition for Record Store Day 2015!

Copy close to NM. Cover signed on the back.

Still sealed.

Record Store Day. Limited Edition.
Green Vinyl.

Still shrink wrapped but opened.
Cover as new with slightly worn corners.
Includes original insert.

Still shrink wrapped but opened.
Cover as new with slightly dented corners.
Includes original inner sleeve.

Still in shrink, but opened, with hype sticker

Limited Edition.

Record with just a few paper scuffs.
Cover as new with slightly dented corners.

Still in shrink, but opened, with hype sticker. Original inner sleeve with seam splits

Copy closer to NM

Red and white split vinyl version!

Green Vinyl

Vinyl with a couple of light scuffs

Sealed copy.
Cover corners slightly dented.

180 gram reissue.
Cover slightly dogeared but ciose to NM.

Still sealed. Stuffed corner. 2LP + CD + BluRay

Still sealed. Small cut in bottom. 2LP + CD + BluRay

Still sealed with hype sticker. Stuffed corners. Limited edition Multi Coloured vinyl. US reissue from 2018.

close to NM

Still sealed.

A nice boxset with 3 LP and a poster. Including all the greatest blues artists: LIGHTNIN" HOPKINS, JOHN LEE HOOKER, SCREAMIN" JAY HAWKINS, BO DIDDLEY, MUDDY WATERS, HOWLIN" WOLF, T-BONE WALKER, B.B KING...