Blues

Blind Willie McTell - Last Session (1961)

2019-02-05T16:18:24Z

Blind Willie McTell - Last Session (1961)


1.Baby, It Must Be Love 	
2.The Dying Crapshooter's Blues 	
3.Don't Forget It 	
4.Kill It Kid 	
5.That Will Never Happen No More 	
6.Goodbye Blues 	
7.Salty Dog 	
8.Early Life 	
9.Beedle Um Bum 	
10.A Married Man's A Fool 	
11.A To Z Blues 	
12.Wabash Cannonball 	
13.Pal Of Mine
+
14.Kill It Kid
15.Broke Down Engine Blues

Blind Willie McTell - Vocals, Twelve-String Guitar

This recording has a less-than-stellar reputation, principally because it was done so late in McTell's career, and it is true that he lacks some of the edge, especially in his singing, that he showed on his other postwar recordings. On the other hand, his 12-string playing is about as nimble as ever and a real treat. McTell cut these sides for record store owner Ed Rhodes, who had begun taping local bluesmen at his shop in Atlanta in the hope of releasing some of it -- McTell took to the idea of recording only slowly, then turned up one night and played for the microphone and anyone who happened to be listening, finishing a pint of bourbon in the process -- the result was a pricelessly intimate document, some of the words slurred here and there, but brilliantly expressive and stunningly played. No apologies are needed for "The Dyin' Crapshooter's Blues," "Don't Forget It," or "Salty Dog," however. McTell lived a few more years but never recorded again, which is a pity because based on this tape he still had a lot to show people. Rhodes never did anything with the tapes, and might've junked them if he hadn't remembered how important the McTell material was -- they turned out to be the only tapes he saved, out of all he'd recorded. ---Bruce Eder, AllMusic Review

Recorded in 1956, this was Blind Willie McTell's last recording session before his death in 1959. 'Last Session' is a record of simple and straightforward tunes that although lacking in great melodies throughout, presents a fine example of McTell's prowess as a topical songwriter. Lyrically his records have much more to offer in terms of storytelling than those of the standard bluesman – whose writing style most often relied on the crafting of simple and circular lyrical patterns that all rolled toward the payoff in the form of a hook line resolution at the end of the twelfth bar. Blind Willie did adhere to traditional patterns with his guitar playing, however his lyrics typically told a story that developed from verse to verse toward a conclusion, and herein lies the element that has come to form this man's legacy and have such an impact on future songwriters, most notably of which being Bob Dylan, The Allman Brothers Band, and The White Stripes. On 'Last Session' both 'The Dyin' Crapshooter's Blues' and 'A Married Man's Fool' are great examples of this quality topical songwriting.

However, although this record offers a lot lyrically, the lack of strong melodies throughout the entire album really does limit it's overall appeal. Yes we are hearing something historically interesting through Willie's stories, but that's about all there is to be taken away from this record – a history lesson. It's not a terribly enjoyable record aesthetically due to the dryness and somewhat one dimensional quality of Willie's vocal delivery, and this makes it particularly hard to sit through the whole track list and find yourself still intently listening by the end. To put a simple finger on it – there's no balance created between lyrical substance and strong melody, so instead what we are left with on 'Last Session' are a bunch of tales that may have been just as interesting if they were read out as a tuneless audiobook.

It's crushing to think of what he could have done with the hooky potential of a track like opener 'Baby It Must Be Love'. You put that tune in the hands of say Neil Young and he would have put that hook out of the ball park and the song would have gone on to live forever. However with Blind Willie's version it sounds almost like a man in a rush to belt through a few numbers and get on home from the studio and as such the hook line is completely neglected. There's also a lack of feel and personal connection to the material here that stands in contrast with much of Willie's work from the 30′s and 40′s. At that time he had some rag time soul and the tunes sounded less like impersonal traditional standards as they do here, and more like pieces of work coming from deep in the gut of a man who had something truly original to say.

'Last Session' was the closer to Blind Willie's fantastic musical career and it's a very interesting listen in terms of the lyric. However that's where the buck stops really. There are no individual tracks that really force their way into memorable territory, and this along with McTell's somewhat complacent sounding approach to the recording session, stands to place 'Last Session' low on the ladder when compared to much of his brilliant and influential earlier work. ---Roland Ellis, gaslightrecords.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto gett bayfiles

back

Blind Willie McTell & Curley Weaver - The Postwar Recordings 1949-1950 (2008)

2014-11-05T17:20:56Z

Blind Willie McTell & Curley Weaver - The Postwar Recordings 1949-1950 (2008)

