Hard Times Killin Floor

Skip James | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 21, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Yazoo
• ASIN: B0009F2EGE
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,018 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Cypress Grove Blues

2. If You Haven't Any Hay Get On Down The Road

3. Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues

4. Special Rider Blues

5. Devil Got My Woman

6. I'm So Glad

7. Cherry Ball Blues

8. 22-20 Blues

9. Jesus Is A Mighty Good Leader

10. Hard Luck Child

11. Little Calf And Cow Is Gonna Die Blues

12. Illinois Blues

13. Drunken Spree

14. Four O'Clock Blues

15. How Long Buck

16. Yola My Blues Away

17. Be Ready When He Comes

18. What Am I To Do Blues

19. Son House - My Black Mama Part I

20. Son House - My Black Mama Part 2

See all 22 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Early Skip James Compilation, March 13, 2006

By 

Lee C. Grady (Madison, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hard Times Killin Floor (Audio CD)

This is it! In my opinion, this is the definitive collection of Skip James' early recordings. Yazoo has always had the best sound, mostly because of the label's judicious use of noise reduction (in the old days, that meant NO noise reduction!). Now they've apparently used the latest tools to remove most of the intermittent noise, while leaving the music and some high-end background noise intact. Whatever process was used, sound engineer Richard Nevins has created the best sounding versions of these songs that I've ever heard. On the old Yazoo compilation, songs like "Special Rider Blues" and "Illinois Blues" were almost completely buried in noise. Somehow, Nevins has resurrected them. In particular, the guitar parts are much clearer. There is still quite a bit of noise and distortion - these records are notoriously rare and in poor condition - but this is probably the best they'll ever sound. This CD has all of the Skip James 1930 Paramount recordings that are known to exist. It also includes four cuts by Son House from the same year. These recordings are also extremely rare in and in very poor condition. Once again, Nevins has made them sound better than ever. As for the music, it is some of the most haunting ever recorded in the blues genre.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great CD, March 9, 2011

By 

JP (Smoky Mountains, TN) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hard Times Killin Floor (Audio CD)

Being relatively new to the Country Blues genre, I have to say I really enjoyed this CD. It was my first exposure to Skip James and I now understand what they mean by the "haunting" quality of his voice. My favorites have to be "Cypress Grove" and "Hard Times Killin Floor". Some of his guitar playing just has me shaking my head in awe. On the downside, some of the songs were so scratchy that it was difficult to make out the guitar parts and the plunky parlor-type piano on some other other songs kind of grate on my ears a bit. But the only really disappointing aspect of this album were the gospel songs. They were shifted into a non-bluesy congregational-sing (how's that for technical language?) type style. I am looking for gospel songs with the same blues feel like Rev. Gary Davis does. But over all its an amazing album.

10 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Skip James - Blues Master, September 21, 2005

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hard Times Killin Floor (Audio CD)

Skip James was one of the finest - and most refined - masters of the Delta blues tradition. The performances on this CD are nothing less than superb. He plays the guitar with grace and nuance, and his rather rustic, eccentric piano style makes up with charm for whatever it may lack in technical virtuosity. Skip James is an important figure in any sophisticated blues collection.