Blues 18 Items

Mississippi's Son House was already legendary for a small collection of live field recordings made by folklorist Alan Lomax in 1941 and 1942, and for having taught some important licks to both Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters before he was rediscovered by a new generation of college-age fans in 1964.
The 'Father of the Delta Blues' recorded this namesake LP for Columbia Records a year later in 1965. It's become, in the words of Living Blues magazine — »Essential recordings by one of the greatest bluesmen ever.« And now, Analogue Productions presents a reissue unmatched in sonic quality and luxury presentation. For our version we turned to Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound to remaster the recording from the original master tapes. The freshly cut lacquers were then plated and pressed on 200-gram vinyl by our own Quality Record Pressings.
Son was born Eddie James House, Jr., on March 21, 1902, in Riverton, Miss. By the age of 15, he was preaching the gospel in various Baptist churches as the family seemingly wandered from one plantation to the next. He didn't even bother picking up a guitar until he turned 25; to quote House, »I didn't like no guitar when I first heard it; oh gee, I couldn't stand a guy playin' a guitar. I didn't like none of it.« But if his ambivalence to the instrument was obvious, even more obvious was the simple fact that Son hated plantation labor even more and had developed a taste for corn whiskey. After drunkenly launching into a blues at a house frolic in Lyon, Miss., one night and picking up some coin for doing it, the die seemed to be cast; Son House may have been a preacher, but he was part of the blues world now.

“Super Super Blues Band” started out merely as “Super Blues”, a conglomerate of blues pillars Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters and Little Walter. When Little Walter bowed out and was replaced by Howlin’ Wolf, they rightfully threw another Super on the name, and went on to release this burning, irreverent and even sometimes hilarious set of drunken, wild-eyed electric blues. Long form jams roll on in a trance as the trio of blues legends flex egos, talking shit to each other, trading off leads and ducking blasts of unexpected wah-wah guitar lines. Songs are peppered with an incredible level of banter between the trio of bandleaders that predicts the call and response sing- talking of early hip hop, laced with random screams in the background that teeter between celebration and danger. That these three ever got into the same room together is a miracle, and that they produced something so intense, energetic and weird is another almost unbelievable feat. The record is special enough as a stand-alone document of this meeting/melting of the minds before you find out the backing band consists of Hubert Sumlin, Otis Spann and freaking Buddy Guy. Lordy. Might have needed one more “super” in there. The record is pressed on limited colored vinyl.

Over 50 years since his discovery by ethnomusicologists Dr. Harry Oster and Richard Allen in the prison farm of Angola, Louisiana, what is it that makes the blues as sung and picked by Robert Pete Williams such a singular listening experience, unequaled elsewhere in that musical form? As Peter Guralnick, in his Feel Like Going Home book writes: “It’s difficult to approve the banalities of most blues singers after listening to Robert Pete Williams. More than anyone else he shatters the conventions of the form and refuses to rely upon any of the clichés, either of music or of lyric, which bluesman after bluesman will invoke. Instead he sings blues which reflect a unique and personal vision; he makes each song unmistakably his own.” Unfamiliar keys, cliché-free lyricism, spontaneity, an individualistic style in invoking his particular blues, all make Robert Pete Williams an idiosyncratic entry into the canon. It’s impossible to listen to blues artists before him and hear strains of his particular style. None have matched it since. Louisiana Blues contains 10 songs recorded in the month of July 1966 out in Berkeley, California for John Fahey’s Takoma imprint. Comes with a 8 page booklet. Limited edition of 600 on bottleneck brown vinyl.

Two ecellent country-blues rockers from 1942 pressed with 78rpm labels on a solid center for that authentic feel. Nice job!

Songwriter. Guitarist. Singer. Bandleader. At only 20 years of age, Marcus King’s dazzling musical ability is evident throughout The Marcus King Band, the young phenom’s 2nd full-length LP. Raised in Greenville, South Carolina, King was brought up on the blues, playing shows as a pre-teen sideman with his father—bluesman Marvin King, who himself was the son of a regionally-known guitarist—before striking out on his own. Operating within the fiery brand of American roots music that King calls "soul-influenced psychedelic southern rock," the album highlights King’s gorgeous, rough-hewn vocals, soaring guitar work and heartfelt songwriting all amidst a group of masterful musicians who, together, are quickly becoming one of the country’s most sought after live acts.

Harmonica Frank recorded these tracks for Sun Records in the early '50s! It's definitely blues at the core, but which also has links to Appalachian music.