Curley Weaver with Blind Willie McTell
01. My Baby's Gone
02. Ticket Agent

Blind Willie McTell and Curley Weaver
03. Don't Forget (It)
04. A To Z Blues
05. Good Little Thing
06. You Can't Get Stuff No More
07. Love Changin' Blues

Blind Willie McTell
08. Savannah Mama
09. Talkin' To You Mama
10. East St. Louis

Blind Willie McTell and Curley Weaver
11. Wee Midnight Hours

Curley Weaver with Blind Willie McTell
12. She Don't Treat Me Good No More
13. Brownskin Woman
14. I Keep On Drinking

Blind Willie McTell and Curley Weaver
15. Pal Of Mine (Take 1)
16. Pal Of Mine (Take 2)
17. Honey It Must Be Love

Blind Willie McTell
18. Sending Up My Timber (Take 1)

Blind Willie McTell and Curley Weaver
19. Sending Up My Timber (Take 2)
20. Lord Have Mercy If You Please
21. Trying To Get Home (Climbing High Montains)

Blind Willie McTell
22. It's My Desire
23. Hide Me In Thy Bosom

Curley Weaver
24. Some Rainy Day
25. Trixie

Blind Willie McTell – twelve-string guitar, vocals
Curley Weaver – guitar, vocals

This disc presents the Curley Weaver session(s) for Sittin' in With of late 1949 or early 1950 and the McTell-Weaver session for Regal in 1950. Their voices are a bit worn from over two decades of daily performing and travel under not always the best of conditions, but their talents are otherwise undiminished. Like Billie Holiday's singing in her final years, the effect is still quite moving. Weaver's Sittin' in With tracks appear to represent the core of his repertoire and show him deeply embedded in the Georgia blues tradition, with a particular debt to McTell. Two of the tracks have a second guitarist, who plays a six-stringed instrument and appears not to have been McTell. My Baby's Gone is derived ultimately from Walter Davis's 1930 M. & O. Blues and fellow Georgia artist Bumble Bee Slim's 1932 B and O Blues with some further influence of McTell's 1933 B and O Blues No. 2. Ticket Agent is based on the piece that McTell recorded in variant form as Talkin' to Myself (1930), Searching the Desert for the Blues (1932), Lord, Send Me an Angel (1933), Ticket Agent Blues (1935), and Talking to You Mama (1950). Weaver had recorded a version of Some Rainy Day already in 1930 as a member of the Georgia Cotton Pickers and in 1933 under his own name. McTell recorded a version in 1935 and earlier played guitar on a version by Ruby Glaze (probably Ruth Willis) in 1932. Weaver's performance here is closest to his own 1933 recording. The oddly titled Trixie, performed in ragtime style is actually a version of Tricks Ain't Walking No More, a piece Weaver had recorded in 1935. The phrase, a pimp's and prostitute's term for slow business, is carved on Weaver's tombstone! The song is older, however.

Contrary to some published reports, McTell and Weaver both play guitars on all of the Regal recordings except two takes of a slow gospel song. McTell is the dominant vocalist. His secular material is a typically eclectic mix of new versions of blues he had recorded earlier, adaptations of blues hits by other artists, and pop standards. Of his own material, the hokum styled, Good Little Thing was first recorded in 1933, although it appears to have been inspired by Tampa Red's 1930 It's a Pretty Little Thing. Love Changin' Blues and Savannah Mama, with both guitarists playing in slide style, are versions of pieces McTell had recorded in 1929 and 1933, and they hold up very well in comparison to the originals. Talkin' to You Mama is McTell's final version of the piece that started out in 1930 as Talkin' to Myself. East St. Louis, first recorded by McTell in 1933, is given a much jauntier treatment here, with several new verses. The treatment is not especially appropriate to the song's rather serious lyrics, but McTell carries it off, adding some lovely falsetto touches.

Of McTell's pieces derived from recordings by other artists, Don't Forget It is based on a 1939 Tampa Red record, but McTell and Weaver give it an almost proto-rockabilly treatment worthy of the Everly Brothers. It was a strong start to their session, proving that there were no flies on the Pig 'n' Whistle Band. If Regal had released this track, it might have been the elusive hit that McTell had sought for his entire career. The politically incorrect A to Z Blues was a piece McTell would record again in 1956, but it goes back to a 1924 record by Butterbeans and Susie, who were frequent performers in Atlanta's 81 Theatre. Most of McTell's verses are new.

