Alan Lomax: Blues Songbook

Alan Lomax | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 30, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 2003
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Rounder Select
• ASIN: B0000C9JDA
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #192,724 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Goin' Down The River - Mississippi Fred McDowell

2. Rolled And Tumbled - Rosalie Hill

3. Cherry Ball Blues - Jack Owens

4. Dust My Broom - Howlin' Wolf

5. Boogie Children - Joe Lee

6. Stagolee - Lucious Curtis

7. Stop All The Buses - Cecil Augusta

8. Worried Life Blues - David 'Honeyboy' Edwards

9. The Pony Blues - Son House

10. Tangle Eye Blues - Walter 'Tangle Eye' Jackson

See all 20 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. I Could Hear My Name A Ringin' - Big Bill Broonzy

2. Dimples In Your Jaws - Joe Lee

3. Catfish Blues - Jack Owens

4. Kill-It-Kid Rag - Blind Willie McTell

5. You're Gonna Need My Help - Elinor Boyer

6. The Army Blues - David 'Honeyboy' Edwards

7. Blues De La Prison - Canray Fontenot

8. I Been Drinnkin' - Vera Ward Hall

9. I Been A Bad, Bad Girl - Ozella Jones

10. I Be's Troubled - Muddy Waters

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

After the floodgates opened due to 2003’s Martin Scorsese-produced PBS series of blues films, most labels scoured their vaults to nab a piece of the action. Dozens of reissues and repackagings hit the shelves, but Rounder, who has released classic blues for decades, eclipsed the field with this wonderful double-disc set.

Comprised of field recordings made by John and Alan Lomax from 1935-’78, the scope alone of this album is formidable. Many of the acts are obscure even to blues aficionados, yet icons like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Blind Willie McTell, Son House, Leadbelly, and Mississippi Fred McDowell are peppered throughout the nearly 2 1/2 hour playing time. Although the audio quality varies from excellent to primitive, the astounding remastering makes it all listenable. This is raw, pure, spine-tingling music played with the intense nothing-left-to-lose passion of ordinary people whose impossibly difficult lives are exposed in their voices and performances.

Chilling, mysterious, and even playful--sometimes simultaneously--this collection with 40 pages of detailed history, informative track-by-track notes, and forays into Cajun and spiritual side roads is most recommended to established blues fans wishing to further explore the roots of the genre. --Hal Horowitz

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sound quality is just fine!, March 6, 2007

By 

moonshiner "Mikko" (Vaasa, Finland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alan Lomax: Blues Songbook (Audio CD)

This is one of the best blues collections out there! And sound quality really is fine!! Get it!

1 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars CD problems, November 9, 2006

By 

C. Robson (up south) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alan Lomax: Blues Songbook (Audio CD)

I'm not sure what happened or if it is just my cd, but the sound quality isn't even close to that of some of my oldest records...really sad too because the collection is great.