Curley Weaver's four blues are a similar mixture of original and derivative material. Wee Midnight Hours, with McTell sounding rather hoarse on the high harmony part, is based on Leroy Carr's 1932 "Midnight Hour Blues." It's a sentimental piece that the white folks would have liked, but the final graveyard stanza gives it an ominous new meaning. She Don't Treat Me Good No More appears to be a compilation by Weaver from various traditional lyrics, including some he recorded in his 1935 Early Morning Blues and that Buddy Moss recorded in 1933 on 'Next Door Man. Brownskin Women, with a tune similar to Wee Midnight Hours, is probably a Weaver original, while I Keep On Drinking is derived from a 1935 Bumble Bee Slim recording.

In this session Blind Willie McTell made his first commercial recordings of older popular songs. He probably had a substantial repertoire of such numbers that he performed by request at the Pig'n Whistle and the Blue Lantern. Pal of Mine was a pop hit of 1921, although McTell associated it with World War One when he recorded it again in 1956. Honey It Must Be Love is a piece he had performed in a 1940 documentary recording session for John A. Lomax, and he would record it again in 1956.

The fact that McTell recorded seven spiritual tunes is indicative of his turn toward religion in his late years. Lord Have Mercy If You Please is a tune that he and Weaver had recorded in 1933. Trying to Get Home (Climbing High Mountains), with its impassioned singing and Weaver contributing a harmony part, is a piece that McTell had recorded solo in 1940, as is River Jordan, which McTell also recorded for Atlantic. He played slide guitar on the earlier recordings. The remaining four religious songs presented here are gospel compositions of the 1930s that were widely recorded in the postwar years. How about You was published and recorded in 1932 by Thomas A. Dorsey, a relative of McTell’s. It's My Desire was published in 1937 by Dorsey, and Hide Me in Thy Bosom was copyrighted by Dorsey in 1939 but had already been recorded by Elder Beck in 1937. McTell’s performance appears to be influenced by Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s 1938 recording of the tune under the title Rock Me. Sending up My Timber was published by Theodore R. Frye in 1939. These four songs were probably ones that McTell had sung with a quartet or glee club. They would have been enhanced with more vocal support, such as the nice falsetto humming that Weaver contributes on the second take of Sending Up My Timber. With recordings such as these, McTell was indeed preparing himself for a better home and a permanent place in the history of folk and popular music. --- document-records.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mega

back

Blind Willie McTell - Searching The Desert For The Blues (2009)

2014-09-13T17:19:38Z

Blind Willie McTell - Searching The Desert For The Blues (2009)


1.    Stole Rider Blues 40309-2 rec. 18.10.1927
2.    Mama, Tain't Long Fo' Day 40310-1 rec. 18.10.1927
3.    Mr. McTell Got The Blues (take 2) 40311-2 rec. 18.10.1927
4.    Three Women Blues 47185-2 rec. 17.10.1928
5.    Dark Night Blues 47186-1 rec. 17.10.1928
6.    Statesboro Blues 47187-3 rec. 17.10.1928
7.    Loving Talking Blues 47188-3 rec. 17.10.1928
8.    Come On Around To My House Mama 19302-2 rec. 30.10.1929
9.    Kind Mama 149319-2 rec. 31.10.1929
10.    Drive Away Blues 56599-1 rec. 26.11.1929
11.    Talkin' To Myself 150257-2 rec. 17.4.1930
12.    Southern Can Is Mine 151904-1 rec. 23.10.1931
13.    Broke Down Engine Blues 151905-1 rec. 23.10.1931
14.    Painful Blues 151907-1 rec. 23.10.1931
15.    Scarey Day Blues 405003-1 rec. 23.10.1931
16.    Low Rider's Blues 405084-1 rec. 31.10.1931
17.    Georgia Rag 405085-1 rec. 31.10.1931
18.    Rollin' Mama Blues 71603 rec. 22.2.1932
19.    Lonesome Day Blues 71604-1 rec. 22.2.1932
20.    Mama, Let Me Scoop For You 71605 rec. 22.2.1932
21.    Searching The Desert For The Blues 71606-1 rec. 22.2.1932
22.    Warm It Up To Me 14008-2 rec. 14.9.1933
23.    Savannah Mama 14035-1 rec. 18.9.1933
24.    Love-Makin' Mama 14045-1 rec. 19.9.1933
25.    Lord, Send Me An Angel 14050-1 rec. 19.9.1933
26.    Lay Some Flowers On My Grave C-9952-A rec. 25.4.1935

Blind Willie McTell - Vocals, 12-string guitar
McTell was billed as "Blind Sammie" on 8,9,12
and as"Georgia Bill" on 15
With Ruth Willis (vocals) on 14
With Ruby Glaze (vocals) on 18,19,20,21
With Curley Weaver (guitar, some vocals) on 16,17,22,24,26

Like many pre-war Blues artists, Blind Willie McTell recorded for a number of record companies, often at the same time, under a variety of pseudonyms. Fortunately for the lover of vintage blues, none of these was the notorious Paramount record company, and as a result we have a body of work which not only stands up musically, but in terms of recording and pressing quality as well - unlike the recordings of the likes of Charley Patton, Blind Blake and Blind Lemon Jefferson, for example.

In some respects this ought to make the audio restorer's job easier, you might think. Alas, life is rarely that simple - with higher quality originals to begin with, one inevitably aims higher and is less able to settle for anything less than excellence.

In compiling this CD, I initially worked on some 40 tracks by Blind Willie McTell, in many cases from two or three different sources. Each was taken a considerable way along the road of restoration and remastering in order that a judgment could be made (a) between different copies of the same recording, and then (b) between the complete set to narrow it down to a full CD (and I apologise here both for having to leave some excellent material out, and for leaving some rather small gaps between tracks in order to squeeze as much on as possible).

Then comes the painstaking job of "finishing" - a near-forensic examination of each track, looking for individual clicks, surface swishes and other extraneous noises, and attempting to remove or reduce them, one by one, as well as varrying out further final noise and hiss reduction. For a set such as this, which had already taken several weeks to assemble, this finishing work took a further three full days of intensive effort to complete.

What do I hope to achieve with all this effort? The finest-sounding a most representative collection of pre-war recordings by McTell ever assembled. No doubt some will dispute the track selections - especially some are here on musical merit., others on sonic merit - but put together as a whole I do feel this considerably improves on all previous issues of this material that it's been my pleasure to listen to over the years. I hope you'll feel similarly! --- pristineclassical.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

uploaded yandex 4shared mediafire mega solidfiles zalivalka cloudmailru filecloudio anonfiles oboom

back

Blind Willie McTell – Tryin’ To Get Home (1940)

2011-05-31T18:35:54Z

Blind Willie McTell – Tryin’ To Get Home (1940)


1. Just As Well Get Ready, You Got To Die/Climbing High Mountains, Tryin' To Get...		play
2. Monologue On Accidents
3. Boll Weevil
4. Delia
5. Dying Crapshooter's Blues
6. Will Fox
7. I Got To Cross The River Jordan
8. Monolgue On Old Songs/Old Time Religion, Amen
9. Amazing Grace
10. Monologue On History Of The Blues/Monologue On Life As Maker Of Records...
11. King Edward Blues					play
12. Murderer's Home Blues
13. Kill-It-Kid Rag
14. Chainey
15. I Got To Cross De River O' Jordan

Blind Willie McTell CDs Tryin’ To Get Home presents what must be one of the most historic recordings in African-American history. The result of this encounter in Atlanta, Georgia, was a recorded interview which captured a close insight into the life and music of one of the greatest Country Blues names to have been commercially recorded. Presented here in their entirety is a fascinating insight into the man who inspired among others Allman Brothers, Taj Mahal and Bob Dylan.

Blind Willie discusses his life, recording career and the history behind his music. Twelve excellent performances including blues, spirituals, ballads and rags can be heard. His skills as a 12-string guitarist, including some beautiful bottleneck / slide guitar, underline his reputation as being one of the finest musicians from Georgia. The history of these Library of Congress, Archive of American Folk Song, recordings is rooted in a visit made by John and Ruby Lomax to Atlanta, Georgia during November 1940. It is reported that Ruby spotted a "Negro man with a guitar" entertaining at a pig n whistle stand. Stopping their car to enquire, they discovered that the individual was Blind Willie McTell who had recorded for Victor, Columbia and Decca.

The Lomaxes gave him a lift back to their hotel and the totally blind McTell astounded them by giving accurate directions from the map etched on his memory. Despite having been involved in a minor motoring accident the previous night, he agreed to return the following day to sing and reminisce for them. The next morning in their hotel room he "sang and played his 12-string guitar vigorously for two hours", forty or so minutes of which were committed to tape.

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto gett bayfiles

back

Blind Willie McTell – Pig’n Whistle Red (1993)

2010-11-22T14:03:53Z

Blind Willie McTell – Pig’n Whistle Red (1993)


1.  Don't Forget It 
2.  Good Little Thing 	
3.  You Can't Get Stuff No More 
4.  Love Changin' Blues 
5.  Savannah Mama 	              play
6.  Talkin' To You Mama 
7.  East St. Louis 
8.  A To Z Blues 
9.  Wee Midnight Hours 
10.  Brown Skin Woman 
11.  I Keep On Drinkin' 
12.  Pal Of Mine: (tk.1) 
13.  Pal Of Mine: (tk.2) 
14.  Honey It Must Be Love 
15.  Sending Up My Timber: (tk.1) 
16.  Sending Up My Timber: (tk.2) 	
17.  Lord Have Mercy If You Please 	
18.  Climbing High Mountains 	
19.  It's My Desire 	
20.  Hide Me In Thy Bosom         play

Blind Willie McTell – guitar, vocals
Curley Weaver – guitar, vocals

This collection of 20 songs, cut by McTell with Curley Weaver on second guitar and sharing the vocals, was left out of many McTell biographical accounts until it resurfaced in 1993. Cut for Regal Records in 1950, it's a remarkable document, capturing McTell and Weaver in vivid modern sound, and includes remakes of McTell's 1933 "Talkin' to You Mama" and "Good Little Thing" as well as more recent material that the two had been doing, and even outtakes, showing very different interpretations of the 1920s pop standard "Pal of Mine" and the gospel number "Sending Up My Timber." The sheer diversity of material makes this an indispensable (as well as a delightful) recording, and except for some minor tape damage on "A to Z Blues" and one other cut, there are few technical flaws here. The playing is so sharp and crisp, and vocals so delicate in their textures, that this collection has to be considered essential to any serious blues collection. McTell and Weaver were a legendary duo in Atlanta from before World War II, and it is nothing less than a gift to have them still together and in excellent form on this postwar recording. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto gett bayfiles

back

Blind Willie McTell - Atlanta Twelve String (1949)

2010-02-28T21:18:37Z

Blind Willie McTell - Atlanta Twelve String (1949)


01. Kill It Kid 
02. The Razor Ball 
03. Little Delia 
04. Broke Down Engine Blues 
05. Dying Crapshooter's Blues 
06. Pinetop's Boogie Woogie 
07. Blues Around Midnight 
08. Last Dime Blues
09. On The Cooling Board 
10. Motherless Children Have A Hard Time
11. I Got To Cross The River Jordan	
12. You Got To Die 
13. Ain't It Grand To Live A Christian 
14. Pearly Gates	
15. Soon This Morning

Blind Willie McTell – guitar, vocals

In 1949, a brief flurry of interest in old-timey country blues resulted in this 15-song session by Blind Willie McTell for the newly formed Atlantic Records. Only two songs, "Kill It Kid" and "Broke Down Engine Blues," were ever issued on a failed single, and the session was forgotten until almost 20 years later. McTell is mostly solo here, vividly captured on acoustic 12-string (his sometime partner Curley Weaver may have been present on some tracks), and in excellent form. The playing and the repertory are representative of McTell as he was at this point in his career, a blues veteran rolling through his paces without skipping a beat and quietly electrifying the listener. Songs include "Dying Crapshooter's Blues," "The Razor Ball," and "Ain't I Grand to Live a Christian." --- Bruce Eder, allmusic.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto gett bayfiles

back

Blind Willie McTell – Experience Blues (2002)

2009-12-09T22:23:22Z

Blind Willie McTell – Experience Blues (2002)


01. Georgia Rag (Willie McTell) (3:04)
02. Searchin' the Desert For the Blues (3:08)
03. It's Your Time to Worry (3:02)
04. Lord, Send Me an Angel (2:52)
05. Love-Makin' Mama (2:54)
06. You Was Born to Die (2:49)
07. Rollin' Mama Blues (3:03)
08. Low Rider's Blues (3:17)
09. Lonesome Day Blues (3:14)
10. Mama, Let Me Scoop For You (3:08)
11. Savannah Mama (3:14)
12. It's Good Little Thing (2:51)
13. Death Room Blues (2:57)
14. Experience Blues (3:10)
15. My Baby's Gone (2:58)
16. Broke Down Engine (3:10)

The only serious flaw in this budget-line Blind Willie McTell collection is the first track's title, which should be "Georgia Rag" rather than "Willie McTell." Blind Willie McTell's entry in the Our World catalog contains 16 of his best performances dating from the years 1931-1933. Hopping from label to label during this period, McTell recorded as Blind Willie, Blind Sammie, Hot Shot Willie, and Georgia Bill. He sings while working over his 12-string guitar alone, in duet with guitarist Curley Weaver ("Georgia Rag"), and in harmony with his wife, Ruth Kate McTell, identified as Ruth Day ("Experience Blues"). While this affordably priced sampler will suffice if nothing else by McTell is readily available, many better editions do exist and might well be preferable. The grossly misidentified first track undermines the credibility of the producers while lowering the value of the album as a whole. ---arwulf arwulf, allmusic.com

download (mp3 @VBR kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto gett bayfiles hostuje

back